Devils vs. Flyers Game 4

Famed and colorful CBC analyst Don Cherry is on record saying game 4 is the key to a series. If you're up 2-1 you can grab a stranglehold. If you're down you can claw back and level it at 2-2 and settle in for a long series. Such a game presents itself tonight at the Prudential Center.

The Devils are going to have to weather the Flyers best effort. If they don't see it from the Flyers then they have already most likely won this series. The Flyers have the offense and the confidence they can fight back. The funny thing about confidence in the playoffs is once it begins to get nicked even a little it can slide away fast. Call the Blues when their plane lands back in St. Louis in a few hours. The Flyers are at that point. They're not as mentally tough as the Devils and they have a couple human retaliatory penalties looking for a place to happen. This is the game that famed steely resolve of Devils teams past must manifest itself current day. Grind hard for 60. Turn the other cheek. Make the first hit. Play in the corners like you brought the puck.

And the birthday boy has to come up huge. Marty can't win tonight. If he wins it's happy birthday to an elder NHL statesman on a big win and the Devils played well and if he loses, oh boy, a 40th birthday will never have more over the hill comments made about it. Again, just outplay the guy at the other end. You know, if you and a friend are running on the African plains and you're being chased by a hyena, you don't have to be faster than the hyena, just faster than your friend.

Philadelphia's continued willingness to give up the middle of the ice and allowing the Devils to carry the puck across the Philly blueline because they fear the Devils speed to the outside is working well for New Jersey. They can skate it in and set up or get to center and make good dump ins to get their quite effective cycle game going. Hopefully David Clarkson can pop a couple goals tonight, introduce a Flyer or two to the smell of his gloves and give the Flyers even more to worry about.

Johnny's not making a prediction, everytime he does the Devils lose. So he'll just leave it at this; play 60, play aggressive, play smart and play fast. The Flyers have a glass jaw, hopefully the Devils can find it tonight.

Devils win in overtime -- take 2-1 series lead!

And Johnny has you covered. Sadly the phone battery only lasts so long and although Alexi Ponikarovsky scored not 15 feet from Johnny you'll just have to enjoy the incomparable Bob Cole on CBC with the call of the winner.

Now for Johnny's shots:

It was either this or an expose on corruption in Jersey City with pictures to back it up

So we're going with Philadelphia jokes instead...

Q: Why doesn't Allentown get an NFL team? A: Because then Philly would want one too.

Q: What is the difference between a dollar and the Eagles? A: You can at least get 4 quarters out of a dollar

Q: Why did Eric Lindros retire early? A: He was ice fishing and got run over by the zamboni!

Q: What's black and orange and goes down the toilet faster than Liquid Plumber? A: The Philadelphia Flyers

Q: Why did the Post Office recall their latest stamps? A: They had pictures of Flyers players on them and people couldn't figure out which side to spit on.

Q: What is the difference between a Philadelphia Flyers fan and a pot hole? A: People swerve to avoid a pot hole!

Q: How many Philadelphia Flyers does it take to change a tire? A: One, unless it's a blowout, in which case they all show up

Q: If you have a car containing a Flyers forward, a Flyers center, and a Flyers defender, who is driving the car? A: The cop.

Q: What's the difference between an Philadelphia Flyers fan and a carp? A: One is a bottom-feeding, scum sucker, and the other is a fish.

And finally

Q: How many Philadelphia Flyers fans does it take to change a lightbulb? A: None. Lava lamps don’t burn out man!

 Welcome to Philadelphia, please set your watches back 15 years.

Devils vs Flyers, the Turnpike Series

What's this ask Devils fans, the second round? Well bust our buttons it is. And against a hated rival to boot? Too cool.

Or not.

You all know Johnny wants the Devils to win. He loathes the Flyers and always has. That being said the matchup doesn't favor the Devils as of today.

Unless Martin Brodeur can find a magic kernel of goaltending potion and play his best series in years it certainly looks like the Flyers in six games.

The Devils gutted out the series against Florida and deserved to win it. We did learn that in the short period between the regular season ending and the playoffs beginning the USS Devils PenaltyKill hit an iceberg and has been taking on water. The Panthers hit the jackpot around 30%. If the hole isn't patched it could get bigger with the awesome offensive talent the Flyers can run out on both powerplay units. It would make Johnny sad to see Daniel Briere running around scoring on the powerplay knowing you simply aren't allowed by rule to smash his smarmy mug into the NHL logo behind the nets.

By rule.

Here's the good news Devils fans, buy shares in Parise, Zajac & Kovalchuk Inc. As good as the Flyers are at offense they are as bad at the whole defensive thing. The defense seems lost. They run at everything like a cat with a laser pointer and give up a copious amount of odd man rushes. We don't know who made more "big" saves in the last series with Pittsburgh, Ilya Bryzgalov or his seeing-eye dog. Ilya is sporting a plump 3.89 GAA and a "He must be blacking out for short periods of time or something" save percentage of  .871.

The hard working Devils defense will be dog tired each night chasing the Flyers flyers around the ice. Salt of the earth defensive corps for New Jersey but just maybe not quite enough in a long series.

So, on paper (or the interwebs equivalent) it sadly would appear that the Flyers do have an edge. Common sense would dictate a call of Philadelphia in six games. That would indeed play nicely into the New Jersey mantra of us against the world and just what are you gonna do about it. Indeed some early success might feed that very live animal coming back to Newark. The roof could come off the Prudential Center Thursday night if the Devils can snatch one of the first two.

Johnny's counting on that, he's got his tickets waiting at will call.

Go Devils!

How 'bout them Devils last night?

As promised a little pictorial from last night (and the Jersey Journal only gives you those tiny one or two shots a game in their stories unlike here at the JCD where you get PLENTY of BIG images). Johnny wants to give a shout out to the Devils undersized and ever-tenacious no-name defense corps. They just keep getting the job done with no guys named Lidstrom, Pronger, Chara or Gonchar. Hey, the Dolphins won a Super Bowl many many moons ago with a defensive group called 'The No Name Defense'. Last night was very very intense and exciting. When is game 5 again?

Without further ado, the pics for YOU the Devils fan.