Eastern Conference Semifinal Game 5 (Devils win series 4-1)
Devils 3, Flyers 1 (Recap, Box Score)
Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey Devils
Not necessarily just for this game, but for the entire series, especially the past three games.
After having his Game 1 performance absolutely crushed, he returned to the lineup after sitting out Game 2 with a lower body injury and was consistently one of the best players on the ice, playing in all situations and pretty much dominating every time he was out there.
During the Game 5 win alone he scored a back-breaking goal in the third period and added an assist, and also recorded four shots on goal and attempted seven others. The Devils best defense in this series was their offense and their ability to control the puck, and Kovalchuk was a huge part of it.
I'm well aware it doesn't make sense to say this, but nothing else in this postseason has made any sense either, so why not go with this? When the Flyers scored first? Yeah. Bad sign, man.
It was simply following the same script we saw during every other game they played over the past month. Scoring first is always a big deal, especially in the playoffs when the games get tighter and the goals are harder to come by. But for the Flyers it didn't mean anything in the playoffs. They finished the postseason just 1-6 when scoring first, losing four straight games to New Jersey despite scoring first in each and every game. How does that happen?
Domination by the Devils. Complete domination. Total domination.
Martin Brodeur had what might be the easiest series of any goalie in this postseason and was rarely challenged by a Philadelphia offense that scored goals at will in the opening round. The Devils controlled each of the past four games and kept the Flyers off the board by making them play defense in their own end and controlling the puck. We've talked quite a bit about possession in this series, and the final four games were basically a 60/40 split in favor of New Jersey, with over 60 percent of the shots attempted in Games 2-5 coming from the Devils. If you own the puck that much that, especially against a team like Philadelphia that isn't great defensively or in goal, that's a huge advantage.
For the Devils, it's their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since 2003, which is also the last time they won the Stanley Cup.
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