New Jersey Devils look to make short work of woeful New York Islanders - NHL Preview
The New Jersey Devils have secured a playoff berth and are going into the postseason on the back of some brilliant results the same, however, could not be said about their Tuesday night opponents New York Islanders whose season has already ended.
The Devils have hit a rich vein of form and with just three games left to play seem ready to end the season on a high and enter the playoffs with full confidence.
The team’s offensive line is scoring for fun lately and they now lie in sixth in the Eastern Conference with 96-points.
The Islanders on the other hand are on the exact opposite of the spectrum as they lie near the bottom of the Conference and are already eliminated from playoff contention.
New York’s other team has had a poor 2011-12 season and with just 77-points are just four points above the conference’s worst team Montreal Canadiens.
Devils (45-28-6, 96 pts)
New Jersey has been brilliant lately in both offence and defence as they outscored opponents in their last three games by a 13-5 margin.
The Devils have won their last two games in emphatic fashion crushing the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-4 on Thursday and following it up by an even better performance on Saturday against Carolina Hurricanes which they won 5-0.
The Hurricanes did not stand a chance as Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur looked in no mood to give any quarter and made 22 saves to shut out Carolina.
On the offence, forward Ilya Bryzgalov, ran riot scoring once and setting up two more goals in the 5-0 rout.
Confidence is running high in the Devils camp as they look forward to the playoffs.
"It's step one. Now that we're in, you obviously want to make some noise. That's where we go from here."
Islanders (33-35-11, 77 pts)
New York Islanders on the other hand are on a two-game losing run and with just three games left in the season will look to end their disappointing campaign on a high note.
The Islanders lost 6-3 to Boston Bruins on Saturday to end their three game winning run which included two massive 5-3 wins over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
New York then followed it up with another big loss to the Ottawa Senators on the very next day as they were defeated 5-1.
Coach Jack Capuano was highly frustrated with his forwards lack of cutting edge and panned his players after the loss to Senators.
"There were lines that had one shot and lines that didn't even have a shot or an attempted shot (in the first period). There was no urgency in our game … sometimes some guys gotta look in the mirror and they gotta compete for one another."
Predictions
New Jersey will not make things easier for the Islanders who will likely fall to another defeat on Tuesday.
Sum of goals will be more than six.
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