When New Jersey and Philadelphia began their playoff series I'm sure most people had their predictions for how it would go -- mine was Flyers in six or seven -- but I'm not sure many people thought we would see it this way. The Devils have a chance to close out Philly in Game 5 at Wells Fargo Center tonight and the fact that New Jersey is in this position, and the way the Devils have gotten there, really isn't a surprise.

It's a complete shock.

Coming off their first-round win against Pittsburgh the Flyers looked like world beaters and Claude Giroux looked like he might be the best player on the planet right now. The Devils, meanwhile, escape the weakest division winner in the East on a double-overtime goal in Game 7 and had to play two games facing elimination to advance.

Now it looks as if the roles are completely reversed. Giroux won't even be in the lineup Tuesday because of his one-game suspension for a high hit on Dainius Zubrus, but he's been struggling in this series anyway. Giroux has just three points in four games of this series after having 14 points in six games against the Penguins.

Philadelphia's power play was so good against Pittsburgh that it's still the best-ranked unit in the playoffs, but against New Jersey the power play has looked terrible. Just look at Game 3, when the Flyers had not one, but two power plays in overtime, and mustered all of one shot on net.

This is even crazier considering New Jersey, though it had one of the greatest penalty-killing units in NHL history, was abysmal against Florida's power play in the first round. This time around New Jersey's defense has looked great. And what's wildest about this is that Bryzgalov has been great this series. The only way this should conceivably be 3-1 for the Devils right now is if Bryzgalov has been terrible and Marty Brodeur has been good, but it's been the other way around. Marty has still been good, but Bryzgalov has been great and his teammates and his defense have been terrible.

I'm very surprised that the Flyers look so slow compared to the Devils whereas the Flyers looked so fast compared to Pittsburgh, and if you know hockey, you know Pittsburgh is one of the fastest teams in the NHL. The Flyers were dominant in the first round, getting on the puck first and finishing checks first, but now they're being totally outworked and outcompeted by the New Jersey Devils and their tremendous forecheck.

The Flyers still have a chance to come back and win this series, but with this deficit, I don't think I see it happening. You don't come back from down 3-1. It happens once in a while, and the Flyers know that as well as anyone after their historic comeback against Boston in 2010, but generally you don't come back from 3-1 -- and I have a hard time seeing it in this series.

Every season series between division rivals is a hard-fought six-game standoff. But this past season's games between Phoenix and Los Angeles were so closely matched that it could serve as an exciting preview for a potentially explosive Western Conference Final.

The season series between these Pacific Division rivals started October 20 in the season's second week. That night in Glendale, Jonathan Quick made 28 saves in a 2-0 win. Compared to the five series games that followed, that score was a blowout win for the Kings.

The teams met again in Glendale just nine days later in a game that saw the Kings and Coyotes go back and forth, combining for 72 shots. The hard-fought affair ended with Daymond Langkow's overtime winner from in close on Quick to give the Coyotes a 3-2 overtime win.

By the time the regular season was wrapped up, the Kings would hold a 3-1-2 advantage in the series, outscoring the Coyotes 13-11. Every game but the opener was won by a single goal in a season matchup that saw three shutouts, two overtimes, a shootout, and even a scrap between captains Shane Doan and Dustin Brown. The shootout took place in the teams' final matchup on February 21, a 5-4 Coyotes win in Glendale won by Mikkal Boedker's pretty shootout tally on Quick.

If that wild season series, not to mention the first month of the playoffs, is any indication, the 2012 Western Conference Final could be a good one.

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux told reporters Tuesday that he never had been suspended at any point in his hockey career.

Getting sat out in an elimination game, he added, wasn't the best time for the first one.

Giroux was suspended for Game 5 as punishment for his hit to the head of New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus late in the second period of Game 4 on Sunday.

"It's obviously not easy," he said of sitting out. "You want to be there to help the team win. But I've got a lot of confidence in the guys that are going to go out there and get the win. After that, we're going to have to go to Jersey [for Game 6] and come back for Game 7 here."

Giroux said he didn't think he would get suspended, but now that the decision is made, he said his focus has moved to getting ready for a hoped-for Game 6.

"Obviously I hit his head with my shoulder, but I still think I didn't jump," he said. "My elbow was down. That wasn't my intention to hit his head. Obviously it's disappointing to see that I can't go on the ice and help the guys win this game tonight. But all I got to do is focus for Game 6 now.

"I didn't think I was going to get suspended, to be honest. I think they want to get hitting to the head out of the game, and I respect that. There's nothing I can do about it now. Obviously, I can't play tonight and it's frustrating."

Giroux said he spoke to a few of his teammates but said he didn't feel he needed to give any motivational speeches.

"Talking to the guys, they look pretty confident," he said. "Everybody wants to win. That's pretty clear. Just [stinks] that I can't do anything about it. I have no control over the game tonight. I've got to make sure I'm ready to go for Game 6."

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

 

PHILADELPHIA -- New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer confirmed on Tuesday that fourth-line forward Ryan Carter will return to the lineup for Game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Semifinal series at Wells Fargo Center.
 
Carter was forced to sit out Sunday's 4-2 victory in Game 4 after suffering a case of food poisoning the previous night.
 
"It was a food-born illness," Carter said. "After practice [on Saturday], I went home to eat and had some dinner and lunch -- one of those two meals was the culprit. I'm much better now and I'm good to go."
 
Devils captain Zach Parise feels having Carter back in the lineup is a plus. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound left wing has one goal, three points, a plus-2 rating and 14 hits in 10 games.
 
"I think he's been playing really well for us," Parise said. "That fourth line has done a great job of putting pressure on their defense, and even chipping in with some goals, so it's good to get him back."
 
Carter will take his usual spot on the fourth line alongside center Stephen Gionta and right wing Steve Bernier, a line that has combined for five goals and 10 points in 10 playoff games together.
 
Carter said watching the game on television on Sunday turned out to be a pretty enlightening experience.
 
"You get a much different perspective than playing during the game," Carter said. "The crowd was really into the game [at Prudential Center] and I think that helped with our momentum. I also learned the importance of wearing them down and working hard on the forecheck."
 
Here are the probable line combinations for Game 5:
 
Zach Parise - Patrik Elias - David Clarkson
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Adam Henrique - Dainius Zubrus
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
 
Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky
Anton Volchenkov - Adam Larsson
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne
 
Martin Brodeur
Johan Hedberg
 
Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale

VOORHEES, N.J. -- The Philadelphia Flyers will be without their top player for Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC) in center Claude Giroux, but they could be getting back a major part to their defense in Andrej Meszaros.

Meszaros, who is one day shy of seven weeks removed from March 21 back surgery to remove a disc fragment that was impinging on a nerve root, went through the morning skate and left the ice with the regulars. Andreas Lilja, who has played less than 15 minutes in three of four games against the New Jersey Devils, remained on the ice for extra skating with frequent healthy scratches Pavel Kubina and Jody Shelley, as well as assistant coaches Craig Berube and Jeff Reese.

If Meszaros does play, it would be his first game since March 1. He had seven goals and 25 points in 62 games, and would give the Flyers another experienced, puck-moving defenseman who can help get the puck out of the defensive zone, something Philadelphia has struggled with in this series.

Coach Peter Laviolette, who never reveals information about his lineup prior to game-time, would not talk about Meszaros' playing status.

"[Meszaros] has looked good for the past seven days, 10 days," he said. "He's looked good."

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

Jacob Trouba is a defenseman for the U.S. Under-18 National Team Development Program of the United States Hockey League. The 6-foot-2, 193-pound native of Rochester, Mich., was the youngest player on the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2012 World Junior Championship  in Edmonton and Calgary, Alta. He also won his second straight gold medal for Team USA at the Under-18 World Championship in Czech Republic, connecting for one goal, three points and a plus-5 rating in six games. Trouba took some time to discuss his season and anticipation of the upcoming NHL Draft in his monthly blog for NHL.com.

Well, it has been quite a memorable season.

Playing in the Under-18 World Championship was a great time and definitely worth all the stuff you go through for two years at the program to get that feeling in the end. The exhibition game [loss to Sweden] was a tough for our team because I thought we played pretty well and had a couple mistakes and they capitalized. But going through the round-robin, I thought we played well and [goalie Collin Olson] had a really good tournament and shut the door. Our defense played well and our forwards were plugging the net.

Prior to our gold medal game [against Sweden], I kind of prepared like it was just another game, but it's not. You only get so many gold medal opportunities. But everyone knows what their playing for and what they've worked for the last two years. It was a wild game and just a cool way to end it [7-0 win] after two years.

On March 18, the Phoenix Coyotes weren't even among the top eight teams in the Western Conference.

Less than two months later, they are one of its last two teams standing.

Shane Doan

Right Wing - PHX

GOALS: 3 | ASST: 3 | PTS: 6
SOG: 35 | +/-: 5

With Monday night's 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators at Jobing.com Arena, the Coyotes have advanced to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history. Phoenix will face the Los Angeles Kings in Round 3, as those squads will battle in a best-of-seven series to determine who will represent the Western Conference in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final.

"We've been pretty business-like the whole time, and we're excited for this win," said Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who appeared in his 50th postseason game Monday night. "It means a lot to our group to keep going. But it's only halfway. We've got to find a way to win four more games and regroup again."

NEW YORK -- The Rangers and Capitals are playing Game 5 Monday at Madison Square Garden for the right to win the Eastern Conference Semifinal-round series in six games. The series is deadlocked at 2-2 with the Capitals winning Game 4 at home, 3-2.

The Rangers and Caps split the first two games at Madison Square Garden and then split the next two at Verizon Center, including the triple OT thriller that the Rangers won.

The lineups for both teams are the same for Game 5 as they were for Game 4. The only changes are in the Rangers' lines as rookie Chris Kreider, who scored the winning goal in Game 1, warmed up on the fourth line with John Mitchell and Mike Rupp.

Kreider being demoted to the fourth line comes after he was benched for the third period of Game 4. He had a turnover that led to a goal in that game.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Colin Wilson has been in this position before.

Wilson, a high draft pick filled with promise but lacking in high-end results, was a healthy scratch at the beginning of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs before dressing for the final three games and offering a glimmer of hope for future success.

Colin Wilson

Center - NSH

GOALS: 0 | ASST: 0 | PTS: 0
SOG: 3 | +/-: 0

This year he played in only two of the final 12 games of the regular season and not at all against Detroit in the first round of the playoffs. He came back into the lineup for the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of this Western Conference Semifinal series against the Phoenix Coyotes, and in three contests has earned a promotion to the top line.

Maybe, just maybe, Wilson is starting to figure it out at the NHL level.

"An epiphany?" Wilson said. "Yeah, I think just the more throughout my career I've realized that nothing is being given to me in terms of ice time and just motivates me to play that much harder. Whatever they are telling me, I'm going to take it in, soak it in. That's what I've been doing lately, and I have been playing harder defensively. I have tried to step up my game after being healthy scratched." 

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- With David Schlemko in for Rostislav Klesla and Lauri Korpikoski a game-time decision, here is tonight's projected lineup for the Phoenix Coyotes:

Ray Whitney - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Mikkel Boedker - Antoine Vermette - Shane Doan
Taylor Pyatt - Boyd Gordon - Marc Antoine Pouliot
Kyle Chipchura - Daymond Langkow - Gilbert Brule

Michal Rozsival - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
David Schlemko - Adrian Aucoin

Mike Smith
Jason LaBarbera