Devils hope to even series in Game 2

DEVILS at FLYERS

(Philadelphia leads series 1-0)

TV: NBCSN, CBC
 
Big Story: Have the Flyers fully scraped away the rust from their seven-day layoff? Can the Devils find the energy to stay with Philadelphia for a full 60 minutes?
 
Team Scope:
 
Devils: The 40 penalties committed by the Devils are the most among teams remaining in the playoffs. That included six minor penalties in Game 1 of their conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia Flyers.
 
That they were able to kill off five of those Flyers power plays isn't the point, according to coach Peter DeBoer.
 
"The penalties have been an ongoing issue the entire playoffs," DeBoer said. "There is a heightened awareness on some of the calls that guys aren't used to, and we're still managing finding that line. But we have to stay out of the box.
 
"We've taken more shooting-the-puck-over-the-glass penalties in the first two series then we have in a month in the regular season. Some of it is more attention to detail and having a little more composure at the right time."
 
Flyers: Coach Peter Laviolette said the rust his team showed in the first period of Game 1 was a worthy trade-off for the opportunity to get a couple players rested and healthy.
 
Among them was defenseman Nicklas Grossmann, who sustained an upper-body injury one teammate called a concussion in Game 4 of the first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins and sat out Games 5 and 6. He spent the week off getting healthy and then getting his conditioning level back to where it needed to be.
 
Grossmann played 26 shifts totaling 16:26 in Game 1, and said after the team's optional practice Monday that things went well.
 
"I felt pretty good," he told reporters. "Took a couple of shifts to get back in the game after a couple weeks … I wanted to get into it right away, rather than test it out or feel it out. Jump in the fire right away, and it felt good."
 
Laviolette said he thought Grossmann had a solid return.
 
"When you come out of the lineup a little bit and get back in there … I don't think we held him back any shifts," he said.
 
Who's Hot: Devils captain Zach Parise had a goal and an assist in Game 1 of the series. … Flyers center Danny Briere had his third two-goal game in seven playoff games. He had four two-goal games in 70 regular-season contests.
 
Injury Report: Devils defenseman Henrik Tallinder (blood clots) and center Jacob Josefson (wrist) are out. … Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros (back) is out.
 
Stat Pack: Briere has 36 playoff goals in six seasons since leaving the Buffalo Sabres for the Philadelphia Flyers. In that same span, the Sabres as a team have just 33 playoff goals.
 
Puck Drop: Jaromir Jagr might have the most interesting beard in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
 
It's on his face in patches, but Jagr said he has a good reason for looking so … unique.
 
"Just wanted to shave all the gray [hair] and that's what happened," Jagr said. "I don't want to dye it."
 
Teammates weren't impressed. Mostly they were speechless.
 
"I don't know really what to say about it," Grossmann told NHL.com. "I asked him and he didn't have an explanation. I guess he shaved off the white and kept the rest. … Maybe that's if that's a Czech thing."
 
Other teammates also said there's no chance of the trend catching on.
 
"I'll never do that," rookie center Eric Wellwood told NHL.com. "That's too ugly what he's doing. Don't tell him I said that."

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