The Devils' Road to the Stanley Cup Final

After squeaking by the pesky Panthers, the Devils got on a roll against the the heavily-favored Flyers, who'd come off a wild six-game series against the Cup-favorite Penguins. After dropping Game 1 in Philadelphia in OT, it was announced that sniper Ilya Kovalchuk had a herniated disc in his lower back and would miss a minimum of one game. Despite their 1-0 hole and injury setback, the Devils rose in Game 2 with a boost from rookie defenseman Adam Larsson. Playing in his first ever playoff game, Larsson scored his first postseason goal as the Devils earned the road split and seized home ice advantage. Kovalchuk returned for Game 3, producing a goal and assisting on two more including Alexei Ponikarovsky's OT winner. Refusing to take the frustrated Flyers' invitations to scrap, the disciplined Devils went on to win the next two contests and take the series in five games.