EASTERN FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 1:
#1 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS vs # 4 NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Series tied 0-0
Game time: Sunday May 14th, 2000 3pm at Philadelphia
The New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers meet in a rematch of the 1995 Eastern Conference finals.
The last time the Devils and Flyers met for the right to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, New Jersey won in six games, and then swept the heavily-favored Detroit Red Wings to win their only Cup.
The Flyers returned to the Eastern finals in 1997 and blew through the New York Rangers in five games before getting swept by Detroit in the Finals.
The 1995 meeting was the only time these Atlantic Division rivals have met in the postseason. They are separated by a two-hour ride on the New Jersey Turnpike.
These teams have taken similar paths late in the season to reach this point, having done it with coaches different than the ones that started the season.
Craig Ramsay in February replaced Roger Neilson, who at the time started chemotherapy treatments for a form of bone marrow cancer. Larry Robinson took over the Devils on March 23 when Robbie Ftorek was fired.
Ramsay rallied Philadelphia from a 15-point deficit past New Jersey to win the Eastern Conference in the regular season. The Devils ended up with the fourth seed despite the second-best mark in the East and the difference is that Philadelphia has home-ice advantage for this series. The East winner also will have home ice in the Stanley Cup Finals.
New Jersey had sputtered in the playoffs after winning the Cup. After that triumph, the Devils traded Claude Lemieux, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff most valuable player. They re-acquired Lemieux early this season and although he has not been the player he was in the Cup run in 1995, perhaps his mere presence has aided New Jersey.
On the flip side, the Flyers have played a long period without their top star, center Eric Lindros, who remains plagued by concussions. It has mattered little, as Philadelphia has ridden goaltender Brian Boucher and defenseman Andy Delmore, a pair of rookies, to wins over the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins in the first two rounds.
The Flyers might be without center Keith Primeau, who has a concussion and is questionable. Their other top two centers, Daymond Langkow and Simon Gagne, also are nursing injuries but are expected to play. Langkow has a groin strain and Gagne has a finger injury.