That annoyingly simplistic rule of “goaltending first” applies here, and it isn’t because of anything Martin Brodeur did.
If Tampa Bay goalie Johan Holmqvist can’t improve to at least mediocrity tonight, the Devils can grab a 2-0 lead, an advantage they’ve never blown, and threaten to end this first-round, best-of-7 series quickly.
Not only did the Devils win their playoff opener in a game they could have lost to decent goaltending, but they uncovered it as the first critical issue of this series. They’ll be hoping Holmqvist remains shaky tonight at the Meadowlands after allowing three, perhaps four goals that needed stopping in Thursday’s 5-3 Devils victory.
“We just want to get a lot of shots, right off the bat,” Scott Gomez said. “We want to test him right away.”
Holmqvist didn’t get any breaks from his teammates in practice yesterday. The scrimmaging Lightning scored on him just as easily as the Devils did, and his confidence couldn’t have improved much.
“If there’s so-so or average goaltending, it gets noticed,” Erik Rasmussen said. “You don’t have the luxury of having a couple of bad games.”
Hoping for the best seems all Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella could do.
“I think he’s going to be better. The nerves will be over,” Tortorella said of Holmqvist. “We want Holmie to play the way he plays, not test the waters.”
The Devils said they heard Tortorella, who has a reputation for being tough on goalies, yelling at Holmqvist from the bench after he allowed softies. Tortorella needs Holmqvist to quickly regain the form that prompted the coach to promote him over Marc Denis.
There’s no room for another subpar performance because these are the Devils, a team that is 10-for-10 after winning the opening two games of a series. If Holmqvist starts yielding stinkers again, Tortorella will have to make a move. It’s already tough enough for Tampa Bay, which has to snap the Devils’ streak of nine straight series wins in which they took the opener.
“A lot of playoff hockey is about confidence,” Paul Martin said. “When things are going well, you have that extra edge. As soon as you lose a game or two, you start to second-guess things.”
Tortorella exuded confidence yesterday, making it clear he thought his team played well Thursday – which it did.
“There are not going to be any adjustments,” Tortorella said. “We do need to execute even better.”
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The Devils haven’t lost a series in which they took the opener since falling to the Penguins in 1999. … Tampa Bay winger Martin St. Louis left practice early yesterday, but Tortorella said nothing was wrong, and that his players have the playoff option of deciding their needs. St. Louis played a game-high 28:07 Thursday.