The New Jersey Devils surprised a lot of hockey experts this past season in going from an NHL also-ran to one of the top teams in the league.
The Devils on Monday unleashed another stunner to open the playoffs against their river-rivals the New York Rangers — 22-year-old Swiss goaltender Akira Schmid.
Schmid rebounded from his only bad game and made 31 saves in Game 7 to lead the Devils to a 4-0 victory over the Rangers in a wildly entertaining series.
Photo: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY
“We believe in each other,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “We knew even last year didn’t go our way, lots of injuries, we have a good group here. We got a lot of good characters here.”
Coming off a franchise best 52-win season, the Devils today open the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Metropolitan Division-winning Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, North Carolina. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is on Friday.
The major reason the Devils advanced was Schmid, who had played in a total of 24 regular season games over the past two seasons.
After New York had a pair of 5-1 wins in the opening two games in New Jersey against starter Vitek Vanecek, Devils coach Lindy Ruff switched to Schmid and the youngster was unbelievable.
Over the next five games, Schmid went 4-1, allowing just two goals in his wins. He was driven from the net in Game 6 of a 5-2 loss in Madison Square Garden after giving up all five goals, but the Devils went with him in Game 7 and he delivered his second 4-0 shutout of the series.
“You’ve got to be ready if you get the chance, you know,” Schmid said. “And then you’ve got to take the opportunity and play well. Obviously the team helped me out a lot, making the transition a lot easier for me.”
Schmid admitted he surprised himself a little with how well he played.
Michael McLeod and Tomas Tatar scored second-period goals in the series decider and Erik Haula and Jesper Bratt added insurance goals in the third in the game between the long-time Hudson River rivals.
“Outstanding. Stone cold,” Tatar said of Schmid. “He just seems so patient in his crease, playing so well. He was a big part of this series. Coming in as a young goalie it’s not easy, but he stood tall.”
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