They’ve saved the best for first, this Rangers-Devils series that will make memories and define the season. Every matchup will be scrutinized, every decision debated, every call ripped. Emotions will run out of control, and with these teams, marvelous hockey is not only likely, it’s imperative.
The players are drooling as much as the fans.
“Whatever the outcome, this is something I’m going to remember the rest of my life,” Devils bulldog John Madden said. “This is something you just want to experience as a player.”
It all starts this afternoon at the sold-out Meadowlands. Hype isn’t necessary for this fourth meeting between the 8-mile rivals, but the credential count stood at 275 for press and media yesterday, simply because this is compelling.
It’s Old School vs. Nouveau NHL, the Devils having won three Stanley Cups since the Rangers won their last. It’s the team that last missed the playoffs in 1996 facing the squad that last made them in 1997, foes that finished one point apart in the standings and split the season series, each going 4-3-1.
It’s also the Devils, the guys with the luster to lose, who’ve never beaten the Rangers in the playoffs, welcoming them back to the tournament after seven straight seasons out. They intend to keep that visit short and put an end to the Rangers’ perfect playoff record against them. The Rangers will be seeking to reassert their former dominance in the area, and prove their flashier style of play is also viable in the postseason.
“It’s great for hockey. You need the big-money teams in the playoffs,” Madden said. “It’s good for the business. With teams that are so popular, it makes for better hockey, better media coverage. It’s good for the area.”
The Meadowlands will be a place of split loyalties, rival factions alternately out-cheering each other. The Devils come into this Battle of the Hudson having won their final 11 games, the hottest team ever to enter the postseason. They also engineered the greatest comeback (19 points out) to win a division since the divisions began in 1974-75.
The Rangers enter the series dogged by a flu outbreak, injuries to key players, and a five-game, season-ending losing streak that cost them the division crown and home ice today.
“You don’t get 100 points by not being a good team,” Devils CEO-president-GM-coach Lou Lamoriello (32-14-4) warned.
It all could matter greatly. It all could mean nothing.
“Game 1,” Rangers defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said, “can change a lot. Maybe we can put the Devils in a slump.”
That’s what makes today so vital. It can reinforce recent history, or consign it to the trivia cupboard.
mark.everson@nypost.com
