Lindy Ruff recalls first playoff experience as several Devils finally get theirs

Plenty had been made about playoff experience — or lack thereof — going into the Devils’ first-round matchup with the Rangers, so it seemed only fitting that Devils coach Lindy Ruff was asked about his first Stanley Cup Playoff game.

Ruff played 12 years in the NHL, which included parts of three seasons with the Rangers in the early 90s, but a majority of his career had been played in Buffalo. It was there with the Sabres that Ruff got his first taste of the postseason as a player all the way back on April 12, 1980.

The now-Devils coach had three shot attempts in what would be a Sabres 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

“Just turned 20. I can remember how nervous I was,” Ruff said following the Devils’ morning skate on Tuesday. “Excited, but nervous. Just an opportunity to chase that dream. You know as a young kid from Canada you thought you get to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs, this is frickin incredible. Probably a naiveness to that.”

The Devils have 10 players on their roster that are experiencing the playoffs for the first time, which is what brought on the trip down memory lane for Ruff. Since that first time, Ruff appeared in 52 career playoff games and recorded 24 playoff points.

But the Devils’ head coach has never forgotten that first trip to the postseason and he understands what those guys are going through now.

“I think that we have players like that,” he said. “I said yesterday, were a little bit of a group of rebels that we go and play. And we’re confident in the way we’re playing. And you can’t play scared, you can’t play tentative, you can’t be scared to go. You got to get to your game right away.”

Jesper Bratt has one game in the postseason, which means he isn’t a total newbie, but Tuesday’s morning skate was the first time that he’s gotten to see what the Prudential Center has looked like decked out in playoff attire.

The last time a playoff hockey game took place in Newark was Game 4 of the Devils’ first-round series with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018. Bratt was reportedly a bit in awe when he stepped onto the ice for skate and saw rally towels on every seat in the building.

“It was awesome. It’s been a lot of years when I played here when we never had an opportunity to go out like that,” Bratt said. “Obviously, those brought a lot of joy to me when I saw them and just want the game to start.”