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Sykora disappointed after being dropped from Game 4 lineup: “I feel like I can score some goals”

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Petr Skyora will be a healthy scratch for the first time this postseason when the Devils and Rangers lock horns for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. In his place, Jacob Josefson will return to the lineup and center a line between David Clarkson and Alexei Ponikarovsky.

Sykora, 35, is a two-time Stanley Cup champion that’s played in a remarkable five Stanley Cup finals. As such, he’s disappointed at being dropped from the lineup and feels he still has something to give.

“Obviously, I want to be out there,” he told NorthJersey.com. “I feel like I can score some goals, but it’s the way it is.”

Goals have been hard to come by for New Jersey this series -- they have just three in three games and have been shut out twice -- and the hope is that Josefson can produce some offense, something Sykora hasn’t done since Game 4 of the Philly series (he’s scoreless in four.) But what might be most interesting about the Josefson-for-Sykora swap wasn’t the players involved, but rather what Sykora had to say about beating Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist:

“He’s playing really deep in the net. I think we can surprise him with a few shots from far. He’s so deep, maybe just go around the D instead of going through zone. Maybe get a couple shots through the defensemen’s legs and just get a couple weird shots from the corners, create traffic, just something like that.

“When he sees the puck, he’s not going to let it in. We had some breakaways last game. We had some 2-on-1s. I had a shot from probably 10 to 15 feet and I thought I had a scoring shot, a perfect shot I ht and he still made a save.”

If Sykora’s managed to relay this intel to his teammates, don’t be surprised if the Devils start throwing pucks from the side boards or other unconventional angles.