Adam Larsson has played just one game of the Devils' final six entering the playoffs, earning 12:39 of ice time in the season finale against Ottawa. Prior to that he had missed five straight games. But today coach Pete DeBoer said that the expectation is that he will play in the first round against Florida.

At some point.

"For sure, there’s an opportunity to play," he said. "We’ve got seven 'D' here. And the way playoff hockey works, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to have use all seven at different points."

The fourth overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, the 19-year-old defenseman finished with two goals and 18 points in his rookie season. He was displaced towards the end of the season by Peter Harrold.

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The Devils start their playoff series Friday, the last day for any Game 1 of the round. It will be almost a full week wait after they last played Saturday.

So to prepare and deal with the wait, they went through a strenuous practice today and have been biding their time all week.

"I think we’ve pushed for game speed out there," DeBoer said. "That’s what we’re looking for. The guys responded well. It’s been a long week of waiting around. I don’t know if there’s an exact formula for making sure you’re ready to go at top speed tomorrow night when the puck drops but I think we’ve managed it the best we could and I think we’re ready."

It will be a playoff debut for DeBoer. He did not reach the postseason in three years in Florida. But don't expect him to do anything different. He says he will rely on his experience in pressure-packed games at other levels. He said the biggest thing he's learned is to avoid over-coaching and overthinking it.

"We’ve laid the foundation all year to get to this point," he said. "We just have to rely on it and keep going back to it. That’s the key.”

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Kris Versteeg has had a good deal of success against the Devils this year. He has five goals and assist in four games this season.

That has not gone unnoticed.

"We've had meetings on Florida's team play and we've looked at individual players' tendencies and he's definitely one of the guys we've talked about," DeBoer said.



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Mike Vorkunov: mvorkunov@starledger.com; twitter.com/Mike_Vorkunov