After a nail-biting Game 7, during which it seemed like the theme of this post might turn out to be "Who's your goat for Round 1?" the question is a more positive one, and we have a fresh new series on the not-too-distant horizon.

So who is your Devils MVP for the first round? Candidates:

The hot rookie, Adam Henrique: Only three points on the series, but without his two Game 7 goals, including the second-OT game-winner, we probably are asking for goats.

The 20-year playoff goalie, Martin Brodeur

: Today is the 20th anniversary of Marty's first playoff appearance, and at times this series he seemed even older than that. But while not quite standing on his head in Game 7, he turned back a barrage of shots and an invigorated Panthers squad that woke up late - his coach called him "the best player on the ice." Brodeur also arguably had one of his best-ever games when he blanked the Panthers to even the series 2-2, one game after getting pulled. Overall, the numbers look pretty strong - 4-2, 2.06 GAA, .922 save pct.



The comeback kid, Travis Zajac: He played only 15 regular-season games due to an Achilles tendon injury, but he led the Devils with 6 points in the first round. His big highlight was the Game 6 OT game-winner.

The one who might have done more, Ilya Kovalchuk: Even if it's easy to make a case that the high-priced winger could be doing lots more (suspicions that he's injured notwithstanding), Kovy did put five points on the board and did come up huge in Game 6, scoring a brilliant power-play goal and making the key assist on Zajac's OT game-winner.

Arguably there's no clear-cut winner, and we did leave captain Zach Parise off the poll, so feel free to use the "Other" selection in the poll to the right, and however you vote, drop down to the comments section below and explain your thinking.