PHILADELPHIA — The shakeup would be as big as it gets among the Devils, if Pete DeBoer goes through with separating Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk. It’s even bolder on the heels of their first playoff triumph in five years.
DeBoer wouldn’t promise to open the second round against the Flyers this afternoon with his two biggest guns on different lines, but the shuffled pieces believe it.
“I don’t know if these are the combinations we’ll play tomorrow or not,” DeBoer said. “I just wanted to try something with Parise in practice.”
DeBoer replaced left wing Parise with Alexei Ponikarovsky alongside Travis Zajac and Kovalchuk, while Parise bumped Petr Sykora from the line with Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus.
The obvious intent would be to juice up the Elias’ line and give the Devils a more spread-out attack.
“We scored well 5-on-5. We outscored Florida almost 2-1 (13-6), so we had some good things,” DeBoer said. “But there’s always room for improvement.
“Our fourth line generated a lot of offense. Our top two lines were a little sporadic,” he added. “Throughout the series we’ll try different things until we get everybody going.”
Kovalchuk scored three goals, Parise two in the seven-game triumph over the Panthers. Elias, the franchise’s record regular season and playoff scorer, had two goals and no assists in the seven games. Elias is too good a player, too important an offensive factor to let wither.
“I have no answer,” Elias said. Zubrus did.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that our fourth line was probably our best 5-on-5,” Zubrus told The Post. “Our line didn’t do enough 5-on-5 and I don’t think [Zajac’s] line did much 5-on-5. We need to be better.”
Captain Parise said he was surprised about the shift.
“A little bit, yeah. We won the series,” Parise said. “At the same time, we have to get more production. “Everyone played well in the first round. If they weren’t scoring, they were doing other things well and that was great to see. But we need to get a little more offense. That might have something to do with it.”
Kovalchuk said the message he received is clear.
“I think I’m just going to shoot more,” Kovalchuk told The Post. “Playing with Zach, we were overpassing the puck.
“This might be one reason Pete separated us.”
Whether DeBoer goes through with it today, he reopened the possibilities this yet-underachieving offense offers.
“Why not?” Kovalchuk said. “Maybe get some guys going.”
DeBoer himself sounded ready to make the move that seems justified — and proactive one.
“Any kind of change is refreshing and gives players different jump and a different look,” DeBoer said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to make a change. We’ve won a lot of games over the past month with the lines we had. I haven’t made any decisions.
“But any time you make changes, you usually get a positive reaction.”
DeBoer’s theory balance that against Page 1 of the mythical coach’s playoff manual that says ‘”Don’t Mess It Up.”
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The Flyers will have been off a week since ousting the Stanley Cup-favorite Penguins in six.
“I hope they’re a little stale and we pick up where we left off,” DeBoer said.
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Bryce Salvador said he thought Kris Versteeg broke his left wrist with a slash in Game 7 Thursday. He returned to finish that game and said there are no issues. … Of Jaromir Jagr playing at age 40, Elias said, “I’d like to.” … The Devils have lost their last two series against Flyers, each in five, in 2010 and in 2004.