Devils Need No Disguises Beating Flyers For Stanley Cup Berth Help New Jersey Forget About Failures
The ghosts of a Game 6 failure a year ago have been exorcised. The decade-long turnaround from a so-called Mickey Mouse franchise is complete.
The New Jersey Devils are going to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time.
The Devils earned the right to play for Lord Stanley’s trophy against the Detroit Red Wings by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 Tuesday night to capture the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final in six games.
“This has been so long coming,” said defenseman Bruce Driver, who along with John MacLean and Ken Daneyko have gone through thick and thin since John McMullen moved the Colorado Rockies franchise to New Jersey in 1982.
“I remember grabbing Johnny Mac at the end, not a word was said,” Daneyko added. “We knew what each other was feeling. He was flashing back to all the past games. I’m sure he was. I know I was.”
The past was never pleasant for the Devils, a team referred to as Mickey Mouse-like by Wayne Gretzky in the 1980s.
But they improved and three times previously were a victory from a berth in the finals. The Devils lost Game 7 of the 1988 Wales Conference final to Boston, and last year led the New York Rangers 3-2 in their best-of-seven series. However, Mark Messier delivered on a guarantee to win Game 6 by scoring three goals to wipe out 2-0 lead and then Stephane Matteau scored in double overtime in Game 7, sending the Rangers to what eventually would be their first Stanley Cup in 54 years.
This time the Devils, whose early history in New Jersey was spent near the bottom of the standings, didn’t let it slip away.
“We learned from last year,” said Stephane Richer, who tied the game at 1-1 with a powerplay goal. We realized we made a mistake last year. It hurt to lose the series. Tonight before the game we were scared. We were so scared to lose because of what happened last year.”
New Jersey never came close to losing this one in becoming the first team in this series to win a home game.
Whether New Jersey is home much longer to the Devils remains to be seen. The team is exploring a move to Nashville, Tenn., but on Tuesday night, with a roaring crowd and Gov. Christine Whitman in the stands, the Devils and New Jersey seemed perfect together.
Philadelphia took an early 1-0 lead on Jim Montgomery’s first career playoff goal. However, that would be as close as the Flyers would come. Their other goal came late on a powerplay by Mikael Renberg.
“I think we were as hungry as they were,” Renberg said. “But they had more experience than we had. That was the key. We learned a lot. I guess we’ll be even better next year.
The Devils’ neutral ice trap limited Philadelphia to just 16 shots against Martin Brodeur, and New Jersey got the goals it needed from Richer, Brian Rolston, Randy McKay and Claude Lemieux.
The vaunted Legion of Doom line of Eric Lindros, Renberg and John LeClair finished with just five goals in the series after scoring 81 of the team’s 150 in the regular season in leading the Flyers to the Atlantic Division title.
“It’s frustrating,” Flyers forward Kevin Dineen said. “We were two games away from the Finals. Now we’re over 100 games away from the Finals. It’s a long way back. It’s a long summer.”
Montgomery gave the Flyers the lead for only the second time in the series at 4:05 when his shot from the top of the right circle appeared to hit off the stick of defenseman Tommy Albelin and beat Brodeur on a bounce.
It quieted the boisterous crowd of 19,040 fans until the Devils took advantage of a questionable tripping penalty against Shjon Podein, seconds after teammate Rod Brind’Amour was dumped in front of the New Jersey net.
The Devils kept the puck in the Flyers end for almost the opening 90 seconds before Neal Broten stopped a shot by Scott Niedermayer to the left of Flyers goalie Ron Hextall and sent a cross ice pass to an open Richer for his first goal in 11 playoff games and 50th of his career.
Rolston, who was inserted into the lineup for Valeri Zelepukin, put New Jersey ahead for good with 1:45 left in the first period, slipping a rebound of Bill Guerin’s shot just over the goal line. The play started as a counter-attack after Niedermayer broke up a 3-on-2 at the other end.
Devils 4, Flyers 2
Philadelphia 1 0 1 - 2 New Jersey 2 1 1 - 4
First period-1, Philadelphia, Montgomery 1 (Semenov, Antoski), 4:05. 2, New Jersey, Richer 4 (Broten, Niedermayer), 10:25 (pp). 3, New Jersey, Rolston 2 (Guerin, Niedermayer), 18:15.
Second period-4, New Jersey, McKay 7 (Holik, Chambers), 11:58.
Third period-5, New Jersey, Lemieux 11 (Carpenter, Richer), 10:11. 6, Philadelphia, Renberg 6 (Lindros, LeClair), 16:29 (pp).
Shots on goal-Philadelphia 5-5-6-16. New Jersey 10-12-7-29.Power-play opp.-Philadelphia 1 of 3; New Jersey 1 of 3.Goalies-Philadelphia, Hextall 10-5 (29 shots-25 saves). New Jersey, Brodeur 12-4 (16-14).A-19,040 (19,040).