Ny Ousts Devils In Ot

NHL playoffs

Another overtime. Another wraparound. Another New York Rangers playoffs victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Adam Graves scored on a wraparound at 14:08 of overtime as the Rangers eliminated the Devils for the third time in six seasons and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a 2-1 win on Sunday. The Rangers will meet the Flyers starting Friday in Philadelphia.

Mike Richter stopped 46 shots in leading the Rangers to a 4-1 series upset of the Devils, the regular-season conference champions. He stopped 177 of the 181 shots he faced in the five games. He also picked up an assist on the Rangers’ first goal.

The Rangers will face Philadelphia for the conference title. The Flyers beat Buffalo to win that series 4-1.

The end to this series was remarkably similar to the last time the teams met in the playoffs in 1994, except that was it Stephane Matteau somehow finding a way to beat Brodeur coming from behind the net. New York went on to win its first Stanley Cup since 1940.

Graves got the game-winner this time after skating around the net with Scott Stevens draped all over him. Brodeur’s poke-check attempt missed and the puck banked in off his leg.

Esa Tikkanen also scored for New York, while Brian Rolston was the only Devils player to score.

The series matched the Rangers’ superstars against the Devils’ strategy and this time the stars won by beating the Devils at their own game. The Devils scored only five goals, one into an empty net.

Bill Guerin had a great chance to force Game 6, but he hit the goalpost with 1:10 left in regulation on a rebound of a deflected shot. Seconds later, defenseman Ken Daneyko missed the net with Richter on the ice.

Rangers 2, Devils 1 (OT)

N.Y. Rangers 1 0 0 1 - 2

New Jersey 0 1 0 0 - 1

First period-1, New York, Tikkanen 7 (Gretzky, Richter), 7:53. Second period-2, New Jersey, Rolston 4, 12:02 (pp). Third period-None. Overtime-3, New York, Graves 2 (Courtnall, Messier), 14:08. Shots on goal-New York 5-6-14-6-31. New Jersey 10-20-12-5-47.Power-play opp.-New York 0 of 2; New Jersey 1 of 4.Goalies-New York, Richter 8-2 (47 shots-46 saves). New Jersey, Brodeur 5-5 (31-29).A-19,040 (19,040).

Flyers 6, Sabres 3

Buffalo, N.Y.

Eric Lindros scored two goals - one on a penalty shot - within 41 seconds as Philadelphia eliminated Buffalo 4 games to 1.

Lindros, held in check in the first four games, took control of the game in the second period when he scored on a breakaway and the penalty shot for a 3-0 lead.

Lindros’ first goal came on a breakaway at 8:32 of the second period after Rod Brind’Amour chipped the puck away from Buffalo defenseman Darryl Shannon in the neutral zone. Lindros skated into the Buffalo zone and found the top corner with a quick wrist shot.

His second goal came after he caught Shields well out of the net before getting dragged to the ice by Shannon and earning the penalty shot. He briefly lost control of the puck before beating Shields on a backhand.

Ron Hextall, making his first postseason appearance, stopped 21 shots. The Flyers started Hextall instead of Garth Snow, who is 7-2 with a 2.53 goals-against average in the playoffs.

Sabres goalie Steve Shields, playing again for injured star Dominik Hasek, made 34 saves.

Philadelphia 0 4 2 - 6

Buffalo 0 3 0 - 3

First period-No scoring. Second period-1, Philadelphia, LeClair 5 (Coffey, Brind’Amour), 5:27. 2, Philadelphia, Lindros 5 (Brind’Amour, Therien), 8:32. 3, Philadelphia, Lindros 6 (penalty shot), 9:13. 4, Buffalo, Grosek 3 (Plante, Barnaby), 10:07. 5, Buffalo, Burridge 4 (Galley, Audette), 14:19 (pp). 6, Philadelphia, Zubrus 3 (Desjardins, Brind’Amour), 14:51. 7, Buffalo, Burridge 5 (Plante), 19:59 (pp). Third period-8, Philadelphia, Podein 3 (Lindros, Therien), 6:00. 9, Philadelphia, Zubrus 4 (Klatt, LeClair), 19:48 (en).

Shots on goal-Philadelphia 17-13-10-40. Buffalo 9-9-6-24.Power-play opp.-Philadelphia 0 of 2; Buffalo 2 of 6.Goalies-Philadelphia, Hextall 1-0 (24 shots-21 saves). Buffalo, Shields 4-6 (39-34).A-18,595 (18,595).

Avalanche 4, Oilers 3

Denver

Adam Deadmarsh scored with just 1:08 left to push Stanley Cup champion Colorado into a rematch of last season’s bitter Western Conference final with Detroit. It starts Thursday in Denver.

The Avalanche eliminated a tough Edmonton team, 4 games to 1.

Deadmarsh, Colorado’s leading goal-scorer during the regular season, also put Colorado ahead 2-0 early in the second period. Edmonton rallied to tie and, after each team scored in the third period, Deadmarsh got a power-play goal, beating Curtis Joseph from in front of the goal on a pass from Valeri Kamensky.

Edmonton pulled Joseph and, thanks to a Colorado penalty, had a 6-on-4 advantage in the final 41 seconds but couldn’t get a shot on goal.

Claude Lemieux, the NHL leader in playoff goals, scored his 10th.

Edmonton 0 2 1 - 3

Colorado 1 1 2 - 4

First period-1, Colorado, Sakic 4 (Gusarov), 13:56. Second period-2, Colorado, Deadmarsh 2 (Ozolinsh), 4:56. 3, Edmonton, Marchant 4 (Murray, Mironov), 9:38 (sh). 4, Edmonton, Arnott 3 (Kovalenko, Weight), 17:52. Third period-5, Colorado, Lemieux 10 (Kamensky), :35. 6, Edmonton, Kovalenko 4 (Mironov, Smyth), 13:49 (pp). 7, Colorado, Deadmarsh 3 (Kamensky, Lemieux), 18:52 (pp). Shots on goal-Edmonton 14-7-8-29. Colorado 6-7-16-29.Power-play opp.-Edmonton 1 of 3; Colorado 1 of 2.Goalies-Edmonton, Joseph 5-7 (29 shots-25 saves). Colorado, Roy 8-3 (29-26).A-16,061 (16,061).