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Super sub Sergei Brylin plays well as Nieuwendyk's replacement in Game 1Posted: Tuesday May 27, 2003 10:53 PMUpdated: Wednesday May 28, 2003 3:14 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Sergei Brylin was the perfect choice to replace injured New Jersey Devils center Joe Nieuwendyk in the opening game of the Stanley Cup finals against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Brylin set up Jeff Friesen for the game-winning goal early in the second period and the Devils defeated Anaheim 3-0 on Tuesday night to take the lead in the best-of-seven series. "Awesome," Devils center Scott Gomez said of Brylin. "To step in like that in the finals is just awesome. I have played with guy the most since I have been here and the guy is so underrated. He is so dangerous out there. He can do it all. ... He is one of the hardest working guys there is."
After John Madden missed a couple of chances in the opening minute of the second period, Brylin took a pass from Gionta, skated into the left corner and gave the impression he was going to skate behind the net. However, Brylin turned his body toward center ice and found Friesen in the left circle. Friesen's shot found an almost wide open left side when Jean-Sebastien Giguere got caught leaning to the right. "I saw some of the guys went down and I looked and saw Jeff there," Brylin said. "I just passed it. I wasn't thinking about going behind the net. He was open and I passed the puck." Friesen said Brylin played great filling in for Nieuwendyk, who had an undisclosed lower body injury in Game 6 against Ottawa in the conference finals. "He's a natural center man," Friesen said. "He supported the puck and made the job easy for us. He created some offensive chances and that was nice. I felt comfortable playing him. That's the great thing about Sergei Brylin. He's a great depth player. He played a game like that tonight and was great for us." The goal was Friesen's fourth in the Devils' last five wins. He had three game winners against Ottawa, including the one in Game 7. He added an empty-net goal in the final minute with Brylin on the ice, although he didn't get an assist. Brylin played center in the minor leagues, but he has been used mostly as a forward since joining the Devils in 1994-95. He missed the end of the season and the opening round of the playoffs with a broken wrist. "It's a huge loss with Joe and we missed him every part of the game," Madden said. "But when someone goes down, some one has to step up and Sergei played great." Grant Marshall, a late-season pickup from Columbus, got his fifth goal of the playoffs early in the third period to give New Jersey an insurance goal. Martin Brodeur only had to make 15 saves in recording his
career-high fifth shutout of the playoffs. His best stop was a
sprawling stop on Adam Oates in the third period with the Devils
ahead 2-0.
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