Stanley Cup Finals Notebook

Kariya running out of time to be a factor in finals

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- On a team that had few recognizable players to casual hockey fans before the playoffs, Paul Kariya is a very big name for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He also makes a very big salary, $10 million a season.

His high visibility on what until recently was a low-profile team hasn't translated into high scoring in his first Stanley Cup finals. Kariya has only one assist and, in a 6-3 Devils victory in Game 5 that featured nine goals and 60 shots, he didn't take a single shot.

Three Stars      SI.com's Jon A. Dolezar gives you his three stars of the Devils' Game 5 win.  Analysis and Opinion  • Darren Eliot: Defenses go AWOL More Stories  • Game 5: Recap | Box Score • Devils pick up sluggish Brodeur • Early goal not enough for Ducks • Pandolfo thought goal would count • Ducks need win in Jersey eventually • First-period offers scoring frenzy • Notes: Home teams remain perfect • Line Analysis: Mighty Ducks | Devils • Goalie Analysis: Giguere | Brodeur  Instant Poll  Who has been the most important player for the Devils in the series? Martin Brodeur Patrik Elias Jeff Friesen Brian Gionta Jamie Langenbrunner Scott Niedermayer View Results

Kariya, a creative scorer for a decade, has been asked to take fewer offensive risks and play a more defense-driven system by coach Mike Babcock. It also doesn't help he still draws the opposing team's best defensive pairing.

That's one reason why Babcock uses his best offensive players -- Kariya, Petr Sykora and Adam Oates -- together on the same line during home games. Because the home team gets the final line change, Babcock puts his stars together to create matchups he thinks are more favorable for them.

"But they [the Devils] are a very good defensive team," Oates said Friday. "Paul's asked to play a certain way and he's doing it. It's tough."

It's also been tough for Kariya to score goals; he hasn't scored one in seven games and has only three points in his last 10 playoff games.

With the Mighty Ducks possibly down to their last game of the season, they're running out of time for Kariya to start making a difference offensively.

"It's going to come," Kariya said. "As a team ... we started to move the puck better the last three games. And myself, I have to start creating more chances out there."

He certainly hears about it when he doesn't.

"That comes with the territory," he said. "My job is to produce offensively and create scoring chances. If I'm not doing it, I'll get a lot more heat than the guys on the fourth line. I've been through ups and downs through my career. As long as I stick with it and keep working, it will come."

Murray mad about unbalanced power-play chances

Mighty Ducks general manager Bryan Murray complained to the NHL after New Jersey got four power-play chances to Anaheim's one in Game 5. So far, the Devils are 2-for-16 on the power play to Anaheim's 0-for-9.

No pep talk from Jiggy

After the Ducks were badly outplayed in two series-opening losses in New Jersey, Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere gave his teammates a pep talk before Game 3. They responded by winning consecutive overtime games on home ice to even the series.

Did Jiggy pull a Knute Rockne during an off-day team meeting Friday?

According to Sykora, "Nobody said anything," because it wasn't necessary.

"Everybody knows hockey," Sykora said. "We know we can't play that way again. We know we're going to change it and we're going to play better [in Game 6]. You don't get too many chances like this. There is no tomorrow."

"The team is confident. That hasn't changed. I'm confident, Jiggy is confident. This is just another game for us."

Home is where the wins are

Home teams are 5-for-5 in the series, the first time that's happened since 1978.

The home team has won every game in a seven-game series only twice: the Red Wings over the Canadiens in 1955 and the Canadiens over the Blackhawks in 1965.

Langenbrunner in the lead

With his two goals Thursday, the Devils' Jamie Langenbrunner leads all playoff scorers with 18 points and 11 goals.

Until Game 5, the Wild's Marian Gaborik was the leading scorer with 17, even though Minnesota was eliminated in four games in the Western Conference finals.

Six and out

Thirteen of the 17 teams that won Game 5 of a finals that was tied at 2 went on to win the Stanley Cup, 11 in Game 6. Two won in Game 7.

Not yet deer season

Babcock said Game 5 reminded him of an offseason drive back home in Saskatchewan.

"I can remember coming around a corner too fast and running into a deer," he said. "That's exactly what we looked like three times in New Jersey, like that deer when I was about to hit it -- a deer in the headlights. I don't know why that is."

Red Wings East

The Red Wings, the NHL's highest-scoring club, scored only six goals in four games against Anaheim. New Jersey, certainly not known for its offense, has scored 13 times in five games against Giguere -- 11 on the Devils' home ice.

"If you make him work, it's fine," Devils coach Pat Burns said. "If you don't make him work, like [in Game 4], he looks great. We have to make him work."

Busy time possible for Continental Airlines Arena

If there's a Game 7 on Monday night, Continental Airlines Arena will be the site of NBA and NHL finals games on successive days. Game 3 of the Spurs-Nets NBA Finals is Sunday at the arena.

 

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