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The exorcists? Bure, Panthers hope to become latest Devil-killers
Posted: Sunday April 09, 2000 11:09 PM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Maybe it was appropriate that the New Jersey Devils' regular-season finale with the Florida Panthers was played like a playoff game. When the Stanley Cup chase starts later this week at the Continental Airlines Arena, the Devils and Panthers will face each other again. The first-round pairing was finalized Sunday when the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New York Rangers 4-1 to clinch both the Atlantic Division title and the top seed in the Eastern Conference with 105 points. That dropped the Devils, who had 103 points, to the fourth seed behind division winners Washington and Toronto. Florida finished second in the Southeast Division with 97 points. If the best-of-7 series is anything like the Devils' 2-1 overtime win over the Panthers on Saturday that clinched home-ice advantage for New Jersey, it will be good and have interesting side shows. The most obvious will involve Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer and Panthers forward Peter Worrell. Niedermayer will miss the opening game of the playoffs as he finishes off a 10-game suspension for hitting Worrell over the head with his stick in a game here on Mar. 19. New Jersey, which won the Stanley Cup in 1995, also is haunted by the ghosts of recent playoff failures. As the top seed in the conference from 1997-99, it never made it past the second round, losing in the first the last two years. Florida, which lost the Stanley Cup final to Colorado in 1996, is making its first playoff appearance in three years. While the Devils won the season series 3-1, the teams finished on different notes. New Jersey was 9-14-2 in the final two months. Florida was 7-4-1 despite losing its final two games, including a 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday. "Nobody can say we are flying high coming into the playoffs as contenders," said Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. "We're a team trying to find ourselves. Everybody has to believe we're going to be able to do that." One difference this year is no one is expecting much from New Jersey, and that may remove some pressure. "We have a lot to prove, not only to ourselves but to everybody around the area," said Scott Gomez, whose 19-goal, 51-assist season makes him the leading candidate for the NHL's rookie of the year. Gomez doesn't know what happened to the Devils in their season-ending slump, and he doesn't care. "That's all over and done with," he said. "It's a whole new season. Hopefully, we'll come out the way we started the season." The game on Saturday was tight checking, with a lot of hitting and few scoring opportunities. Basically, it was playoff hockey. "They're a tough team, and we knew we'd be in for a battle," said Panther center Rob Niedermayer, Scott's brother. "With all the things that happened, there's a bit of a rivalry. The Devils are a big physical team. Anytime you play them, it will be a physical contest." Worrell probably could attest to that. The Panthers enforcer was hit almost every shift. He smiled after each one. Devils captain Scott Stevens also made sure Panthers leading scorer Pavel Bure knew he was around. Bure didn't seem to care.
"He always plays tough, that's his style," said Bure, whose
goal Sunday gave him a league-best 58, two shy of his single-season
career high. "You can play tough as well and finish all your
checks, or you can ignore it and concentrate on the game. I can
play either way."
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