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Somebody had to win Devils win Game 2 only because Panthers didn't
Posted: Monday April 17, 2000 10:52 PM
By Al Strachan, Toronto Sun EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The hand-written question on the board in the Florida Panthers' dressing room asked: "Who wants it more?" Those who watched the Panthers lose 2-1 to the New Jersey Devils last night would probably have answered: "Neither team." But somebody had to come out on top, and because the Devils did they have a 2-0 lead in their East Conference quarter-final. To say that New Jersey won would be stretching the point. It was more a case of the Panthers losing. "I think we feel a little like that," Florida captain Scott Mellanby said. "I think that both goals were the result of us breaking down and not being positioned where we should have been." That's putting it mildly. The Panthers even gave up a goal when they had a two-man advantage. A three-on-five goal should never happen. Unless it's a fluke, which this wasn't, it can result only from laziness and inattention to detail -- factors that should be non-existent in the playoffs. That goal turned the game around and might have turned the series around also. After all, the Panthers had a 1-0 lead until the unforgivable goal. Late in the first period, Florida sniper Pavel Bure tried to jam the puck past Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. The rebound went to Mike Sillinger who slammed it home. When the second period opened, the Panthers were in the golden-opportunity zone. They led on the road and were about to have a two-man advantage for 77 seconds. But when the Devils picked off one of the Panthers' many errant passes, Florida failed to respond. John Madden broke out with speed and Scott Niedermayer was able to blow past the day-dreaming Florida players to create a two-on-Todd Simpson. Florida goaltender Mike Vernon made the save on Madden's shot, but Niedermayer, in his first action since a 10-game suspension for whacking Panther Peter Worrell over the head, put the rebound into a yawning net. The goal provided more than a momentum shift. It was a case of Florida's momentum coming to a screeching halt and the Devils' rocketing in the other direction. "That was a huge goal for us," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "You just can't do that," Bure said. "You have to score five-on-three but we gave up a goal against." "It's tough because it was there for us," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "If you look at the way it unfolded, there was an opportunity to tie the series." It was not until the third period that the Devils scored the winner, but again it was the result of a cavalier approach to defence on the part of the Panthers. In the third period of a 1-1 playoff game, it would seem all but automatic to stay alert. But the Panthers were caught when a Devils defenceman jumped into the play. This time, it was Scott Stevens who manufactured a two-on-one break with Madden. Madden dished the puck off to send Stevens in alone and the veteran defenceman made a deke on Vernon and put the Devils in front at 3:42. The Panthers had chances after that -- Bure rang one off the post -- but playing hockey on the New Jersey ice is like playing pool on a cow pasture. The Panthers simply couldn't get the good bounces. LOOKED LIKE PRETENDERS It could be argued they didn't deserve them. The Devils, meanwhile, didn't look the least bit like serious Stanley Cup contenders and Robinson knew it. "We did what we were supposed to do," he said. "You're supposed to win your home games. But tonight's game and the other game could have gone either way. We have to be realistic. I'd like to see our team play well for the whole 60 minutes." Both teams committed countless unforced errors, mental mistakes and downright poor plays, but in the end, the Panthers committed more of them. "I think the bottom line for us," Murray said, "is that the opportunity to win the game was there. A five-on-three goal -- a short-handed goal -- and then to give up the winning goal to a defenceman beating us up ice. Those are things that you just can't give up." They certainly aren't given up often. In fact, Mellanby couldn't even remember another one. "But I'm going to remember this one," he said ruefully.
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