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Offensive outburst Devils beat Flyers' Boucher four times to take Game 1
Posted: Monday June 26, 2000 10:59 PM By Chris Stevenson, SLAM! Sports PHILADELPHIA -- The New Jersey Devils have this image, you see, the image being a boring, trapping team more intent on destroying than creating, more committed to stopping than going, more closed fist than open heart.
They found creative ways to score against Brian Boucher, the Flyers rookie sensation in goal who suddenly looked less imposing, including a goal by Devils centre Bobby Holik, who had gone 27 post-season games without scoring. It's not that the Devils didn't honestly come by their reputation for being a team Toronto Maple Leafs forward Steve Thomas described as exciting as watching paint dry. The Devils played in technicolour Sunday, showing a wide-ranging game that looked like the paint display at your corner hardware store. They showed this evolution of the club has more speed and skill than the 1995 Stanley Cup winners to go with their ability to play ferocious defence. They gave up just six shots in closing out the Leafs in the final game of their Eastern Conference semifinal, the fewest shots allowed in a game since they started keeping track in 1967. "We know we can play (a more open game). It was Toronto that was saying they felt we weren't a skating team, that we weren't an offensive team," said Devils defenceman Scott Niedermayer, who opened the scoring just 55 seconds into the game, silencing the orange-clad crowd. "That was just them talking. Just their opinion. We have a lot of talented players in this room, a lot of good skaters and we have confidence in that part of our game right now." The wide-open first period, which saw each club hammer 16 shots at the other's goaltender, concluded with the Flyers becoming victims of their own excesses. After Philly's Mark Recchi scored to tie the game 1-1, the Devils' Petr Sykora and then Holik scored just 26 seconds apart to effectively end the game right there, stripping the Flyers of home-ice advantage in the series. "We felt good at 1-1," said Flyers coach Craig Ramsay, "but then they got those two quick ones and that allowed them to settle into their game. "I thought we were a little too enthusiastic. It was a matter of being a little too fired up. It was a home game and we tried to create too much too early." That enthusiasm led to the Flyers getting caught out of position on Niedermayer and Holik's goals. After the Devils struck for that lead, they settled for dominating the middle of the ice. They got just four shots on net in both the second and third periods which was indicative of how they fell back and were content to frustrate the Flyers. Not even the presence of big centre Keith Primeau, a surprise starter after sustaining a concussion in the Flyers semifinal win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, could help them generate the pressure they needed to put on the Devils defenders. New Jersey's Claude Lemieux added a power-play goal in the third at 5:19 to put a definitive statement on the victory, the first power-play goal surrendered by the Flyers in their last 18 short-handed situations. The Flyers never managed to generate the speed they needed as the game ground on. The only Flyers sweaters moving quickly Sunday were the orange-clad fans who headed for the exits in the third, leaving the building half-empty with five minutes to go in the game. "It was 26 seconds that hurt us tonight," said Recchi. "Other than that, I thought we played a pretty good game. I think you'll see a more patient game from both sides [in Game 2] Tuesday. We're both good skating teams. I think they'll go back to the drawing board and say they don't want to give us as many chances. "We'll say we want to take away those mistakes."
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