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Determined Devils New Jersey foils Philly's bid to end series
Posted: Monday June 26, 2000 10:35 PM PHILADELPHIA (CNNSI.com) -- Road, sweet road. The New Jersey Devils avoided elimination in the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers thanks to a goal apiece from linemates Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott and Patrik Elias.
"I don't understand," Philadelphia coach Craig Ramsay said. "Normally, we are a pretty good home team and I know that they are. But there are two evenly matched teams and someone just has a little edge one night. It doesn't matter where you play, that has always been our thinking. We don't care where we play." Philadelphia, which won three straight after dropping the series opener, might have star center Eric Lindros back by then. Lindros, who has had two concussions in the last three months, was cleared by his doctor Monday to resume full team practices. Thirteen teams have rallied from 3-1 deficits to win a series, but never in a conference final. That does not include two teams which came back from 3-0 to win. The Flyers are 14-1 in series in which they have taken a 3-1 lead. "We had to win this game, bottom line," New Jersey captain Scott Stevens said. "We had our backs against the wall here tonight coming into a hostile building. We won the game and have to go back to our building and get it." That might be easier said than done. The road team has won each game in this series except for Game 2 when the Flyers got even. Philadelphia, 6-1 in road playoff games this season, is only 5-4 at the First Union Center. "There was no tomorrow," said Holik, who has all three of his playoff goals this season in this series. "We had to start playing well from the first drop of the puck to the last. "Subconsciously you might be a little bit more ready to play," Holik said of road games. "You're more focused, more determined to win on the road than at home because at home you feel too comfortable. That's why the visiting team catches you by surprise and you get behind the 8-ball." It was only the second time in franchise history that the Devils avoided elimination on the road. New Jersey won Game 7 of the division finals at Washington in 1988. The Flyers would be just as happy to wrap up their eighth trip to the Stanley Cup finals in New Jersey. "We don't want to get too down here," Flyers goalie Brian Boucher said. "We are still up 3-2 and we have a wonderful opportunity to go up there and do it. We know we can play better than that and hopefully we can get it done in Game 6." Martin Brodeur, who was not sharp in the previous two losses, looked much better and made 20 saves for his 10th playoff victory this season. The Flyers had 21 shots for the third straight game, matching their playoff low. "Our team made a concerted effort to play the game smart, get the puck in, forecheck, play hard all over the ice and I hope we do the same thing in Game 6," veteran defenseman Ken Daneyko said. New Jersey center Sergei Nemchinov left with 3:02 gone in the second period after he was bloodied by a check from John LeClair. Nemchinov took 40 stitches to the left side of his head after striking the glass near the penalty box and then was rammed into a metal partition holding it in place. The Devils responded to the screaming done by coach Larry Robinson following their 3-1 loss at home in Game 4 when they allowed two goals in the third period. "He was very mad because we lost two games just because we didn't work hard for 60 minutes," Elias said. "I think we figured it out that we didn't realize how close we are to accomplish something great here." New Jersey came out fast and hard and grabbed a 1-0 lead when Arnott scored his fourth playoff goal 10:25 in, with two seconds remaining on a power play. Holik made it 2-0 just 4:50 later. In Games 2-4, the Devils were outscored 11-6. "It's always nice to get the first goal," Robinson said. "If they get the first goal in this building, all of a sudden it's a whole different game." Vladimir Malakhov fired a shot that Boucher stopped with his pad. The rebound came out to Holik, who put it past Boucher who was sprawled out on the ice. Holik, who took four shots in the first period, had gone 28 playoff games without a postseason goal before scoring in Game 1. "I don't really want to talk about my goals because it's not important," Holik said. "It's just a result of the work I put in for the team." New Jersey dominated play throughout the period, finishing with a 14-6 shots advantage and didn't waste any time stretching the lead to 3-0 in the second when Sykora scored his sixth goal. Elias' pass attempt to Sykora was blocked by Flyers defenseman Luke Richardson. Elias got it back and moved it to Sykora, who put a shot behind Boucher at 1:47. The Flyers got on the board with 4:15 left in the second on Valeri Zelepukin's first goal. The goal was the first the Devils allowed this series in nine short-handed situations. It snapped New Jersey's streak of 32 straight penalty kills dating to the last round against Toronto. The goal came when Brodeur swung the puck around the boards behind his net. Mark Recchi intercepted and passed out in front to Zelepukin. Brodeur went down, scrambling to get back into position as Zelepukin skated deftly around him and tucked the puck into the lower right corner of the net. Elias put the game away 54 seconds into the third with his fifth goal. After a giveaway in neutral ice, Elias skated in and beat Boucher between the pads with a backhander. The Flyers rookie goalie stopped 26 shots. "Brian was good," Philadelphia interim coach Craig Ramsay said. "I thought he was good early. They were getting all the chances, not us. He hung in there real well." Flyers center Daymond Langkow returned after missing the previous two games with a concussion.
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