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You bet your Elias! Devils winger finishes off Philly in Game 7
Posted: Monday June 26, 2000 10:01 PM
By Mike Ulmer, SLAM! Sports PHILADELPHIA -- Eric Lindros' homecoming lasted seven minutes and 50 seconds. The Philadelphia Flyers' hopes of facing the Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche for the Stanley Cup vanished some 21/2 hours later. Patrik Elias scored his second goal of the game with 2:32 left as the New Jersey Devils dropped the Flyers 2-1 last night to claim the Eastern Conference crown, four games to three.
Elias was cruising the slot when a shot from linemate Jason Arnott trickled between him and Flyers defenceman Dan McGillis. Elias first lifted McGillis' stick, then garnered the puck and slipped it past Philadelphia goaltender Brian Boucher for his seventh goal of the post-season. "Arny kind of missed it," Elias said, "and I just sort of lifted his stick and snuck in." The Devils became the first team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a third-round series. Two of the final three wins came in Philadelphia. Lindros, who missed 10 weeks because of post-concussion syndrome, was helped off the ice after he was hit in the head by New Jersey's Scott Stevens in the first period. Lindros was playing in his second game -- his first at home -- since rejoining the Flyers. The 6-foot-4, 236-pound Lindros was skating up ice with the puck when Stevens blindsided him 7:50 into the first period. Just before the hit, Devils forward Jay Pandolfo impeded Lindros' progress by placing his stick between Lindros' legs. Stevens was shaken over the hit. "I had a lot of trouble playing after that," the Kitchener native said. "I hate to see that happen." Lindros appeared to bang his head on the ice. No penalty was called. He was taken to Pennsylvania Hospital and was expected to be held overnight. The hospital would not release any information on his condition. The NHL fined the Flyers $10,000, apparently for violating playoff regulations by not releasing information on Lindros' injury. "It was sickening," said Flyers forward John LeClair, who helped Lindros off the ice. "It's a great concern. We all know his history." Last night the Devils seemed to have the game in hand when Elias scored just 6:44 into the opening period. The goal, a result of a pretty three-way passing play that included Bobby Holik and Arnott, came just 20 seconds after Keith Jones was sent off for roughing. The owner of the game's first goal won all seven games of the series. The Devils dominated the first period and frittered away several good scoring chances. With six minutes left in the second, Rick Tocchet chopped in a rebound after John LeClair had bowled over Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. The Flyers outshot New Jersey 15-8 in the frame and 23-14 after two. Elias said the Devils saw their chance slipping away in the second intermission. "Going into the third we realized how close we were to going to the final. We just wanted to prove that we could. We've got big hearts on this team and we knew if we wanted to go to the final, we would have to pick it up."
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