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Sweet redemption Devils even series with 2-1 win at Colorado
Updated: Wednesday June 13, 2001 12:39 AM
By Chris Stevenson, SLAM! Sports DENVER -- Bob Corkum showed a lot speed, the way he burst down that right wing in the first period. "That's what happens," the New Jersey Devils forward said, "when you don't play every game. You have a lot left in the tank." At the end of that sprint was his first playoff goal in three years, his first ever post-season winner and new life for the Devils in the Stanley Cup final. Corkum's goal helped give the Devils a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 2 of the final, sending the two clubs back to New Jersey tied 1-1 for Games 3 and 4 Thursday and Saturday respectively. The resurgence came from an unlikely source at an unlikely time, the Devils having surrendered the early lead and the momentum of the game with foolish penalties. Corkum had played in but six games for the Devils this playoff year and his resurrection coincided with that of the Devils. He was back in the lineup because of the broken hand suffered by Devils forward Randy McKay in Game 1.
He was in the right place just past the 14-minute mark of the first period. As Devils forward Patrik Elias stood in the penalty box, getting ready to come back on the ice, the puck squirted by Avs defenseman Adam Foote at the New Jersey blue line. Corkum gathered it in and sprinted down the right wing. Avs defenseman Martin Skoula got a hook on him, but Corkum still managed to fired the puck between the wide open pads of Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy at 14:29 of the first to tie the game. It wasn't technically a short-handed goal since it came a second after Elias' penalty expired. The score ended Roy's shutout string in the Stanley Cup final just 1:41 short of tying the record held by Ottawa Senators/Montreal Maroons goaltender Clint Benedict. Benedict's mark was 229:22 and Corkum's goal snapped Roy's string at 227:41. Roy started a new string, but that one lasted just 2:51. Turner Stevenson put the Devils ahead at 17:20 when he swatted home a shot by Jersey defenseman Scott Niedermayer that was knocked down in front. Stevenson's backhander hit the crossbar and dropped down just across the goal line. When the game started it looked like the fourth period of Game 1, a 5-0 win by the Avs. The Devils were undisciplined and took the first couple of penalties in the game. The second one was particularly bad, a selfish retaliation penalty by forward Sergei Brylin, who didn't like the way he had been manhandled along the boards by Colorado's Shjon Podein. Brylin jumped up and hit Podein from behind, drawing an interference penalty at 4:43 of the first. Colorado captain Joe Sakic, the hero of Game 1 with two goals and an assist, scored his playoff-leading 12th of the playoffs off a wild scramble around the Devils' goal. Brodeur had the puck behind his back and tried to reach behind to hang onto it, but it spilled out. A shot by Avs forward Alex Tanguay kissed the crossbar and fell at Sakic's feet.
The Devils turned things around by doing the things they didn't do in Game 1. "Sometimes," said Devils centre Bobby Holik, "when you are playing for a longer period of time you feel good about yourself. Once in a while you need a bit of a reminder that the effort comes first before the skills." First off, they skated and suddenly it was the Avalanche being forced to hurry their plays and give up the puck. The Devils got the puck in deep against the Avalanche defensemen and managed to shift the point of attack from open ice to along the boards. The cycling game which often characterizes the Devils' play was nowhere to be seen in Game 1. But their ability to get the puck in deep, combined with their rediscovered skating legs, allowed them to put pressure on the Avs' defense with the result the Devils spent many shifts grinding away in the Avs' zone.
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