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Coming up short Senators fell just short against opportunistic DevilsPosted: Saturday May 24, 2003 12:02 AM
Game 7's by their very nature are always compelling, but seldom are they as confounding as this one. The Senators did just about everything they wanted to do ... except win. The Devils lost center Joe Nieuwendyk a few minutes into the game when he was unable to overcome his injury sustained at the end of Game 6. Rookie Jiri Bicek was in the lineup for the first time since the end of the regular season, but he played just 10:05 in a limited role. New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur gave up two goals on clean shots from 25 feet out on plays entering the zone on the rush. Further scuttling the events-to-outcome predictability scale was the fact that Magnus Arvedsson's goal on Brodeur came just over three minutes into the game, providing Ottawa the crucial first goal of the game. Despite all of this, the Devils found a way to win Game 7 and the series. How did they do it? They scratched and clawed, and got top-rate efforts from unheralded players like Pascal Rheaume and Sergei Brylin. They got a few timely saves from Brodeur down the stretch in the third. The Devils received the usual ferocious dose of leadership from captain Scott Stevens. But it all wouldn't have been enough without the mental gaffes and defensive misreads by the Sens. New Jersey mustered up just enough moxie to capitalize when Ottawa lost its way in its own zone. On successive shots in the second period, Jamie Langenbrunner launched the puck towards the Sens' goal. Each time, the puck eluded goaltender Patrick Lalime on deflections. The goals themselves may have been fluky or fortunate, but they were the byproduct of Ottawa inexplicably starting the second period in neutral. Instead of skating and dictating the pace of play -- which the Sens did to better effect in the first -- they came out and stood around. It cost them because Langenbrunner had room on both his bids, as the Sens' defense couldn't get out of its own way. Credit coach Jacques Martin for knowing the makeup of his team and settling them down with a smartly called timeout. His team responded by steadying themselves the rest of the second period and turning up the intensity and carrying the play in the third. They tied the score on a perfectly placed slapper by Radek Bonk, and from there they pressed and pressed, narrowly missing the go-ahead goal on several occasions. Then, with little more than a couple of minutes remaining in regulation, the Sens' defensive pairing of Karel Rachunek and Wade Redden crossed one another up. Rachunek got behind Grant Marshall by half a stride as Marshall crossed the offensive blueline. Redden read that Marshall had position on Rachunek and started to slide right to close. Rachunek, however, made a great effort to draw even on the inside with Marshall. Meanwhile, Jeff Friesen drove down the slot uncontested after Redden's shift, and Friesen received a perfect pass from Marshall in stride. From there, Friesen needed just one fake -- which Lalime feebly followed -- to net the game-winner. On the decisive play, All-Stars Redden and Lalime didn't react as such. Subsequently, in a game the Sens could have won, they didn't. Conversely, in a moment of opportunity, the Devils made it count. As a result, they advance to the Stanley Cup final for the third time in four seasons, leaving the Sens to ponder the closest and cruelest of postseason lessons yet. Three StarsFirst Star: Quietly, Friesen scored his third game-winner of the series. Second Star: Zdeno Chara is a mountain of a man, and the 6-foot-9 blueliner was a tower of strength in Game 7, especially when the Senators were trailing 2-1. Chara set the example for the energy needed and his mates responded. Third Star: Brylin was representative of the effort up front by the Devils' forwards, moving between center and wing and playing with a variety of linemates -- all necessitated by Nieuwendyk's early departure. Darren Eliot, a former NHL goaltender, is a hockey analyst for SI.com. Eliot will provide Stanley Cup Playoffs commentary throughout the postseason, and he is also broadcasting the Stanley Cup Finals for NHL Radio. |
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