Only the elite of the elite win Stanley Cups this way any more – the way the Devils can tonight.

Only dynasties beginning their domination have beaten the defending champions in the Finals since expansion. The Devils believe they had better join that

exclusive club of two tonight, or the door may be harder to kick in later.

They have taken the difficult path throughout this playoff – coming in left for dead, needing a historic comeback against the Flyers and now trying to wrest the Cup away from the Stars.

“It shows how tough it is to win a Stanley Cup,” said Ken Daneyko, who will be extending his streak to all 130 of New Jersey’s playoff games tonight, when the Devils try to win their second Stanley Cup in Game 5 at the Meadowlands.

The last team to knock off the defending Cup champs was the 1984 Oilers, starting hockey’s last dynasty – five Cups in seven years – by ending the Islanders’ dynasty of four straight. Before that, the 1976 Canadiens began their four-Cup run by sweeping the defending champion Flyers.

“It’s been a special run, thus far,” said Daneyko, a rejuvenated hero of these playoffs.

One more victory would give them two Stanley Cups, plus three Eastern Conference regular-season titles and four 100-point campaigns in six years, enough evidence to certify them as one of the great teams of their time.

“If we accomplish what we set out to do, it makes all the hard times worthwhile,” Daneyko said.

Winning tonight would also give them the chance to do some redecorating, adding the 2000 Stanley Cup banner to the one that has been lonely since 1995. And they could replace the panoramic photograph of their celebration that hangs center stage in their locker room, the picture that has been a constant reminder of their failures since it was taken in 1995.

“It’s been there a while, five years. Too long for my liking,” Bobby Holik said, awaiting tonight’s chance to win the Cup at the Meadowlands.

They are dying to end it tonight, leading this Final 3-1 after pulling off the Herculean feat of winning twice in Dallas, where the Stars had been 9-1. They don’t want to push their Lone Star luck.

“We don’t want to go back to Dallas,” Holik said. “That would give them an opportunity to beat us.”

Although no team has blown a 3-1 lead in the Finals since 1942, or even a 3-2 lead since 1971, the Devils remain wary, desperate to do it tonight. They are using their own comeback from 3-1 down against Philly as a reminder, and they had better remember that they blew a 3-2 lead on the Penguins last year.

“It’s do-able, because we accomplished it,” Martin Brodeur said of a 3-1 comeback. “It’s a fear that’s good to have right now.”

So they lace them up with twitching fingers tonight, trying to skate into glory and esteem. They will be playing against themselves, as well as the Stars, disembodied, watching themselves as if on TV.

“It’s a game so different from playing real hockey,” Brodeur said. “If you get a lead, you’ll start thinking. And the ups and downs you see in a series are going to be condensed into one shift, one period.”

They want this to be their night to remember, the night they seal their legacy and finish the John McMullen era with trumpet flourishes. They want this to be that night, because the alternative is so scary.

Game 6, if necessary, is Saturday in Dallas … NHL did not take any action against Derian Hatcher for his two-fisted hit to Jason Arnott’s mouth in Game 4, a hit that knocked Arnott woozy and out of the game. Arnott practiced with team yesterday and is expected to play tonight.

Since the ’84 Isles were beaten by the Oilers, defending champs are 4-0 in finals … Devils will try to complete playoffs without giving up a power-play goal at home, 21-for-21 … Devils are 1-1 at home vs. Stars, and 6-4 in postseason … Devils took a 2-1 lead in the final with a 2-1 victory and a 3-1 lead with a 3-1 victory.