GAME ONE: Devils 4 – Flyers 1
PHILADELPHIA – The Devils made it look easy, and if the Flyers don’t have more tomorrow than they had yesterday, the Stanley Cup finals will be in easy reach for New Jersey.
“This is the best Devils team yet,” Flyer GM Bobby Clarke said, even before they made his words look prophetic, dominating the Flyers 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Final opener yesterday.
The Devils solved every Flyer question, as well as some major ones of their own, and they weren’t even at their best. Bobby Holik scored a goal for the first time in 28 playoff games. Vladimir Malakhov was a force for the first time as a Devil. Keith Primeau and John LeClair were reduced to bigger versions of Mats Sundin, left ineffective by New Jersey’s defense. And goalie Brian Boucher appeared to be the rookie he is.
Despite all that success, the Devils were barely impressed with themselves, winning their third straight and running to 9-2 in these playoffs, giving up one goal or less for the seventh time.
“I think we can be better,” Scott Stevens said.
What should worry the Flyers is that the captain, plus-3 yesterday, is correct, and the Devils can improve more than the Flyers can.
If it wasn’t the most significant aspect of the game, Holik’s goal was certainly its most symbolic. Held 0-for-90 in playoff shots since April 26, 1997, Holik fought past Primeau to finish off a 3-on-2 that had become a broken play.
“For some reason, I wasn’t really looking for that goal to lift me to another level,” Holik said of No. 8 in his playoff career. “For me, it’s a bonus for the hard work we’ve put in.
“The team’s doing well, so I have to be doing something right. I’ve gone other years without scoring, like in ’94 (20 games), and nobody mentioned it.”
Should Holik, who has been among the Devils’ top goal-scorers for the past four seasons, do more than just end that drought, they will have an offensive weapon to tip the balance even more heavily in their favor. And there are still Alex Mogilny and Randy McKay to hear from.
“They know how to win, and they showed it,” Flyer Rick Tocchet said. “They’re solid, but they’re not invincible.”
The wresting-away of home-ice advantage, captured by the Flyers by finishing two points ahead of the Devils, did not even seem an issue. The Flyers’ concern is now survival, a sweep a genuine possibility if Clarke doesn’t apologize to Eric Lindros and get him in the lineup pronto. They may talk about advancing after losing the first two to Pittsburgh, but the only resemblance to that series is the puck.
For the second straight game, the Devils opened the scoring in the game’s opening minute. Scott Niedermayer solved Boucher 55 seconds into play, set up 3-on-2 in the right circle by McKay to whip his third over Boucher’s glove on the short side.
Mark Recchi answered for the Flyers at 8:20, after Martin Brodeur looked mortal himself, spilling Daymond Langkow’s left wing shot into the slot. Recchi beat Niedermayer to the rebound for his fourth of postseason.
Petr Sykora put the Devils back in front at 17:38, scoring his fifth with an innocent slot backhand that found net between Boucher’s legs. Jason Arnott set up Sykora’s shot by decking Eric Desjardins at the left boards.
Holik gave the Devils insurance by ending his drought, after failing to score in series against the Rangers, Senators, Penguins, Panthers and Maple Leafs.
After a scoreless second, when the Devils were shutting down what had been an open game, Claude Lemieux made it 4-1 with a power play goal, shanking home a feed to the goalmouth from Mogilny in the right corner.
Afterwards, Larry Robinson seemed less than impressed.
“We went a little bit in fits and starts. We were a little bit too extreme defensively and then sometimes a little too extreme offensively,” Robinson said. “But I figured we would be a little rusty because we have not played in a while. Practicing and playing are two different things.”
Good enough was plenty yesterday. It is probably enough tomorrow.
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Rangers have asked permission to talk to Dallas scout Craig Button about their GM vacancy, but Button says he won’t engage until after the playoffs … Primeau took a regular shift despite coming off a concussion suffered Tuesday when Philly ousted Pitt. He was slammed into the boards by Malakhov, who seemed to irritate several Flyers … Devils were outshot for only second time in playoffs, 36-24, but have won both … Devils are 5-1 on the road.
