New Jersey Devils reach Stanley Cup final, win Game 6 in overtime

New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur celebrates with teammate Ryan Carter after Friday night's overtime win.

ADAM HUNGER/REUTERS

Kevin McGranSports Reporter

 

NEWARK, N.J.—The New Jersey Devils are heading back to the Stanley Cup final.
Rookie centre Adam Henrique scored just 63 seconds into overtime off a mad goalmouth scramble to give the Devils a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers and the Eastern Conference championship in six games.
The Devils will face the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Kings in the Cup final, beginning here Wednesday night.
“Unbelievable,” said Devils forward Alexei Ponikarovsky, the ex-Maple Leaf who played a huge part in digging at the puck and setting up the winning goal. “It’s been a long time for me in the playoffs.
“It’s hard to describe,” Ponikarovsky added. “You understand you’re going to compete for the Cup that every kid dreams about growing up. It’s incredible.”
Ponikarovsky shot the puck at Henrik Lundqvist, then drove the net.
“Good things happen when you do that,” said Ponikarovsky. “Then I drove the net again, just to maybe see if the puck will bounce. It bounced my way. I took a whack at it.”
Ilya Kovalchuk — who scored in the first period — also had some pokes at the puck. It squeaked through Lundqvist to a waiting Henrique.
“Unfortunately, a lot of times this is what happens,” said Lundqvist. “Big scramble, a weird bounce. You just hope it would be us.”
Bedlam ensued in the Prudential Center.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Ponikarovsky. “The celebration is unbelievable. You’re screaming your lungs out. I almost lost my voice there. Getting squished by teammates. We started jumping, shouting. Incredible.”
“It’s a little bit surreal,” said Devils defenceman Bryce Salvador. “It will take a few more minutes to settle in. It’s one of those things you play your whole life for. To get an opportunity at this point in my career, what more can I ask for.”
The memory of 1994 conference final between these two teams loomed large before the game. That’s the one where Mark Messier guaranteed and delivered a win in Game 6 in New Jersey. The Rangers went on to win the Cup.
The Devils took a 2-0 first-period lead — just like in 1994. The Rangers tied it on a goal by their captain — just like 1994. But overtime erased that memory.
Ryan Carter also scored for the Devils in regulation. Captain Ryan Callahan and Ruslan Fedotenko scored for New York. Ryan McDonagh had two assists.
It’s doubtful Martin Brodeur — the last active link from that series — and the Devils were ever haunted by that game. They’ve won the Cup three times since, after all, and now have a chance at their fourth.
Brodeur was brilliant on Friday, facing 35 shots in regulation.
“At least now it’s 1-1,” Brodeur said in reference to 1994.
The Devils are re-establishing themselves as an elite team. They won the Stanley Cup three times between 1995 and 2003, appearing in the Cup final one other time.
In doing so, they built a reputation as a grinding, no-star, defensive hockey team.
This version of the Devils is far from that, thanks to the coaching style of Pete DeBoer. He’s turned the Devils into a more gung-ho, hard forechecking team that relies on the Brodeur’s goaltending to bail them out.
But Brodeur’s no longer the only star, with Kovalchuk and Zach Parise also shining bright.
DeBoer got his players to buy into his system right away.
“I guess you get the job because of a belief system,” said DeBoer. “I think that’s what Lou (Lamoriello, Devils GM) saw. And I think when you believe in how the game should be played and you have the conviction in that, I think it sells itself.
“I don’t think there was any premeditated salesmanship. I can tell you if I was a used car salesman, I’d starve to death. So it’s not my salesmanship. I just think it’s the fact that you believe how the game should be played. You have a conviction in that, and I think that the players see that and they bought in.”
Kovalchuk — long deemed a me-first player — has rebranded himself as a team player. Playing in New Jersey — a team with a long history of winning through selflessness — does that to a player.
“I think it’s media-created, if that was the perception on him,” said DeBoer. “I didn’t see any of that. I said from day one he’s been all in, team first, great teammate. I didn’t see even a hint of that, and I haven’t seen it at all this year. So totally false, and we wouldn’t be here without him.”
The Rangers, meanwhile, were the top seeds in the East. They added Brad Richards this year as the big-time, big-game centre. He delivered, to a point.
But even with Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik and Richards, the Rangers see themselves as a team that is still young and building. Coach John Tortorella made no secret of the fact he was judging his players on how they were responding to adversity.
“I really like what we have here ... but winning two rounds is not good enough,” said Tortorella.
The Devils dominated the first period.
Carter, the grinding fourth-line winger who was the hero in Game 5, opened the scoring. Rangers defenceman Marc Staal got beat on a pinch at the Devils blue line. Steve Bernier made a terrific pass to Stephen Gionta to get it past the other defenceman, Michael Del Zotto. Carter skated hard for the net, potting the rebound.
Kovalchuk got the second goal, on the power play. The Devils power play was 2-for-20 against the Rangers in Games 1-5. But this one was superb. All five Devils touched the puck before Kovalchuk finished the passing play with a quick one-timer.
The Rangers were much better in the second — tying the game 2-2 by taking control. Only Brodeur kept New Jersey in it, facing 13 shots that period.
The Devils took a couple of ill-advised penalties. The Rangers didn’t score, but momentum swung. DeBoer even had to burn his timeout after killing a penalty due to an icing to give his tired troops a break.
Fedotenko made it 2-1 at 9:47. McDonagh made it happen with a wrap-around try.
Then Callahan got credit for the game-tying goal when Dan Girardi’s shot deflected off his leg at 13:41. Just like in 1994, the captain of the Rangers tied the game.

~專業服務~熱誠負責~ ‧徵求台北市、新北市、桃園縣各區重劃區土地‧市地重劃‧區段徵收‧容積移轉 ‧道路用地‧日據繼承處理‧ 服務區域: 林口特定區、淡海新市鎮、新莊塭仔圳、新莊知識產業園區、二重疏洪道、蘆洲北側、士林社子島、關渡平原、五股洲子洋、五股新市鎮、文山老泉里、土城暫緩發展區、江子翠重劃區、板橋浮洲地區、中和彈藥庫、三重高速公路北側、樹林堤防新生地、捷運A7站… 請電聯:0932105364 曹順華