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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- If the Toronto Maple Leafs have hopes of ending their 33-year Stanley Cup drought, they'd better find a way to beat Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils soon.
Brodeur withstood Toronto's best period of the series and stopped 22 shots overall, and the Devils got three goals from their special teams in posting a 5-1 victory over the Maple Leafs on Monday night.
|  | | New Jersey's Jason Arnott, center, is congratulated by Bobby Holik, left, and Patrik Elias after scoring the game's first goal. |
"We did a lot of stupid things early that we hadn't done in the first two games, and luckily, Marty kept us in it," coach Larry Robinson said after the Devils took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Jason Arnott, Scott Gomez, Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora and Alexander Mogilny scored, while Elias added two assists as New Jersey dominated for the third straight game.
New Jersey could easily have a 3-0 lead if Curtis Joseph hadn't stolen the opening game with a 32-save performance in a 2-1 Toronto victory.
"It's not over," Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. "That's why they play seven games. Hopefully, we can scramble back."
Game 4 will also be played at New Jersey.
"Now we have to come back strong on Wednesday night," said Brodeur, who has allowed nine goals in seven playoffs games. "We don't want to have to go up to Toronto, knowing we have to win that game."
The Maple Leafs, who generated only a couple of scoring chances in the opening two games at home, had seven outstanding chances in the opening 20 minutes. Brodeur stopped odd-man rushes by Wendel Clark, Igor Korolev and Dmitri Khristich and some good close-in chances by Sergei Berezin and Adam Mair.
"I felt pretty good, I had to make a lot of big saves early," said Brodeur, who came within 4:17 of posting his second straight shutout. "You have to be in a zone in the playoffs."
The only shot Brodeur missed was a meaningless short-handed tally by Kevyn Adams with the game already decided.
Joseph was just as good at the other end for a period, stopping 14 shots. However, he never had a chance once New Jersey got rolling in the second period.
Mair picked up a four-minute high sticking penalty for cutting Daneyko and it only took the Devils 37 seconds to cash in. Sykora made a nice play getting the puck into the offensive zone and Arnott eventually tipped a Bobby Holik shot past Joseph from right in front of the crease at 9:42.
"When they scored on the first power play, it turned the tide and we weren't up to it after that," Quinn said.
Gomez, who was in danger of being benched for Game 2 despite his rookie of the year credentials, stretched the lead to 2-0 at 15:03. He beat Adams on a faceoff above the top of the circle, took a skate pass from Claude Lemieux and beat Joseph low to the glove side.
"We've showed that we can play when the score is close, a one goal game, but we also showed tonight that we can open things up when everybody is going," Gomez said. "The key guys came out tonight."
Elias, who led the Devils with 35 goals this season, made a great play to score short-handed 2:30 later. He intercepted a Korolev breakout pass at the Toronto blue line, skated right at Joseph and then went behind the net and scored on a wraparound.
Sykora put the game away at 4:27 of the final period with a tap-in goal set up by Arnott and Elias.
Mogilny closed out the scoring on a power play, putting the rebound of a Lemieux shot into an empty net.
"I'm not happy how we played," Quinn said. "Part of it was how well they played and part of it was we did not respond. In the third period we did not compete."
New Jersey outshot Toronto 14-2 in the third period, and 36-23 for the game.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
RECAPS
Detroit 3
Colorado 1
New Jersey 5
Toronto 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Patrik Elias goes backdoor on Curtis Joseph for a short-handed goal.
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Scott Gomez beats Curtis Joseph with a slap shot.
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Patrik Elias redirects Jason Arnott's pass to Petr Sykora for a goal.
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 Toronto coach Pat Quinn voices his disgust.
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