| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The New Jersey Devils finished the greatest
comeback in a conference final, and they may have finished off Eric
Lindros as well.
|  | | The Devils had every right to celebrate after rallying from a 3-1 series deficit. |
Patrik Elias scored his second goal of the game with 2:32 to play as the Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 on Friday night
in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final.
The Devils won the final three games of the series, but the
clincher will forever be remembered for Scott Stevens' first-period hit on Lindros that knocked out the Flyers' former captain for the fourth time this season.
Lindros, who just returned from a concussion after missing 10
weeks, had to be helped off the ice at 7:50 of the first period.
The team said he was taken to a hospital, but there was no official
word on the extent of the injury.
"I know it was a clean hit," said Stevens, who caught an
unsuspecting Lindros looking down at the ice. "I don't like to see
anyone get hurt. That's the bottom line. It felt a little tough
playing after that."
After the game, the NHL levied a $10,000 fine against the
Flyers, apparently for not releasing information on Lindros'
injury.
Stevens, who was booed after he hit Lindros and again after the
game when he accepted the Prince of Wales Trophy, said he wouldn't
be doing much celebrating.
A team known more for its playoffs failures the past three
years, the Devils advanced to their first Stanley Cup final since
winning the title in 1995. They will play the winner of Saturday
night's Game 7 between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche in a
final that will open in New Jersey on Tuesday.
"It's tough to believe, down 3-1," Devils veteran Ken Daneyko
said. "I know after Game 4 I was pretty demoralized. But you seem
to rally yourself and get your sprits up."
Devils coach Larry Robinson, who replaced Robbie Ftorek with
eight games left in the regular season, helped in that regard. The
Hall of Famer issued a garbage-can kicking tirade after a 3-1 loss
in Game 4 that seemed to get the Devils refocused on their
defensive game.
Over the final three games, the Flyers scored just three goals
against Martin Brodeur, losing the final two games by 2-1 margin.
Rick Tocchet had the Flyers' only goal in Game 7, tying the game
1-1 in the second period.
However, Elias came through for the Devils, who are trying to
win a second Stanley Cup for outgoing owner John McMullen. He has
agreed to sell the team to YankeeNets in a deal that will be
completed in July.
All season long, it had been Philadelphia which found a way in
the face of adversity.
Coach Roger Neilson was stricken with cancer in February,
Lindros went through a series of concussions and the team
struggled.
However, the Flyers rallied around interim coach Craig Ramsay
and caught the Devils in the final month of the season to win the
top seed in the Eastern Conference.
With the score 1-1 and the crowd of 20,037 cheering on every
shift, the Devils' Alexander Mogilny wrapped the puck around the
boards from behind the net to Jason Arnott, who was in the right
circle. Arnott tossed a pass into the slot to Elias, who knocked it
past Brian Boucher.
"Arnie kind of fanned on his shot and I snuck from behind the
net and (Dan) McGillis didn't see me," Elias said. "I lifted his
stick up. I wasn't able to look at it, I just put the puck in the
net. I don't know what I was feeling, such excitement and pride."
"It was one of them lucky bounce goals," Arnott added.
Before Friday's game, 15 teams had rallied from 3-1 deficits to
win a playoff series. But the Devils are the first to do it in a
conference final.
The greatest comeback in NHL history came in 1942 when the
Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Detroit
Red Wings.
The last team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs
was St. Louis, which defeated Phoenix in the 1999 Western
Conference quarterfinals.
"This is not what we expected after having a 3-1 lead," said
Eric Desjardins, who replaced Lindros as captain late in the
season. "It was pretty tight the whole way tonight and one goal
made the difference. It was a tough one for sure."
The injury to Lindros, coupled with the Elias' goal at 6:44 of
the first period, seemed to take the air out of the Flyers and
their sellout crowd early in the first period.
"He was reaching for the puck and was down really low when I hit him," Stevens said. "I feel just really bad about that."
The hit had an effect on Stevens.
"I had to go talk to him between periods because he was really
down," Robinson said. "He felt really bad. He's a physical
player, Scotty, but that really effected him. I think it bothered
him for quite a time in that second period."
Even though they were down, the Flyers were far from out. They
regrouped and tied the game in the second period on a power-play
goal that was set up in a roundabout way by another Stevens' hit.
Rookie defenseman Andy Delmore, who missed a great chance in
close in the opening minutes, took a shot from the left point that John LeClair stopped on the edge of the crease. The Flyers forward, who didn't score in the series, couldn't lift the puck over Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.
In the ensuing scramble, Stevens knocked LeClair into Brodeur
and Tocchet had no problem lifting the puck over the prone
goaltender for his fifth goal, his fourth this series.
A roughing penalty against Keith Jones had set up Elias' sixth
goal of the playoffs. Bobby Holik controlled the puck along the
left sideboards and found Arnott behind the goal line. He quickly
sent a cross-ice pass to Elias low in the right circle, and Boucher
had no chance to stop his shot at 6:44 of the opening period.
Just 2:06 later, Lindros was on the ice after absorbing a hit to
his head from Stevens just inside the Devils' blueline.
Lindros had collected the puck in center ice and side-stepped
Scott Niedermayer at the line skating into the zone. Lindros was
looking at the puck and never saw Stevens lining him up. The Devils
captain got into a crouch and checked Lindros, leading with his
right arm for power. His tricep seemed to catch No. 88 square in the
head.
Lindros immediately fell backward and the back of his helmet
slammed off the ice. He appeared already dazed before his head hit
the ice.
Five minutes before the game, the noise from the crowd was so
loud that people had to yell to talk to the person seated right
next to them.
The building shook when Lauren Hart, the daughter of the late
longtime Flyers play-by-play man Gene Hart, sang "God Bless
America."
During the Flyers' glory days in the 1970s, Kate Smith's
rendition of the song was the team's good-luck charm. She actually
sang it live at four games, including May 13, 1975 when the Flyers
beat the Islanders in Game 7 of the Cup semifinals, the last time
Philadelphia won hockey's most prestigious trophy.
Smith came back the following year for Game 4 of the final, but
Philadelphia lost 5-3 to the Montreal Canadiens, a team that
included Robinson.
The Flyers rode the emotion in the opening five minutes, keeping
the play in the Devils end.
Delmore, whose five goals in the conference semifinal rallied
the Flyers from a 0-2 deficit, had the best scoring chance, joining
a rush last to pick up a loose puck between the circle. But his
attempt to lift the puck over Brodeur ended up in the stands,
missing the net by a couple of feet.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Lindros mulls retirement, to make statement today
Elias: From holdout to hero in one season
RECAPS
New Jersey 2
Philadelphia 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Patrick Elias hits the game-winning goal against the Flyers in Game 7.
avi: 724 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Scott Stevens delivers a massive blow to Eric Lindros.
avi: 946 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Patrik Elias slips the puck past Brian Boucher.
avi: 454 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Patrick Elias says the Devils have another series to win.
wav: 152 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Brian Boucher couldn't explain Elias' game-winner.
wav: 85 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Patrik Elias was pleased with the Devils' character this series.
wav: 150 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
A concerned John LeClair is hoping for a positive outcome.
wav: 130 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Scott Stevens was troubled by the hit he put on Eric Lindros.
wav: 110 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Larry Robinson says Scott Stevens was really affected by the hit on Lindros.
wav: 85 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
