EASTERN QUARTER-FINALS
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME 4:
#1 NEW JERSEY DEVILS vs #8 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Series tied 2-2
Next Game: Friday April 30th, 1999 7:30pm at New Jersey
Finally, after three games, the New Jersey Devils proved they could beat the Jaromir Jagr-less Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sergei Brylin and Randy McKay scored 1:33 apart during a momentum-altering sequence, and McKay screened Penguins goaltender Tom Barrasso to set up another goal as the Devils evened the series by winning 4-2 Tuesday night.
Brian Rolston scored his sixth short-handed goal of the season _ and the league-high 15th allowed by Pittsburgh. And Scott Stevens restored the Devils' two-goal lead in the third period by scoring three seconds before the end of a power play caused by a Pittsburgh bench error.
The Devils, who prematurely exited the Eastern Conference playoffs as the No. 1 seed the last two seasons and were threatening to do it again, regained home-ice advantage going into Game 5 Friday in the Meadowlands.
The only difference then will be the Penguins may have Jagr, the NHL's three-time scoring champion and most creative offensive force, back in their lineup for the first time since Game 1.
Jagr skated in a warmup suit earlier Tuesday and said he probably would have played if the Penguins trailed, but wanted to give his injured groin another couple of days' rest.
Now, Jagr won't have that luxury as the Penguins must win in New Jersey for the second time in three games to avoid falling behind 3-2 and prevent Sunday's Game 6 from being a possible elimination game.
By winning, the Devils ended a streak of seven consecutive road playoff losses that began with their surprising 1997 second-round ouster by the Rangers and extended into last year's out-of-nowhere first round elimination by Ottawa.
The Devils, convinced they were outplaying the Penguins even while falling behind 2-1 in the series, clearly were superior Tuesday as the Penguins, for the first time, clearly missed Jagr's scoring, playmaking and skating skills.
At one point, the Devils had outshot the Penguins 32-14, and that was before defenseman Scott Stevens's slap shot from the blue line whizzed by Barrasso as McKay blocked the goaltender's vision by tying up Jiri Slegr in front of the net.
That goal, at 2:50 of the third, followed one of Pittsburgh's first glaring mental mistakes of the series, a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty resulting from a poor line change.
The Penguins didn't have the offense to come back after that, especially with Jagr not even in uniform and center Martin Straka, who scored three goals in their 4-2 victory in Game 3, being pushed, shoved and knocked off the puck nearly every time he touched it.
For the first time in the series, New Jersey scored the first goal, and the Devils never gave up the lead while scoring four goals for the first time in their last 16 playoff games.
With McKay off for holding, Rolston grabbed the puck near the blue line and beat Barrasso cleanly just 1:38 into the game. Rolston set a Devils team regular season record with five short-handed goals.
The same power play yielded the tying goal by Jan Hrdina at 2:50 as he swept Robbie Brown's pass by Martin Brodeur, who had a relatively quiet night by facing only 18 shots _ 21 fewer than Barrasso saw.
The Devils, who lost Game 3 mostly because they allowed two Pittsburgh goals only 40 seconds apart at the start of the third period, may have won this one because of a similar flurry.
McKay restored the Devils' lead 42 seconds before the end of the first period by putting his stick on Brylin's odd-angle shot from along the left-wing boards.
Just 51 seconds into the second period, Brylin himself made it 3-1 with a slap shot along the upper edge of the right circle for his second goal of the series.
Pittsburgh got back to within a goal as Brown literally found the goal at 7:28 with a slap shot from the left circle. The shot so buried itself in the net alongside Brodeur's left knee that it took two officials nearly a full minute to pry it out.
#2 OTTAWA SENATORS vs #7 BUFFALO SABRES
Buffalo wins 4-0
Next game: Buffalo advances to the next round
Many said Buffalo didn't have a chance to beat favored Ottawa in the playoffs. Good thing for the Sabres that Dominik Hasek wasn't listening.
"I don't care what other people say," Hasek said after making 40 saves to help seventh-ranked Buffalo complete a surprising playoff sweep of the No. 2 Ottawa Senators with a 4-3 victory Tuesday night.
But not even the optimistic Hasek spotted a sweep on the horizon. "Nobody expected us to win 4-0," said Hasek, whose team failed to beat Ottawa in five tries during the regular season, four of which ended in ties. "Nobody in this locker room expected it."
Vaclav Varada scored two goals and Hasek, who recorded a team-record fourth career playoff shutout in Sunday's 3-0 win, had his shutout streak snapped at 144 minutes, 55 seconds on a goal by Jason York at 6:24 of the second period.
"We don't just say it for the sake of hearing ourselves when we say we have an opportunity to go all the way," said Sabres captain Michael Peca, whose team lost in the conference finals last year.
The Sabres once again smothered Ottawa's leading scorer Alexei Yashin, who finished the series with no goals or assists but totaled a team-high five penalties. The Sabres' winning goal, on a slap shot from the blue line by defenseman Zhitnik, came with Yashin in the box for elbowing in the third period.
"Everybody has to face adversity," said Yashin, shut down by Peca throughout the series. "The best thing I can do now is remember I gave the best for my team."
"It always hurts when you lose," said Senators forward Andreas Johansson. "With a sweep, maybe it hurts a little bit extra."
The three goals against Hasek matched the entire number scored against the two-time MVP in the series' first three games. Hasek allowed six goals on 162 shots in the series.
Nine Sabres scored goals in the series -- to five players for Ottawa -- and 14 finished with points for Buffalo. "This is important in the playoffs," said Hasek, standing on a raised platform in front of his locker. "You cannot expect just one player -- (Miroslav) Satan or Michael Peca -- to score every game. Every game was different. Every game somebody stepped up."
With less than a minute left, fans tossed brooms on the ice. It was the Sabres' fourth best-of-7 series sweep and the first time they completed a best-of-7 sweep at home since they ousted Boston in 1993.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, whose team slid from first in the conference to a battle for the seventh seed, was glad to meet Ottawa and not New Jersey in the first round. "Ottawa was a better matchup," Ruff said. "We had the edge in goaltending and Jersey was a bigger, stronger team that could have punished us."
Erik Rasmussen and Alexei Zhitnik also scored for Buffalo. Shawn McEachern and Nelson Emerson scored Ottawa's other games.
Ottawa goaltender Ron Tugnutt, who gave up two goals on 15 shots in the first game of the series and hadn't played since, allowed two goals on 11 shots in the first period and finished with 22 saves.
The Senators lost in overtime to the Sabres in the seventh game of the 1997 conference quarterfinals when Derek Plante's shot from the blue line tore through Tugnutt's glove, eliminating Ottawa from its first-ever modern-day playoff appearance.
Buffalo scored twice in the first period and added a goal in the second.
The Sabres opened the scoring for the fourth straight game in the series with the goal by Rasmussen. Wayne Primeau skated the puck into the Senators' zone unmolested and slapped it on Tugnutt. Varada swatted at the rebound before Rasmussen poked it in at 8:29. It was the first career playoff goal for Rasmussen.
Varada, assisted by Michael Peca and Dixon Ward, scored his first playoff goal just 1:48 later for a 2-0 lead. Varada cruised the slot and picked up a pass off the boards from Peca, and Varada's shot trickled in between Tugnutt's pads at 10:17.
York's second-period goal made it 2-1. Daniel Alfredsson left the puck at the top of the left circle for York, whose slap shot from the middle of the circle deflected in off Hasek's pad.
Buffalo went up 3-1 three minutes later on the second goal by Varada, who easily tapped in Ward's pass.
It was only the second career multi-goal game for Varada, who scored one goal in each of the Sabres' three playoff series last year.
McEachern's second playoff goal -- Ottawa's first even-strength goal of the series -- made it 3-2 midway through the second. Zhitnik put the Sabres up 4-2.
All five regular-season games between the teams went into overtime this season, with the Senators winning 3-2 on Dec. 30 in Buffalo and the other four ending in ties. The Sabres won the second game of the series in double overtime before winning Game 3 easily.
The Sabres played Game 4 without leading scorer Miroslav Satan, who injured his foot in the second game when he was struck by a shot by Sabres defenseman Richard Smehlik.
#3 CAROLINA HURRICANES vs #6 BOSTON BRUINS
Series tied 2-2
Next Game: Friday April 30th, 1999 7:30pm at Carolina
Facing the prospect of heading back on the road on the brink of elimination, the Boston Bruins turned to a teenager.
Nineteen-year-old Joe Thornton assisted on huge third-period goals by Landon Wilson and Steve Heinze as the Bruins rallied for a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, evening their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at two games apiece.
There has been no home-ice advantage in this series with the teams splitting both games in Boston and Carolina. Game Five is Friday in Greensboro.
"We played a pretty solid game all over the rink, not only down low, but we went up and met them a little more at the blue line," Bruins coach Pat Burns said. "We didn't let them get that big dump-in like they did on Monday. We sort of met them halfway, that was important. These are two evenly matched teams. The fact that it's 2-2 shouldn't surprise anyone."
Ray Sheppard staked the Hurricanes to a 1-0 lead at 4:21 of the first period with his fourth tally of the series, but Byron Dafoe was perfect thereafter as the Bruins scored four unanswered goals.
"That wasn't the best game I've ever seen. We had some minor problems, like the start of the game," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. "I really think we scored too early and tried to be too fancy after our first goal. We were trying to move the puck with pretty passes instead of sticking to our game. Everyone knows what that is ... dump and chase. It's what we do, it's our bread and butter."
Don Sweeney tied it with 1:42 left in the second period and Thornton set up Wilson's power-play goal at 3:54 of the third. Ray Bourque's slap shot went wide of the net on the right side. Thornton tried to tuck the rebound inside the goalpost but the puck bounced over goaltender Arturs Irbe and rolled along the goal line before Wilson poked it home for his first career postseason tally.
"Obviously, to get a goal like that, it's a big thrill," Wilson said. "The puck came across the crease to me, it was like slow motion. It's a garbage goal but I'll certainly take it."
"I think it went off my blocker, off my pad and slid across the crease," Irbe said. "I never saw it."
Wilson is doubtful for Game Five with a left shoulder injury.
"I think I may have a separated shoulder. We'll have X-rays tomorrow to take a closer look at it but it doesn't look like I'm playing in Game Five," Wilson said.
Rob DiMaio added an emtpy-net goal with 37 seconds remaining as the Bruins sealed only the second win in their last 13 home playoff games.
"There's no doubt we needed that first goal before the end of the second period," Dafoe said. "We played hard tonight but that would've added a little more desperation to the situation. I really like the way the guys played in front of me tonight. I saw everything. It was a real clean game for us."
Sweeney's goal was his seventh in the playoffs but his first since May 3, 1994 when he got the overtime winner in Game Two of the conference semifinals against New Jersey.
Heinze notched his second goal of the series with 8:44 remaining for a 3-1 lead. Thornton tipped the puck to Anson Carter behind the net. Carter outmuscled Jeff O'Neill for control and came out on the left side before sliding a pass into the slot to Heinze, who beat Irbe to the glove side.
"Give them credit, they played well tonight," Hurricanes captain Keith Primeau said. "After the first goal, we talked about sticking to our game, not getting fancy. We talked about it for the remainder of the first period, we talked about it in the first intermission. Just because Ray scores on a rush doesn't mean that's the way we're going to create our offense. We tried too much of that tonight and it cost us. We got away from dumping the puck, that's what we do best."
Dafoe finished with 22 saves, raising his postseason record to 4-6. Irbe stopped 26 shots, dropping to 11-13 in the playoffs.
The win was only the first for the Bruins this season at home against the Hurricanes (1-2-1) and their second in the last three seasons (2-6-2).
#4 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS vs #5 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Series tied 2-2
Next Game: Friday April 30th, 1999 7pm at Toronto
The Philadelphia Flyers reduced the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to a best-of-three series, getting two goals from John LeClair in a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Defenseman Eric Desjardins scored the go-ahead power-play goal in the second period and added two assists for the Flyers, who evened the best-of-seven series at two wins apiece.
Facing a virtual must-win situation, Philadelphia got big performances from two of its best players in LeClair and Desjardins. The pair combined for five points after totaling only two in the first three games.
"We've been playing fairly well and the puck just wasn't going in for us, and tonight it was nice that we got some goals and we got the win," LeClair said. "That was the most important thing. We're getting the shots. We just have to keep pounding away. We just had to keep going to the net, getting the shots and eventually they were going to go in for us."
LeClair's power-play tally midway through the first period gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead, but Toronto rallied to tie for the second time as Steve Sullivan notched a power-play goal just 38 seconds later.
Philadelphia's Sandy McCarthy goaded Tie Domi into a roughing penalty 2 1/2 minutes into the second period and Desjardins put the Flyers ahead for good 49 seconds thereafter. Rod Brind'Amour passed to the top of the slot, where Desjardins one-timed a slap shot a foot off the ice that made it under goaltender Curtis Joseph's right arm.
"We knew we had to pick it up on the power play," said Desjardins, whose team was 2-for-5 with the man advantage tonight after going 1-for-14 in the first three games. "That's what's going to make you win a series. We got to make sure we do the same thing the next game."
After Game Three, McCarthy charged that Domi directed a racial slur at him. NHL officials investigated but were unable to corroborate the allegation.
"It feels good to know it worked out like that, but I would have still liked something done about it," McCarthy said. "From what I hear, there were no witnesses, and nobody heard nothing. Everybody knows what happened, so that's the biggest thing. Everybody knows."
LeClair got an insurance goal with 2:03 to go in the second period and Brind'Amour scored into an empty net with 22 seconds left in the third.
Craig Berube started a frenetic first period at 6:28 when Desjardins' shot from the left point deflected off him and got past Joseph. It was Berube's second goal in 69 career playoff games.
Sergei Berezin tied it on the power play less than 3 1/2 minutes later with an easy tap-in off Derek King's perfect centering pass.
LeClair broke the deadlock at 11:44, bunting Steve Duchesne's shot just under the crossbar. But Sullivan answered quickly, curling a backhander between the pads of John Vanbiesbrouck off Bryan Berard's rebound.
After Desjardins put Philadelphia ahead for good, LeClair struck again off a centering pass from Daymond Langkow, who started the play by intercepting Berard's clearing attempt.
Toronto was 2-for-8 on the power play but failed to muster a shot during a two-minute, two-man advantage that bridged the second and third periods.
"That gave everybody a big charge," LeClair said. "Anytime you kill a 5-on-3 it's terrific for your team's morale. That was an important time in the game. Our penalty-killing has been terrific all series. They came through again tonight."
"They played like they were a desperate team," observed Leafs winger Garry Valk. "We let a few opportunities slip away throughout the game. Both our power play and our penalty kill let us down."
Vanbiesbrouck faced only four shots in the third period and finished with 23 saves. Joseph stopped 36 shots.
"We spent so much energy in our zone that we couldn't put an attack on them," said Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn. "They had free reign in the second and third periods. I know we didn't defend as well and we didn't play as well in a lot of areas.
"Clearly, their objective was to put a lot of rubber at the net. That's been their success story for a long time. They did it well tonight, and we couldn't seem to combat it."
Game Five is Friday in Toronto.