EASTERN QUARTER-FINALS
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME 6:
#1 NEW JERSEY DEVILS vs #8 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Series tied 3-3
Next Game: Tuesday May 4th, 1999 7:30pm at New Jersey
Jaromir Jagr's recovery was nearly as miraculous as his play.
Jagr, visibly slowed by a groin injury that sidelined him for four games, scored an electrifying tying goal with 2:12 left in regulation, then won it in overtime as the Pittsburgh Penguins staved off playoff elimination by beating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 Sunday.
Jagr's two-goal performance on a day he wasn't expected to be in uniform no doubt will go down in NHL playoff history not only for its brilliance, but its bravery.
"It was just unbelievable," teammate Brad Werenka said of a victory -- and a memorable one-man show -- that prolonged the Penguins' season and, at least temporarily, saved the bankrupt franchise from possible extinction.
Jagr, the NHL scoring champion, was hurting so badly that he could barely stand up on skates before the Devils' 4-3 victory Friday in Game 5. He talked pessimistically Saturday of playing in Game 6, but became more encouraged after being fitted with some scuba diver's pants that provided more support and partly eased the pain.
"I felt pretty good," he said. "The new pants held my leg a little tighter and I felt much better when I skated. That's when I decided to play."
The series now heads to a climactic Game 7 Tuesday night in New Jersey, a game that seemed improbable when the Devils took a 2-1 lead on Scott Niedermayer's goal at 4:34 of the third.
Improbable most of all to the Devils, who had held Jagr in check until his final flurry provided one of the most dramatic finishes in Penguins' playoff history.
"We're absolutely disappointed about letting this one get away," Brian Rolston said of the Devils' sixth consecutive playoff overtime loss. "Jagr is the best player in the world, so we're not surprised. But we were pretty confident up 2-1 with 2� minutes to go."
With time winding down and the Penguins desperately rushing the net with every opportunity, Jagr carried the puck into the Devils' zone, then got it back from German Titov to score as Niedermayer left him undefended to cover Titov. It was Jagr's first goal since his overtime goal in New York two Sundays before ruined Wayne Gretzky's final NHL game.
"Titov made a good play and beat the guy outside one-on-one, and he threw it to the net and I just went to the net and hit the puck. It was kind of a lucky goal that went in," Jagr said.
"It's definitely my responsibility to not let that guy beat me to the net," said Niedermayer, who slipped on the play.
Jagr, whose goal clearly shifted the momentum to the Penguins, then won it at 8:59 of overtime. Martin Straka carried the puck down the left wing boards and shook off check before threading it on the opposite side to Jagr, who beat goaltender Martin Brodeur up high for a goal that couldn't have been more memorable if Mario Lemieux had scored it.
Fittingly, Lemieux, who is trying to win control of the Penguins in ongoing bankruptcy court hearings, watched in the stands with his family.
Jagr said the goal compared to several during the Penguins' Stanley Cup seasons in 1991 and 1992, including his penalty-shot goal to beat the Rangers in Game 5 of their 1992 series.
"It's tough to say," said Jagr, asked if his third career game-winning overtime goal was his best. "There were some games during the Stanley Cup years, but this was one of the best."
"Even at 65-70 percent, he is better than a lot of players in this league," the Devils' Randy McKay said. "You could see he wasn't 100 percent, but he could still control the puck."
For the favored and top-seeded Devils, it couldn't have been much worse.
The Devils' late collapse reawakened memories of their stunning first-round playoff ouster by Ottawa a year ago. Just like the Senators, the Penguins also were the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"We like our chances," the Devils' Bobby Holik said of Game 7. "We don't feel pressured. We're not scared. We just feel we're going to win that game."
But, the Penguins now do, too.
"Everybody was saying this might be our last game in Pittsburgh," Alexei Kovalev said. "We didn't want that. New Jersey didn't want to have to go back and play again at home."
The Devils couldn't hold leads of 1-0 and 2-1. They took the initial lead at 12:04 of the first on Sergei Brylin's backhander from the lower slot off Holik's one-handed pass from behind the net.
Pittsburgh couldn't tie it until Straka, left alone at the side of the net, directed Kovalev's pass by Brodeur at 6:44 of the second.
Penguins goaltender Tom Barrasso stopped 25 shots and wasn't beaten on any of the long shots that the Devils were successful with in scoring earlier in the series.
Barrasso isn't convinced the Penguins are about to play their last game -- either of the season or in franchise history.
"I've never thought that," he said. "I'm just glad the guys on this team got to experience what we went through (in the Stanley Cup years). It was something, wasn't it?"
#2 OTTAWA SENATORS vs #7 BUFFALO SABRES
Buffalo wins 4-0
Next game: Buffalo advances to the next round
#3 CAROLINA HURRICANES vs #6 BOSTON BRUINS
Boston wins 4-2
Next Game: Boston advances to the next round
Byron Dafoe played well but had plenty of help in posting a shutout that moved the Boston Bruins into the second round of the playoffs for the first time in five years. Much of it came from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Helped by Carolina's failure to score into empty nets, the Bruins won 2-0 Sunday night to take the best-of-7 Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-2.
"I was fortunate on a couple of occasions," Dafoe said. "That's part of being a goaltender. You need that luck once in a while."
"In a series that's that tight checking, you can't miss those chances," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "We'd just like to be able to stop the puck in front of the net and roll it in."
Instead, the Bruins roll on. Their opponent will be determined by the winner of Tuesday's seventh game of the series between New Jersey and Pittsburgh.
If New Jersey wins, Boston opens the second round at Toronto on Thursday night. If Pittsburgh wins, the Bruins are home Thursday night for the start of the best-of-7 round against Buffalo.
"If we continue to play this way, we have as much chance to win as anyone else," said Tim Taylor, who played despite separating his shoulder in Game 5.
"There was not a whole lot that separated these teams," Carolina's Steve Chiasson said.
The Bruins won the opener 2-0, then lost the next two games 3-2. They evened the series with a 4-1 win before a 4-3 double-overtime victory in Game 5.
In Game 6, goals by Joe Thornton in the first period and Anson Carter in the second provided the offense. Dafoe handled much of his defense. His two playoff shutouts and 10 regular-season shutouts both lead the NHL.
"Everyone stepped up their game. They didn't have a chance in the third period," Dafoe said. "We're pretty good with a two-goal lead in the third."
Dafoe was at his best in the second period when Carolina outshot Boston 16-3. The Hurricanes had just four shots in the third period.
The Bruins had overcome deficits of 1-0 and 2-0 in the previous two games. They never trailed Sunday.
"I don't believe they're a better team," Carolina's Glen Wesley said. "They are a hard-working team that capitalized on their opportunities."
Boston coach Pat Burns traced the shift in the series to a strategic change in Game 4 after the Bruins decided not to play Carolina's physical style.
"One game we thought we were going to beat them up," Burns said. "The turning point came when we came back and played in control."
Two of Boston's last three wins came at home, where the Bruins had won just one of their previous 12 playoff games. The home fans were vocal even before Sunday's game.
"During the national anthem I looked at their bench and you could see a couple of them looking around," Burns said. "The sound level goes up. It has to be intimidating."
Carolina, in its second season since moving from Hartford, continued the Whalers' playoff futility. The franchise failed to reach the playoffs the past six years and was knocked out in the first round in each of the previous six.
"This is a team that has beaten me three times in the playoffs," Kevin Dineen said. "It gets to be frustrating."
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead on Thornton's power-play goal at 8:58 of the first period. Jason Allison passed the puck from behind the net to Dimitri Khristich, who could have shot but instead slid it across the slot where Thornton pushed it under goalie Arturs Irbe. Allison, the only player to score a point in each game, had six assists in the series.
Boston made it 2-0 at 8:13 of the second period on a goal by Carter, who had scored at 14:45 of the second overtime in Game 5.
This time, Carter carried the puck out of his own zone and past the Carolina blue line. He gave it to Steve Heinze in the left circle, then took a return pass in the slot and shot the puck by Irbe.
Carolina dominated the attack in the period but couldn't beat Dafoe.
One shot that went wide of the net may have been the Hurricanes' best chance as Robert Kron missed with the entire right side of the goal open.
The Hurricanes missed another scoring opportunity when Dafoe, lying on his back, made a kick save of Gary Roberts' shot at 7:32 of the second period.
#4 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS vs #5 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Toronto wins 4-2
Next Game: Toronto advances to the next round
Curtis Joseph leaped into the arms of his teammates, and the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrated a dramatic 1-0 victory Sunday night that bounced the Philadelphia Flyers from the playoffs.
But when the horn sounded, the Flyers were just getting warmed up. Everyone from team chairman Ed Snider to Eric Lindros -- who didn't even play -- accused referee Terry Gregson of deciding the series with a late penalty call against John LeClair.
Though Sergei Berezin's goal with 59 seconds left sent the Flyers home in the first round for the second straight year, the taste was much more bitter this time.
"When the official decides a game, it's a disgrace," Snider screamed outside the Flyers locker room. "Everybody in the stands knows what that guy did."
The Maple Leafs -- and Gregson -- just thought it was a dumb play by LeClair, one of the least penalized players in the league.
"We had five penalties in a row, so they can't complain about this," said Berezin, who blasted a loose puck past John Vanbiesbrouck for the winning goal with LeClair in the penalty box.
Bryan Berard, who made a kick save earlier with Joseph wandering from the net, fanned on his shot and then had the puck bounce off defenseman Adam Burt.
It bounced right to Berezin, who shot it past a sprawling Vanbiesbrouck for his second goal of the series.
"It happened so fast," Vanbiesbrouck said. "He didn't wait. He just put it right in."
The Maple Leafs, masters of the close game and late goal, became the first team in NHL history to win a seven-game series without scoring three or more goals in any game.
"We seemed to be more alert and sharper in one-goal games," Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. "The word lucky is probably appropriate as well."
Toronto, despite trailing for most of the series, advanced to the second round for the first time since 1994. The Flyers went 0-for-6 on the power play and didn't score a goal in the final 130 minutes of the series. They haven't won an elimination game since 1989.
"We get to the next round, we're all back together, we're all healthy and we're all ready to go," said Lindros, who was out with a collapsed lung but was pressing doctors to let him play in the second round if the Flyers made it. "It's not going to work out that way."
LeClair was called for elbowing Mike Johnson with 2:54 left, sending him to the penalty box for the most crucial moments of the season. The Flyers contended that Todd Warriner blasted Jody Hull and Kris King tripped Rod Brind'Amour before the penalty was called on LeClair.
"I understand I'm going to get fined, and I don't care how much I get fined," said Snider, leading the Flyers' criticism of the two-referee system used in the playoffs. "The truth is there. Everybody in the stands knows it. Everybody in the city knows it.
"It's a disgrace to the game. If Gregson can sleep tonight, God bless him."
LeClair, who lost his helmet at the Maple Leafs' end, chased Johnson behind the Flyers' net. Replays showed that he did lift his elbow and make contact with Johnson's head.
"I was the guy in the box," LeClair said. "I was the guy who gave them the advantage. And I feel pretty bad about it right now."
When Berezin scored the winning goal, he could barely skate because his right skate was badly bent.
"I shouldn't have played the shift," Berezin said. "My skate was real bad. I stepped on a stick, but I just kept playing because there were two minutes left in the game."
The Flyers haven't won an elimination game since beating Montreal in Game 5 of the 1989 Wales Conference finals on Dave Poulin's overtime goal. They lost that series, missed the playoffs for five seasons and are 0-5 in elimination games since then.
Joseph seemed beatable and had a terrible time handling the puck, and it nearly doomed the Maple Leafs several times.
The most dangerous gaffe came less than two minutes into the second, when Joseph fell down behind the net and lost the puck to Rod Brind'Amour with the Maple Leafs on a power play.
Brind'Amour spun around and passed to Mikael Andersson as Cujo scrambled in vain to get back in the net. Berard kicked Andersson's weak shot aside with his left skate, preserving the scoreless tie.
"Bryan made a kick save and a beauty," Joseph said.