GAME SUMMARIESPLAYOFFS ROUND 2: EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI FINALS
Updated: Tuesday May 9, 2000 4:20PM EST
Monday May 8th, 2000 Toronto at New Jersey
New Jersey wins 4-2
Martin Brodeur was waiting for shots that never came. Now he's waiting for New Jersey's next playoff opponent. The Devils held Toronto to an NHL modern record-low six shots Monday night and eliminated the Maple Leafs from the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 3-0 victory. New Jersey, which captured the best-of-seven second-round series in six games, advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since winning the Cup in 1995. "It's a great feeling to get past the second round," said Petr Sykora, who scored 18 seconds after the opening faceoff. "We just have to make sure we remain calm, we're just halfway there." Jason Arnott made it 2-0 25 seconds into the second period and the Devils' defense made sure there would not be a Game 7. "We never let those guys get back in the hockey game," said Brodeur, who earned his second shutout of the series and the eighth of his playoff career. "It's tough when you only get six shots -- it was hard to focus. That had to be one of my hardest games to play." John Madden added an empty-net goal with six seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Devils, who held the Leafs to the fewest shots in any NHL game since the start of the expansion era in 1967, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. "That was a great effort," Devils defenseman Scott Stevens said. "We didn't give them anything. We didn't want to give them life. We didn't want to go back to Toronto." New Jersey will play the winner of the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh series which Philadelphia leads 3-2 with Game 6 at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. "This was as sweet a hockey game as you could see," Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko said. "It was nice for us, now we get on to another round and we hope we can build on it." The Maple Leafs did not win the NHL championship for the 33rd straight year. Toronto has only reached the conference finals four times since its 1967 title -- including last year's loss to Buffalo. Toronto's elimination assures that the Stanley Cup will be won by a franchise from the United States for a record seventh straight season, dating to Montreal's victory in 1993. The only time U.S. teams won the Cup six years in a row was 1936-41. The Maple Leafs need to look no farther than their top line and their power play for why they could not match the regular-season success they held over the Devils. Jonas Hoglund was the only one of the trio, including Mats Sundin and Steve Thomas, to get a shot past Brodeur in the series. "We didn't shoot the puck," Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. "It is an ongoing problem for our hockey club. They want to see the back of the net before ... when you play a good defensive club, they take care of the play." Toronto's previous playoff low for shots was 13 in a 3-0 loss to Philadelphia on April 15, 1975. The Leafs had three shots in the first period Monday, two in the second and just one in the third. "I think we probably ended up with 13 or 14," forward Garry Valk said. "They always do that in this rink. They don't count as many as they have so it looks like you're not in the game." Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph was credited with 24 saves. Brodeur was hardly tested in adding this shutout to his 1-0 victory at Toronto in Game 2. "I think Dan-O (Daneyko) had more saves than me," Brodeur said. "It's amazing how it came about, they were refusing to shoot from afar. It's not hard to get six shots. "I can count six shots we shot on Cujo over the red line." The Maple Leafs, 3-0-1 this season against New Jersey, failed in all 20 man-advantage situations during the six games. "This was our best defensive effort," Sykora said. "Everybody was coming back -- not only the third guy, but the fourth and fifth guy." The previous low for shots by a Devils opponent in a playoff game was 13, taken by Pittsburgh in a New Jersey loss last year. Toronto's best chance Monday came on the Leafs' first shot of the game. Igor Korolev sent a blind back-hander from the slot at 7:35 that Brodeur swatted away with his glove. "We showed a lot of depth," Daneyko said. "We did show some physical prowess. We wore them down as the series went on." Sykora got things going for the Devils on the very first shift. Joseph stopped Arnott on the initial rush and deflected the puck behind the net. Patrik Elias kicked it back out in front where Sykora dug it out of traffic in the slot and wristed his fourth goal of the playoffs past Joseph's outstretched glove at 18 seconds. The goal came four seconds shy of New Jersey's playoff record for fastest goal at the start. Arnott got a second goal for the line just at the start of the middle frame. Sykora fired a shot wide that was corralled by Daneyko, pinching in from the left point. Daneyko moved the puck behind the net to Sykora, who found Arnott in the slot. Arnott quickly put a shot between Joseph's pads at 25 seconds. "I think we just wanted to finish it tonight, and we gave everything we had," Devils center Bobby Holik said. "We had to play like there was no tomorrow for us, and we did."
Saturday May 6th, 2000 New Jersey at Toronto
New Jersey leads 3-2
The New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs, meeting in the playoffs for the first time, quickly have developed an intense dislike for one another. Scott Gomez had two critical assists and the Devils moved within one victory of the Eastern Conference finals by beating Toronto 4-3 Saturday night as tempers boiled over on and off the ice. The Devils took a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven semifinal series, with Game 6 in New Jersey on Monday. The end of the game was marred by several fights, while Maple Leafs fans littered the ice with garbage. One spectator tried to fight with a New Jersey player as the teams headed to their locker rooms. Toronto's Darcy Tucker ignited the commotion when he took some swings at New Jersey goalkeeper Martin Brodeur at the final horn. "I got four or five crosschecks to the back of the head standing in front of the net," said Tucker, who had a run-in with Brodeur in the second period after crashing into the New Jersey net. "Then, at the end of the game, I'm on the ice and (Brodeur) sticks the end of his stick in my back and jabs me with it. I guess if he wants to do that, I'm going to run him over next game." John Madden, a rookie who scored the Devils' last goal, can sense the growing animosity between the teams. "I don't think there's history between the two franchises, but the players on the ice have played with each other and against each other and it's just a lot of love-hate relationship out there," Madden said. "I know a lot of guys in the room have a lot of strong feelings towards each other." After the game ended, Toronto's Steve Thomas went after New Jersey defenseman Scott Niedermayer, while Tucker threw a number of punches Brodeur. And the mayhem didn't end there. "When we were coming off the ice, one of the Toronto fans tried to take liberties with one of our guys and came at him," Madden said. "But the security guys pulled him back and there was a little bit of yelling and obscene words used." Brodeur laughed off the his skirmish with Tucker. "I hit him with my stick," Brodeur said. "This is the playoffs. We'll turn the cheek and go on if they want to play that game." New Jersey capitalized on two of five power-play chances Saturday and have scored five extra-man goals in the last three games. Gomez played a big role as the Devils overcame two one-goal deficits to build a 4-2 lead. After setting up Sergei Nemchinov's goal that tied the game 2-2 with 4:01 left in the second period, Gomez made a brilliant behind-the-back pass, setting up Vladimir Malakhov's go-ahead goal 7:47 into the third. Just inside the Toronto blue line, Gomez faked a shot, freezing a Leafs defender, and passed to Malakhov. With Toronto's Kevyn Adams trying to stop him from behind, Malakhov snapped a 20-footer that beat Curtis Joseph. And Gomez, the favorite to win the NHL's rookie of the year award, has regained his form after coach Larry Robinson threatened to bench him prior to Game 2. "He had confidence to stick with me in the lineup and everyone's been positive here," said Gomez, who has two goals and five points in his last three games. Madden upped the lead when he slapped a shot from the top of the left circle through a screen to beat Joseph with 5:53 remaining. Patrik Elias scored the Devils' first goal. The Maple Leafs closed within one when Sergei Berezin scored with 2:56 left, but they couldn't get tie. Garry Valk and Jeff Farkas, who made his NHL debut in Game 4, also scored for the Leafs, who have yet to get much offense from their top line: Thomas, Mats Sundin and Jonas Hoglund. The Maple Leafs' power play continued to struggle, finishing 0-for-2. They have gone eight straight games -- back to a first-round series against Ottawa -- without scoring a man-advantage goal. Overall, Toronto's power-play is 2-for-41 in the playoffs. Only the Los Angeles Kings, 0-for-23 while being swept by Detroit in the first round, have been worse.
Wednesday May 3rd, 2000 Toronto at New Jersey
Series tied 2-2
Don't write off the Toronto Maple Leafs, not the way Curtis Joseph is playing in goal. Tomas Kaberle scored on a slap shot with 1:35 to play and Joseph turned in another great game, making 34 saves, as the Maple Leafs beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 Wednesday to even their Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-2. "They have been getting a lot of shots in this series and he has been battling," Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin said of Joseph. "He makes the key saves and motivates us. There is no doubt he is the key to this team." Jonas Hoglund and Darcy Tucker also scored as the Maple Leafs rebounded from a 5-1 embarrassment on Monday and a demoralizing tying goal by Claude Lemieux late in the third period to tie the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Saturday night at Toronto. "We had a lot to prove as a team and we responded well," said Joseph, who stole the opening game of this series making 32 saves in a 2-1 win. Scott Gomez, set up by Lemieux, had the other goal for New Jersey, which lost for only the second time in eight postseason games. "They played their best game of the series," Devils center Bobby Holik said. "We had the opportunity to get ahead of them and we didn't do it. They're a talented team and we gave them life." Kaberle's first goal of the playoffs actually was the CPR for the Leafs, and it came on his second good chance in the closing minutes. His back-hander from the left circle was stopped and Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer tried to clear the puck. It came back to Kaberle, and his shot from above the circle beat Martin Brodeur. "It was a little wobbly," Brodeur said. "It was hard to say but I think it hit off someone and got inside the post. It's a tough way to lose. We had a lot of chances." Lemieux tied it with 5:46 to go on a somewhat fluky goal. Joseph could not control Lemieux's slap shot on a 2-on-1 break and the puck fell at the goalie's feet. As Lemieux went to poke it in Joseph accidentally kicked it in. "I saw his eyes light up and he was going to jab it, so I thought I would just go into a butterfly and stop his stick, but unfortunately it went off my heel," Joseph said. The Devils had a flurry of good chances right after the goal but Joseph either stopped every one or his defense deflected the pucks away. "Cujo made a huge difference," Brodeur said. "We had a lot of chances against him and he made some key saves. He's the reason this series is tied." The win returned the home-ice advantage to Toronto in what is now a best-of-three series. "We're a lot more confident now than we were after Game 3," Sundin said. "Certainly we showed we can play with the Devils and beat them, and in their building as well, and I think we can play better." Toronto entered the third period with a 2-1 lead with all the goals coming in the first period. Tucker, who scored the game-winner in Game 1, almost had a second. The Maple Leafs did a great job of keeping the puck in the Devils zone. Igor Korolev won a battle along the left boards with Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Berezin got the loose puck in the circle. He skated toward Brodeur and sent a cross-ice pass that Tucker let go through his legs before taking the puck and back-handing it just over Brodeur's glove as he lay in the crease at 16:02. Hoglund tied made it 1-1, taking advantage of a rare lapse in the Devils' defense and a big hole between Brodeur's pads. Steve Thomas and Sundin made quick passes that allowed Hoglund to split defensemen Scott Stevens and Brian Rafalski, and he ripped a rolling puck through the five-hole. Toronto was a little shaky coming into the game, and the start didn't bode well for them. Having lost the last two, the Maple Leafs fell behind 1-0 less than two minutes in. Tucker picked up a foolish penalty for cross-checking John Madden 31 seconds after the opening faceoff. Gomez, whose game has picked up since being nearly benched in Game 2, capitalized for the Devils at 1:41, putting the rebound of Lemieux's shot into an open net after Joseph could not control the shot from the right point.
Monday May 1st, 2000 Toronto at New Jersey
New Jersey leads 2-1
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. "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.
Saturday April 29th, 2000 New Jersey at Toronto
Series tied 1-1
The longer the game progressed, the more Martin Brodeur knew he had to be perfect. Brodeur was just that, stopping all 20 shots he faced, as the New Jersey Devils evened their Eastern Conference semifinals series with a 1-0 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. "As the game went on, you're kind of saying, 'Hey, you need a shutout to win this game,' because the fact is we scored only one goal," Brodeur said. "Lucky enough, guys really beared down. We didn't take too many chances in the third and that made a big difference for us." Tied 1-1, the best-of-seven series is boiling down to a goaltending battle between Brodeur and Toronto's Curtis Joseph, who starred in Thursday's 2-1 victory. The series switches to New Jersey for Games 3 and 4, Monday and Wednesday. On Saturday, Joseph stopped every shot he saw, but was helplessly screened when Colin White scored the lone goal at 6:41 of the first period. Otherwise, Joseph was remarkable as he stopped 32 shots for the second straight game. Leafs coach Pat Quinn was at a loss for words when talking about Joseph's performance. "You can probably describe it a lot better having gone through many years of school," Quinn said. "He gave us a chance and we weren't able to do anything." He also couldn't explain the ineptitude of the Maple Leafs' offense. "We've got to be better in front of them. We only had one line playing today. ... It's not good enough right now," said Quinn, who admitted that the Devils were the better team in both games. White, with his first career playoff goal, scored when his rising point shot found the far right upper corner. Joseph had no chance as his view was blocked was by his own defenseman Danny Markov, who was chasing a New Jersey forward through the crease. White said he wasn't trying to do anything fancy with his shot, just trying to hit the net. "That was the game, both goaltenders. That's all I can say," White said. "We both battled hard and we were fortunate enough to come out with the win." The Leafs only managed five shots on Brodeur in the final period. Toronto's best scoring chance came four minutes in when Wendel Clark broke in alone only to shoot the puck into Brodeur's chest. The Maple Leafs also squandered a four-minute power-play in the third after Jason Arnott drew a double-minor for high-sticking. The Leafs failed to get a shot on net and have managed just two goals on 32 power-play chances in the playoffs. The Devils penalty killers have allowed only one goal in 23 short-handed situations this postseason. Brodeur recorded his seventh career playoff shutout and first this year. The loss ended Toronto's three-game playoff winning streak, and was the first Leafs loss in five postseason home games. The Maple Leafs continue to have trouble starting sharply as they have yet to score a first-period goal in their eight playoff games. The Devils ended a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) against the Maple Leafs, going back to the 1998-99 regular season. "Another one-goal game, we've got to find a way to beat the trap," Joseph said. Added Leafs defenseman Cory Cross: "It's going to be a long series. It wasn't going to be a sweep." The emotional point of the night came early in the first when injured Maple Leafs defenseman Bryan Berard, wearing sunglasses over his damaged right eye, received a minute-long standing ovation. Sitting in a private booth at the game, Berard was shown on the center-ice video screen, and waved three times to acknowledge the cheering crowd at Air Canada Centre. It was Berard's first time at a game since being clipped in the right eye March 11 by the stick blade of Ottawa forward Marian Hossa. Said Leafs' captain Mats Sundin: "It was nice to see him and see that he's improving and in good spirits."
Thursday April 27th, 2000 New Jersey at Toronto
Toronto leads 1-0
Darcy Tucker is the first to admit his goals aren't always pretty.
As long as they count is what matters to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Thanks to a gritty second effort, Tucker scored 1:18 into the third period, lifting the Leafs to a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils to open their Eastern Conference second-round playoff series Thursday night.
"I go to the net hard," Tucker said. "I play the game as hard as I can each and every shift."
The same can be said for Tucker's linemates as the Maple Leafs third-line -- including by Wendel Clark and Dmitri Khristich -- stole the show.
"Our line is a hard-work line. We know our role," Tucker said. "Clarkie's a shooter, I'm a crasher and Khristich is a great playmaker. We've got a little bit of everything on our line."
Defenseman Dmitri Yushkevich also scored, and Curtis Joseph stopped 32 shots as the Leafs won their third straight playoff game.
Petr Sykora scored for the Devils, who lost for the first time in the playoffs after a four-game sweep of the Florida Panthers in the first round.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Toronto.
The Devils seemed to do everything right but win. They outshot the Maple Leafs 33-21 and also stifled Toronto's explosive top line, centered by Mats Sundin.
Unfortunately for the Devils, they came up empty.
"I thought our guys did a pretty good job," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "I thought we had enough chances to win the game tonight, but we just didn't put our chances to good use."
After trading second-period goals, the Leafs got the go-ahead spark from Clark and Tucker.
Clark carried the puck over New Jersey's blue line, stopped and flipped a high pass to Tucker cutting up the middle. Tucker batted down the puck, split two New Jersey defensemen and got a shot off.
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur made the initial stop but couldn't control the rebound. Tucker got the puck and snapped it behind the sprawled goalie.
The third line didn't stop there.
Midway through the third period, Clark barreled into the New Jersey zone and rifled a shot off the goal post. That got the sellout crowd on its feet after the next whistle, everyone loudly cheering Clark, who was pictured on the video scoreboard.
The line had two more scoring chances after that, including one in which Tucker was foiled by Brodeur on a breakaway with three minutes left.
Clark, in his third stint with the Maple Leafs, remains one of Toronto's most beloved athletes.
How many others would get a standing ovation because they hit the post?
"I was swearing at myself for not scoring," Clark said, laughing. "It's great when the crowd can get behind your team. It's a lot of fun playing home games when the crowd's into it like that."
Tucker and Clark earned the Devils' respect.
"They are pretty skilled players," Brodeur said. "We have to do against them what we did against the first line."
Added Sykora: "On every team, there's guys that work really hard, and Tucker's one of them."
The Leafs also got plenty of help from Joseph, who was both remarkable and lucky, as the Devils hit two goal posts.
Joseph kept Toronto in the game by stopping 23 shots through two periods, and sealed it by smothering Claude Lemieux's shot from point-blank range with 1:29 remaining.
Yushkevich opened the scoring 1:07 into the second when his point shot glanced off New Jersey's Sergei Nemchinov and bounced in through Brodeur's pads.
The Devils tied it less than five minutes later when Sykora blasted a rising shot into the top left corner.
It may be the first playoff meeting between the two teams, but the Maple Leafs staff did its best to try to fire up the crowd.
As Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" played, the Leafs' mascot Carlton The Bear was featured in a video touring major U.S. cities. The clip, broadcast on the center-ice scoreboard, ended abruptly with the mascot standing in a parking lot in front of a garbage dump, with the caption indicating it to be Newark, N.J.
All five of the Maple Leafs' playoff victories have come when the opposing team had more shots on goal.