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BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- After raising their second Stanley
Cup banner in five years, the New Jersey Devils kept the party
going against the Montreal Canadiens.
Alexander Mogilny scored two goals and the Devils unleashed an
offensive explosion in opening their defense of the Cup with an 8-4
victory over the hapless Canadiens on Friday night.
|  | | The Devils raised their second Stanley Cup banner in franchise history. |
"I think everybody has to be worried who plays against us,"
Devils forward Patrik Elias said. "We didn't play as good as we
could at first but the second and third we took over, cycled and
gave them a lot of trouble."
Bobby Holik, Sergei Nemchinov, Colin White, Petr Sykora, former
Canadien Turner Stevenson and Steve Kelly also scored as the Devils
scored in flurries.
"It was a very emotional night," Devils coach Larry Robinson
said. "I don't think it's really how we want to play, but I was
very pleased with how we moved the puck and made the most of our
opportunities."
Xavier Delisle, Brian Savage, Saku Koivu and Oleg Petrov scored
for Montreal, which just didn't have the speed to slow down the
Devils as they attacked in waves.
"They ate us alive in one-on-one situations," Canadiens coach
Alain Vigneault said. "When that happens you get the type of game
and the type of score you got tonight."
The big spurt came early in the second period when Sykora,
Mogilny and White scored in a 3:18 span to snap a 2-2 tie and send
Canadiens goalie Jeff Hackett to the bench after just 24:59 of
playing time.
Sykora, who missed most of the preseason after having his
tonsils removed, capped a 2-on-1 at 1:41 by one-timing a pass from
Elias past Hackett, who only faced 13 shots.
Mogilny put his own rebound in at 3:13 and White did the same
from a bad angle at 4:59.
"We don't have a first line," Mogilny said. "We've got four
lines, that's the beauty of this team."
Mathieu Garon made his NHL debut in replacing Hackett and played
well the rest of the period, during which Koivu scored to narrow
the lead to 5-3.
However, New Jersey put the game away when Mogilny and Stevenson
scored 67 seconds apart early in the third period to give the
Devils a 7-3 advantage.
"We made some bad decisions in the neutral zone which led to
bad turnovers," Savage said. "They are a good regrouping team and
they have speed coming down the wings. That really hurt us."
It was a good start for the Devils, who are haunted by the
memory that they didn't even make the playoffs the year after they
won their first Cup in 1995.
"We have a lot of pressure on us," Mogilny said. "We won the
Cup last year and it was an emotional night for a lot of people. It
wasn't a pretty win but we got the job done."
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur finished with 26 saves in the
wide-open game that featured 11 power plays and one good fight
which paired Montreal's P.J. Stock and Conn Smythe Trophy winner
Scott Stevens. New Jersey forward Randy McKay got a game-misconduct
penalty for being the third man involved.
Holik and Nemchinov staked New Jersey to a 2-0 lead in the
opening 7:04, but Montreal tied it on Delisle's first NHL goal and
a power-play score by Savage in the next five minutes.
Game notes
Devils rookie defenseman Willie Mitchell had an ugly
season-opener picking up four minor penalties. ... U.S. Olympic
wrestling gold medalist Rulon Gardner made an appearance for
SCORE-O after the second period. He missed badly on his first shot
and was booed. His second was much closer and earned him an
ovation. ... The 12 goals set a Devils' record for most scored by
both teams in a season-opener. ... New Jersey played without
defenseman Scott Niedermayer and forward Jason Arnott, who are
still unsigned.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Montreal Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
RECAPS
New Jersey 8
Montreal 4
Los Angeles 4
Washington 1
Vancouver 4
Florida 3
NY Islanders 3
Tampa Bay 3
Edmonton 2
Detroit 1
Anaheim 3
Minnesota 1
St. Louis 4
San Jose 1
Nashville 3
Pittsburgh 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Sergei Brylin feeds Bobby Holik for the first goal of the game.
avi: 1296 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Sergei Nemchinov puts it past Jeff Hackett.
avi: 1363 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Xavier Delisle scores off the Devil turnover in the neutral zone.
avi: 997 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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