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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New Jersey Devils forced a Game
7 in the Eastern Conference finals against the Philadelphia Flyers
because they had an answer to Eric Lindros.
They had the "Reggie Jackson" of hockey -- Claude Lemieux.
Lemieux scored on a rebound with 8:34 to play to break a
scoreless tie and the Devils overcame the return of Lindros by
beating the Flyers 2-1 Wednesday night to inch closer to becoming
the first team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to reach the Stanley Cup
finals.
"Claude, what can you say? Who else would score?" Devils
defenseman Ken Daneyko said "He got his goal. He was working hard
all night. He jumped on the loose puck but this is his time of
year. You know, he's the Reggie Jackson of hockey in May and
June."
|  | | Alexander Mogilny scored what became the game-winning goal, forcing a Game 7 in Philadelphia. |
Alexander Mogilny added an insurance goal for the Devils and it
proved vital when Lindros beat Martin Brodeur with 30 seconds to
play.
Brodeur only faced 13 shots as the Devils beat the Flyers for
the second time in three nights to set up Game 7 in Philadelphia on
Friday night.
"We don't have anything yet," Daneyko said. "I hope we didn't
climb back for nothing because Game 7 is going to be extremely
difficult."
If that game is as good as Game 6 it will be a wonderful finale
to what has been a great series between these border rivals
separated by the New Jersey Turnpike.
"The place will be jumping," Flyers coach Craig Ramsay said
"The building will be alive. We can feed off of that emotion. We
have a good home record and it will be a big game."
"We have to make sure we make Friday night special in the
dressing room after the game," said Lindros, who played 14
minutes, 47 seconds on 19 shifts. He played right wing on a third
line centered by Daymond Langkow.
The return of Lindros from a series of concussions in Game 6
just added more excitement. He came within a few ticks of the clock
of giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead late in the second period and he
almost scored on a wraparound with 11:30 left in the game.
The go-ahead goal came after Lemieux forced a turnover by Flyers
defenseman Andy Delmore just inside the blue line. Bobby Holik got
the puck and his shot from the right faceoff circle was stopped by
Brian Boucher, but Lemieux, the veteran the Devils acquired to get
them back to the Cup finals, got to the rebound and backhanded it
into an open net.
"Claude left it there for me and I took a shot the `D' blocked,
and it came down in my skates and I kicked it to my stick," Holik
said. "I knew Jay Pandolfo was going to the net and I don't know
if he missed the puck or it went off his stick. But Claude was
coming late and the goalie was on the ice and he flipped it in."
It was the 80th career goal in the playoffs for Lemieux, the
playoff MVP when the Devils won their only Stanley Cup in 1995.
Mogilny scored on a backhander in close with 3:27 to play.
"There's not much to say," Mogilny said of his third goal of
the playoffs, which turned out to be the game-winner. "Sergei
Brylin made a great play. The puck came loose and it was a lucky
goal basically."
The goal proved to be the game-winner when Lindros scored on a
snap shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle after the
Flyers pulled Boucher for an extra skater.
Lindros came close to having a storybook return late in the
second period. With 2.7 seconds left in the then scoreless game,
the Flyers pulled Boucher and sent six skaters out for a faceoff
deep in the Devils' zone.
"Obviously it would have helped," said Lindros, who did not
know if his goal counted. "But heading into the third on the road
tied is not a bad situation."
Lindros won the faceoff and the puck got pushed to him to the
right of Brodeur. The goaltender stopped his first shot but Lindros
lifted the second over him just after the horn sounded to end the
period.
The officials signaled no goal and a replay upheld the call.
Much like in Game 5 when they beat the Flyers 4-1 to stay alive,
the Devils dominated play in the opening two periods, holding
Philadelphia to six shots.
The Flyers didn't have a shot in the second period until John
LeClair was stopped on a 2-on-1 from the right circle with 2:29
left.
Until then, Boucher saw 90 percent of the action and he had a
couple of close calls. The rookie stopped a power-play point shot
by Scott Stevens early, a weak shot on a breakaway by Holik with
about seven minutes left, and a backhander from the right circle by
Scott Niedermayer with 1:11 to go.
"We were playing solid defensively, we were getting more
chances than they were and we knew it was just a matter of time
before we started to connect on some," Devils defenseman Brian
Rafalski said.
The scoreless first period was the first of the series, but that
didn't make it boring, not with the return of Lindros and the
Devils fighting to survive.
Lindros, who hadn't played since early March, actually had
several good shifts, hitting rookie Steve Kelly twice and Lemieux
once. However, his aim was off on his two shot attempts.
Rick Tocchet had the Flyers' best chance getting the puck in
front five minutes in but he couldn't get much on his shot, one of
four in the period by Philadelphia.
Scott Gomez had the Devils' best chance with 2:02 left in the
period and Boucher made a mask save, literally. Gomez's shot from
the right circle lodged in the wiring of the mask, forcing the
rookie goaltender to finish the period wearing a Philadelphia
Phantoms mask while his other was being repaired.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
Lindros: Good return with bad results
Tracking Lindros' Game 6 performance
Lemieux comes through again
Nemchinov out, Madden plays for Devils in Game 6
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Claude Lemieux beats Brian Boucher.
avi: 811 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Eric Lindros puts the Flyers on the board.
avi: 636 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Alexander Mogilny scores on the backhander.
avi: 905 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Brian Boucher stops the puck with his mask.
avi: 1057 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Claude Lemieux talks about his goal.
wav: 150 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Larry Robinson is pleased with the team effort.
wav: 136 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Craig Ramsay felt Eric Lindros was ready to play.
wav: 112 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Lemieux believes the Devils can win Game 7 in Philly.
wav: 191 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Commitment paid off for Martin Brodeur and the Devils.
wav: 86 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Eric Lindros felt comfortable being back on the ice.
wav: 94 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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