Florida Panthers/New Jersey Devils NHL recap on ESPN

NHL


		Scores/Schedules Standings Statistics Transactions Injuries Players Weekly lineup Video Highlights

Thursday, Apr. 13 7:30pm ET
Devils start playoffs on right foot

RECAP | BOX SCORE

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New Jersey Devils opened the playoffs in much the same way they played this season, starting fast and holding on at the end.

Scott Stevens, Petr Sykora and Sergei Brylin scored early as the Devils opened a three-goal lead and then avoided another playoff embarrassment by hanging on to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Thursday night.


	New Jersey's Alexander Mogliny finds some room in between Florida defenseman Jaroslav Spacek and goalie Mike Vernon.

Rookie Scott Gomez also scored and Martin Brodeur made 20 saves as the Devils took the opening game of the best-of-7 first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

New Jersey was the NHL's best team for the first half of the season and then just barely salvaged home-ice advantage for the playoffs, falling from the top seed to No. 4, just ahead of Florida.

"It's never easy," Brodeur said. "We always make it hard on ourselves. We've been through a lot the last couple of months and it's going to take a while for us to be solid for 60 minutes. It will take a lot of work and confidence and we're trying to get there."

Bobby Holik, who had assists on the goals by Stevens and Brylin, said the Devils still need to improve.

"But in the playoffs, you take any win you can get," he said. "We're not going to give it back."

Game 2 will be played here Sunday, with the contest marking the return of Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer from a 10-game suspension for hitting Florida's Peter Worrell over the head with his stick March. 19.

Worrell, who scored one of Florida's goals, said the incident is over.

"Playoffs are too important to worry about something like that," said Worrell, who was booed by the fans every time he touched the puck. "The only thing we can worry about is he is a good hockey player and he's going to come back in the next game and help their team out."

Mike Sillinger and Rob Niedermayer, Scott's brother, also scored for the Panthers, making their first playoff appearance since 1997.

That seemed to show early as Stevens, Sykora and Brylin scored in the opening 15:28 in what seemed to be an effort to wipe out the frustrations of three straight early exits from the playoffs.

However, the game just as quickly turned into a microcosm of New Jersey's season.

With things seemingly in hand, Devils lost their intensity and spent the rest of the game trying to hold off the Panthers.

"To start off the game, I have never seen a group of guys more nervous in the first period in many many years," Florida coach Terry Murray said. "They were standing around watching the other team coming at us and playing. The mistakes we made and the decisions we made were very very costly."

Niedermayer got the Panthers going a little more than a minute after Brylin scored, capping a great 3-on-2 rush by scoring into an empty net off a pass from Scott Mellanby.

The play that seemed to demoralize the Devils was Worrell's goal with 17 seconds left in the period. Moments after stepping out of the penalty box, he took a cross-ice pass from Robert Svehla and beat Brodeur with a unscreened 45-foot shot that the All-Star goalie misplayed off his glove.

Gomez gave the Devils a 4-2 lead 7:21 into the second period after Todd Simpson and Sillinger failed to clear the puck from the Florida zone. Gomez got the loose puck at the top of the circle and ripped a shot that just slithered past Mike Vernon into the net.

Sillinger made up for the mistake with 6:10 left in the period, putting in a rebound of a point shot that Pavel Bure touched after Brodeur made the save. Bure, who led the NHL with 58 goals, was limited to an assist Thursday night.

Stevens opened the scoring at 1:38 beating Vernon with a slap shot from the point after Bobby Holik won a faceoff. Sykora scored on a backhander at 4:02 after outfighting Panthers defenseman Bret Hedican for a loose puck.

Brylin scored from the left circle after Panthers defenseman Mike Wilson failed to clear a puck behind his net.

"It just happened," Holik said. "We didn't say we were going to come out and score a couple of goals early. We just played hard and took advantage of our opportunities. Maybe we were a little more ready than them because it was our home ice."

Jason Arnott, the center on the Devils' top line, left the game late in the second period with a sprained right wrist and did not return. X-rays were negative, but his status for Sunday is uncertain.

ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard

Florida Clubhouse

New Jersey Clubhouse

RECAPS
Philadelphia 3
Buffalo 2

Detroit 2
Los Angeles 0

New Jersey 4
Florida 3

Pittsburgh 7
Washington 0

Dallas 3
Edmonton 0

Colorado 6
Phoenix 3