SUNRISE, Fla. – There’s plenty left to prove for these Devils. Reputation repair is still in the hypothesis stage.
Fresh from burying one bugaboo, they run into another tonight. This team that has lost three straight series was helped down that abyss by losing Game 3 on the road each
time, and they believe tonight’s version is another crossroad in their ambitions.
“It would be a mistake to look past [tonight] because it could become a hell of a different series,” Bobby Holik said of Game 3 against the Panthers here. “If they win, they’ll think they’re in the same situation as the Devils, winning their home games. For us, it could put us over the top in this series.”
The Devils have already swept aside their three-upset string of blowing home-ice advantage with splits, sweeping the opening pair of this first-rounder at the Meadowlands. Matters change tonight, when they no longer have the luxury of dictating against whom Pavel Bure plays.
“It’s going to be something we have to use, particularly to get Pavel away from Scott Stevens,” Panther coach Terry Murray said of his last-change right. “I know they’re going to change on the fly, but if I can get him away from Stevens for a period of time, maybe we’ll have a chance for some pressure in the offensive zone.”
So far, the Devils won by one goal on a night when Panther goalie Mike Vernon struggled, and they won by one goal again on a night when they thoroughly outplayed Florida. Bure has yet to score a goal in this series, denied the puck by an assortment of Devil forwards, and frustrated by Stevens, the dominant figure so far in this series.
“The opportunity to tie this series up is here, right now,” Murray said of tonight and Thursday. “We are a long way from discounting our position in this series, as far as being out of it.”
Devil defenseman Ken Daneyko has an extra reason to want to push the Panthers to the brink. He would like to see this series end Thursday so he can rest his abdominal strain.
“Absolutely, but that’s a long way away,” Daneyko said. “We’ve got two games, half a loaf, and 2-0 is almost a danger zone.
“If we win, we really demoralize them. But if they win, they think they’re back in it.”
And then Devil doubts would start to reappear. They still have some proving to do.
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Panther captain Scott Mellanby is not impressed that Martin Brodeur owns an 11-game unbeaten streak against Florida, covering three years.
“He’s due for a loss, maybe,” Mellanby said.
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Sergei Brylin remained in New Jersey yesterday to be fitted with a new right knee brace after suffering a hefty bruise in a third-period collision with Oleg Kvasha Sunday. The Devils are hoping Brylin can play tonight. “He’s a tough little tiger. Never count him out,” Larry Robinson said.
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Murray started naming names.
“[Viktor] Kozlov has got to step it up big time,” Murray said. “We’ve seen it in baseball, a guy goes 0-for-20 and he’s been their best hitter all year long. Kozlov’s been outstanding all year long, and his play has been unacceptable, not even the minimum needed for him to keep his place in the lines.”
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Condolences went out to Stevens on the loss of his grandfather, Earl Stevens, yesterday in Ontario … Stevens is plus-3 in this series, 2-1-3, while Bure is minus-3. During the regular season, Bure went minus-6 in four games, Stevens plus-8 in three between the teams … Only the ’42 Leafs and ’75 Isles have ever survived 0-3 deficits.