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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - There were still about eight seconds left in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, and the Devils already were celebrating.
Gloves, sticks, helmets were in the air and skidding across the ice. With five seconds left the Mighty Ducks abandoned the chase. With three seconds left, New Jersey players were engaged in a group hug around goaltender Martin Brodeur to celebrate a 3-0 victory Monday night over Anaheim and a Stanley Cup championship.
"We were going crazy," right wing Mike Rupp said. "Guys were punching each other and yelling and screaming and losing control of everything. It was a great feeling to have."
"It was exciting to see," coach Pat Burns said. "People never believed that we would make it. We were not supposed to get by everybody but we did."
In front of a rollicking sellout 19,040 at Continental Airlines Arena, and boosted by two second-period goals, the Devils staked their claim to history.
New Jersey's third Stanley Cup in nine years puts it on equal footing with the Red Wings, the other team to win three titles since the dawn of the 1990s. The Devils, Cup holders in 1995 and 2000, have been in three of the past four finals. And if not for a collapse to the Avalanche in 2001, when New Jersey lost the last two games, the Devils might be looked on with greater awe.
Had New Jersey overcome the Rangers in the 1994 seven-game East final, it would have been playing for its fifth Cup in 10 years. The Devils earned a league-record 12th win at home against one loss, and were 12-0 overall when scoring first. It also was New Jersey's 10th straight win at home against Anaheim, dating to 1996, and ended a series in which the home team won every game, only the third time that has happened.
"They're a great hockey team year in and year out," Ducks left wing Mike Leclerc said. "They have a lot of great leaders out there."
And one of the best stories of the playoffs in Rupp, who in his fourth playoff game scored the winning goal 2:22 into the second period. The rookie also had two assists and became the fourth player to have three points in Game 7 of a Cup final.
"I don't know what to say," said Rupp, 23, who got his chance in Game 4 as a replacement for injured Joe Nieuwendyk. "I'm just caught up in everything going on. I've been blessed. It worked out great."
Left wing Jeff Friesen, a former Duck, got his ninth and 10th goals, including an insurance goal with 3:44 left in the third. Defenseman Scott Niedermayer had two assists, and Brodeur made 24 saves for his third shutout of the series and record seventh of the playoffs. Ducks goalie Jean Sebastien Giguere made 22 saves and was named playoff MVP, the fifth Conn Smythe Award winner from a Cup-losing team, though he was booed loudly by Devils fans.
"It's so tough to lose like that," Giguere said. "We gave so much effort to get where we were at and you never know when the next chance will come to you. They deserved to win, so you have to give them credit."
"The toughest thing I've ever experienced," Leclerc said. "So close but so far away."
Far away from home.
The Ducks, entering the final, were 6-1 on the road.
"We just didn't come out and establish our game in any of the road games," Leclerc said. "Maybe we were gripping our sticks too tight. It definitely leaves a bitter taste in your mouth."
"I thought we had stage fright earlier," Ducks coach Mike Babcock said. "It's an interesting emotion when you're behind. Now you're pressing hard and not executing as you normally would."
The Devils had no problem forcing the play, clearing the front of their net and getting traffic in front of Giguere.
"The team worked hard," said Burns, who won his first Cup after 77 playoff victories. "When there is a commitment to win, it makes things easier."
And you get those extra eight seconds to celebrate.