Devils have their shovels ready, resolve steeled

"When a team is down like this . . . you have to bury them,'' Scott Gomez says, leaving no doubt N.J. is prepared to finish off the foundering Stars.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 8, 2000

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Kick 'em when they're down. Squash 'em like a bug. Put 'em out of their misery.

Those are the battle cries of the Devils as they go into Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final tonight at Continental Airlines Arena.

New Jersey holds a 3-1 lead over the Stars and can win its second championship in front of the home fans. But just as important is squelching any still-smoldering Dallas resolve.

"When a team is down like this, you have to put them down," Devils center Scott Gomez said. "You have to bury them. When you give a team like that a little life, you never know."

That's the thing. The Devils do know. Two weeks ago, New Jersey stunned the Flyers by overcoming a 3-1 disadvantage to steal the Eastern Conference championship.

So, despite sweeping two games at Dallas and outplaying the Stars in the first four games, including the one they lost, the Devils are bracing for the same wave of aggression they threw at the Flyers.

"There are a lot of veterans on the Stars, and I'm sure they all believe they have nothing to lose," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "We have to look at this as being like a seventh game. We have to be prepared to go hard."

"We have to take it to them," defenseman John Madden said. "No matter how hard they come out, we have to come out harder."

In what may seem an odd twist, the Devils said they can't afford to think about hoisting the Cup for the skate around the ice or validating a franchise that before this year had advanced past the first round of the playoffs once since winning the Cup in 1995.

That's too much of a distraction.

Defenseman Scott Stevens said he has been reading to keep his mind clear since New Jersey's 3-1 victory on Monday night.

Center Petr Sykora suggested a Wednesday night movie.

Still, "It's always in the back of your mind," he said of the Stanley Cup. "You try not to think about it. It's tough, but you have to stay focused."

The Stars need to be focused as well, but they have so many leaks to plug, the task is daunting.

Finding offense is foremost in their minds. Dallas has been outshot 116-75 and has scored eight goals. Brett Hull and Mike Modano are first and second in playoff points with 23 and 22, respectively, but only one other Stars player is in double digits, Joe Nieuwendyk with 10.

Fortunately for them, goaltender Eddie Belfour, despite lapses, has been strong.

Then there is the energy crisis. Dallas put together 40 good minutes Monday night but wilted under a 3:41 barrage early in the third period that resulted in three Devils goals and the draining of the Stars' enthusiasm.

That's a lot to pull together, especially in the final and considering that only the 1942 Maple Leafs have overcome a 3-1 deficit to win the Cup since the best-of-seven format was adopted in 1939.

Five teams have forced a seventh game after trailing 3-1.

"When you look at this as three games, it's daunting, but we don't look at it that way," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Our focus isn't on winning, it's on bringing this thing back to Dallas (for Game 6)."

"You approach it shift by shift, period by period, and hopefully, you get stronger as the game goes on," Modano said. "If we get a bad break, mentally we've got to stay with it, stay with the game plan and don't get discouraged if things don't happen early."

That sounds like a page out of the playbook the Devils used to beat the Flyers -- a playbook New Jersey doesn't want to share.

"We have them where we want them," center Bobby Holik said of the Stars. "Why give them another chance?"

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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