But when the evening came, we retired to my cousin's house. It was Game 4, after all.
The worst thing about it, though, was that three of my cousin's friends were Devils fans (well, one was. The other two were Islanders fans rooting for the Devils...). And this was not the night to be among Devils fans.
New Jersey scores two goals in the first on 11 shots -- Stephane Richer at 10:17, and Billy Guerin at 16:54. With that, Captain Hook pulls Mike Richter and inserts Glenn Healy for the first time this series (and, incidentally, the last time this playoff season). Healy holds the Devils off the board until the third period, and meanwhile benefits from a Stephane Matteau power-play goal in the second period.
But 13 minutes into the third, a miscommunication all but ends the game. A dump-in behind the Ranger net is stopped by Healy with Alexander Karpovtsev seemingly coming back for the puck. However, neither plays it, and then as both go to play it, Valeri Zelepukin swoops in to grab the puck and tuck it in. New Jersey wins, 3-1, despite missing the suspended Bernie Nicholls.
More disturbing, though, is the disappearance throughout much of the game of Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Brian Noonan. All three are explained away as injuries. Only Noonan's appears legitimate enough to keep him out of a critical playoff game; he has a bum shoulder, though the Rangers would eventually say he has a bad knee (ah, the joy of playoff hockey). The teams go back to New York in two days for Game 5.
NYR 0 1 0--1
NJD 2 0 1--3
(Series tied, 2-2)
Goals: NY--Matteau; NJ--Richer, Guerin, Zelepukin. Assists: NY--Messier,
Larmer; NJ--Dowd, MacLean, Stevens. Goalies: NY--Richter (11 shots-9
saves), Healy (14-13); NJ--Brodeur (21-20). Power plays: NY--1 of 4; NJ--1
of 4.
Mike Fornabaio -- mef17@oocities.com
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