I humbly present my Top 10 Devils games of all time….from the home office in Yucca Valley. There was much voting for this and well this is what came out on top.
#10….The first win over the Rangers…3-2 Game 2 from 1982.
This one holds special memories only because it was the first game I ever went to…my father took me and I still remember Don Lever’s smile from ear to ear when the final horn finally sounded. The captain looked relieved and Chico Resch once said “The high from that win lasted that whole year because we knew we wouldn’t be swept by the Rangers.” Amen!
#9….DIE HARD!!! MacLean drives it home….April 3rd, 1988.
With the Devils needing two points and not one to make the playoffs over the hated Rangers….John Maclean fired a slapper from about 25 feet past Darren Pang as the Devs won 4-3 in OT sending them to their first ever playoff birth. The magic continued as the Devils came within one game of going to the Stanley Cup Finals that season.
#8….Mr. Stevens gets off the mat. Game 4 of the 2003 Conf Semis.
Every Devils fan remembers the horror and outrage that went thru their minds when Scott Stevens lay in a pool of his own blood after taking a Pavel Kubina slapper to the head just over a minute into Game 3. All those stitches to the ear..the uncertainty of if he would ever play in that series. Its Scott Stevens…screw that! Not only did he play in Game 4…but had a goal and 2 assists in the victory. The Devils went on to beat Tampa in five and eventually win a 3rd Stanley Cup.
#7….An eight pointer??? Surely you jest. April 22nd, 1988
In one of the stranger games you’ll ever see….watch Devils Classics sometime…they had this on once. Patrik Sundstrom scored eight points in a 10-4 rout over the Washington Capitals with 3 goals and 5 assists. Yes, Mario Lemieux tied the record just over a year later but Sundstrom was the first. He went on to score 20 points in that playoff run.
#6….Elias completes a first in East Conf. Finals History.
When the Flyers went up 3 games to 1 on the Devils…how many Devil fans thought their gooses were cooked…..I sure did. But then they came back and forced a game 7. I was shocked. Then Lindros played in Game 7 and well let’s say he was freight trained by Stevens. With the score tied at 1…Patrik Elias scored in the waning moments of the third period to give the Devils a 2-1 win and a berth in the Stanley Cup finals. Devils went on to win their second cup in 6 games.
#5…Scott Stevens saves Jersey’s Bacon…..
Game 2 of the Eastern Conf. Semis saw the Devils give up a one goal lead late to the Pens on a goal that went off Tommy Albelin’s skate. However, with just over 30 seconds left….here comes Scott Stevens to the rescue…with an end to end rush…he fired the puck at Ken Wregget…got the rebound..and scooped it in the net. The Devils tied the series and never looked back…winning in five. Many said that was the turning point in that run to the first cup.
#4…The culmination of the streak……
The Devils were 19 points out of first place on January 6th…there was no way in Hades they could win the division right????? WRONG!!!! With a superhuman 11 game winning streak to end the season they indeed did the near impossible. One minor detail…they were down 3-0 to the Habs in Montreal. Brian Gionta scored 2 goals in a 4 goal explosion that vaulted the Devils to a 4-3 victory that gave the Atlantic to the Devils again. The Devs would sweep the Rangers before falling to the Canes in 5….but the memory of that streak will be relived for years to come.
#3….Rupp and Friesen oh my!!!!!!
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals can bring some unlikely heroes….enter in Mike Rupp and Jeff Friesen….who combined for the first 2 goals..before Friesen scored on a partial break for the 3rd….in the Devils 3-0 win over the Ducks to win their 3rd Stanley Cup. With that…Martin Brodeur broke the shutout record for the playoffs…and the Devils cemented their place in history.
#2….Is Not…Are too……Arnott…….
It was late…..midway thru a second overtime in a game 6 that seemed it might go longer than the 3 ot marathon that was game 5….Patrik Elias was covered by 2 Stars players in the right corner…..he fired a pass out of desperation toward the front and none other than Jason Arnott…happened to be there to fire the puck over a sprawling Ed Belfour to give the Devils their second Stanley Cup win. It was a cup win made the more sweeter after Larry Robinson wore Petr Sykora’s jersey. Sykora was knocked out of the game early by Derian Hatcher.
#1…Peluso cried and my family did too…
It was the sweep heard thru the hockey world. The Devils were up 3-0 going into Game 4 of the 95 Stanley Cup Finals….and the game was tied at 2 when Neal Broten had 666 whacks at that puck in front of Mike Vernon. That moment felt like an eternity but finally that puck went up and over Vernon and into the net to give the Devils a lead they would never give up…as Brylin and Chambers would add insurance goals to give the Devils a 5-2 lead with under 8:00 left in regulation. At that point, Mike Peluso (one of the biggest tough guys you could ever go to war with) just started crying and my brothers, my dad, and I cried with him in absolute joy. My middle brother and I were at the game and as the seconds ticked off…I think I hugged every fan in that row….the later celebration and the fact that I got to drink from the Cup….is my most precious hockey moment ever and it tops this list of great Devils games.
Yes I know there will be debate….there was that 9-0 game…or that 3 goal comeback against the Isles….or the Niedermayer end to end rush in Game 2 against the Wings…etc. By all means…debate away….it is what makes hockey the coolest game on Earth.
