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BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- One by one, the New Jersey Devils patted,
slapped -- and thanked -- goaltender Martin Brodeur.
|  | | The Devils advance to the second round ... and they couldn't be happier. |
He stopped 35 shots Thursday night, holding Florida to one goal
for the third straight game and ending the Devils' first-round
playoffs woes with a 4-1 victory over the Panthers.
Sergei Nemchinov scored twice in the final four minutes to seal New Jersey's sweep in the best-of-seven series.
After the game, which advanced the Devils to the second round
for the first time since 1997, Brodeur's teammates surrounded him
near the goal. They pounded him atop his mask and pads, showing
their appreciation.
"That's the Marty we've seen in the past," center Bobby Holik
said. "What else do I say? What do I say? You saw it, I saw it. He
was awesome."
The Panthers, 1-12 in their last 13 playoff games, continued to
struggle offensively in Game 4 despite getting their most scoring
opportunities of the series.
They just couldn't find a way to get the puck under, over,
around or through Brodeur.
"Brodeur was the best player on the ice tonight," Panthers
coach Terry Murray said. "That is the reason they won. We failed
to score throughout the series."
Florida scored first for the third consecutive game, snapping an
0-for-10 drought on the power play with a goal in the first period.
But also for the third consecutive game, it would be the Panthers'
lone score.
Pavel Bure beat Brodeur with a slap shot from just outside the
left circle to give Florida a 1-0 lead at 5:19. Bure slipped the
shot under sliding Ken Daneyko and between Brodeur and the right
post.
It was Bure's first goal of the playoffs. The Russian Rocket led
the league with 58 goals during the season, but the Devils,
primarily using Scott Stevens to shadow Bure, limited his shots and
open skating space.
"Scott Stevens did a great job on Pavel, and Marty Brodeur did
the rest," Panthers left wing Ray Whitney said. "We certainly
would need more than one goal to beat the New Jersey Devils."
Mike Vernon kept the Panthers ahead in the opening period, stopping 17 shots, including one-on-one saves against Jason Arnott
and Claude Lemieux.
New Jersey scored twice in the second, tying the game at 4:26
and taking a 2-1 lead at 15:02.
Patrik Elias tied it, beating Vernon high on a precise centering pass from Jason Arnott.
The Panthers had plenty of chances to regain the lead, getting
14 shots in the second period, but again struggled against the
Devils' smothering defense and Brodeur.
"They had a lot of chances in the second period. I was really
lucky out there," Brodeur said.
New Jersey took the lead when Scott Niedermayer scored his
second goal since returning from a 10-game suspension for hitting
Florida's Peter Worrell over the head with his stick March 19.
Niedermayer's wrist shot floated past Vernon.
Nemchinov put the Devils up 3-1 with 3:48 to play and added his
second goal of the night with 1:57 remaining.
But the overwhelming sentiment of the Devils was that the series
sweep was just the beginning.
"None of us are going to be satisfied with this," Holik said.
"This team has more to accomplish."
The Devils lost in the first round of the playoffs as the
Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed the last two seasons. Ottawa beat
them 4-2 in 1998 and Pittsburgh beat them 4-3 last year.
"It's special. It's been real tough the last few years,"
Daneyko said. "I don't know if we got the monkey off our backs.
We're still not where we want to be. It's only one round, so we
want to keep it in perspective. We have much bigger plans along the
way."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Florida Clubhouse
RECAPS
New Jersey 4
Florida 1
Philadelphia 5
Buffalo 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Pavel Bure ends his scoring drought with this slap shot.
avi: 909 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Mike Vernon makes a great save against Claude Lemieux.
avi: 809 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Martin Brodeur makes a pair of great saves.
avi: 801 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Patrik Elias ties the game on a centering pass from Jason Arnott.
avi: 843 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Scott Niedermayer's wrist shot floats past Mike Vernon.
avi: 931 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Scott Niedermayer and the Devils advance to the next round.
wav: 195 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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