Devils and Brodeur Stop Panthers

One victory accomplished two goals for the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Not only did it finish a sweep of the Florida Panthers, it served notice to the rest of the NHL that Martin Brodeur is ready to carry the Devils in the playoffs.

Brodeur stopped 35 shots, holding Florida to one goal for the third consecutive game, and ended the Devils’ first-round playoffs woes with a 4-1 victory over the Panthers at Sunrise, Fla.

Sergei Nemchinov scored twice in the final four minutes to secure New Jersey’s sweep in the best-of-seven series.

After the victory, 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 on his 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,” Panther Coach Terry Murray said. “That is the reason they won. We failed to score throughout the series.”

The Devils lost in the first round of the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1-seeded team 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,” New Jersey’s Ken 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.”

Philadelphia 5, Buffalo 2--The Flyers scored two relatively soft goals against Dominik Hasek, the NHL’s premier playoff goaltender, and won Game 5 at Philadelphia to win the first-round series, 4-1.

McGillis’ long slap shot sailed by Hasek with eight seconds left in the first period, and his floater from just inside the blue line was redirected by John LeClair for the go-ahead goal midway through the second period.

“I was in the right position, but the puck completely changed direction,” Hasek said of the momentum-shifting goal by McGillis. “Ninety-nine percent of the time I make the save, but it was coming into the my lap, then rising into my chest or my stomach or something. . . . I don’t know.”

Daymond Langkow then made it 3-1, an advantage the Sabre offense, which scored only eight goals in the five games, could not overcome.

As the Sabres left the ice, Coach Lindy Ruff was struck by a flying cup, causing a bruise on his left cheek.

“I’ve been hit harder before,” he said. “I think it is disappointing, but they [the fans] are very emotional. One guy doesn’t ruin it for the other 19,000 here.”

Bounced by the Sabres in a first-round upset in 1998 and again by Toronto a year ago, the top-seeded Flyers advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 1997.