NEW JERSEY VS. PITTSBURGH COLORADO VS. ST. LOUIS

Saturday, May 12 Updated: May 14, 6:46 PM ET Devils cash in on power plays Associated Press EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – While Kevin Stevens sat fuming in the penalty box, the New Jersey Devils were cashing in their opportunities. Stevens took two of Pittsburgh's three penalties Saturday night, and the Stanley Cup-champion Devils scored on both power plays on the way to a 3-1 victory in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals. The physical forward was called for holding defenseman Ken Daneyko's stick deep in the offensive zone with 6:58 left in the first period. Randy McKay made Pittsburgh pay 1:07 later when he sent a wrist shot past surprised goalie Johan Hedberg to tie the game at 1. New Jersey took the lead late in the second period, 1:23 into Stevens' interference call against Devils checker Bobby Holik. "I don't think they were penalties," said Stevens, who yelled from the box at referee Kerry Fraser after the second call. "Maybe the first one they could have called for holding the stick, but he kind of flipped me over. The second one was a joke." The left wing was not at all impressed with how the officials handled the 6-foot-4 Holik, assigned all night against Mario Lemieux's line. "I hit him with my shoulder," Stevens said of the hit that sent him back to the box. "He's 240 pounds, I didn't hit him that hard." Stevens, rescued from the end of the Philadelphia bench in January for a return trip to Pittsburgh, thought anything he did to Holik was not nearly as bad as what he was absorbing. "He does the same thing, he's worse," said Stevens, who won Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 1991 and 1992. "That's the worst thing about it. When they start protecting Bobby Holik, it's time to move on I guess." The second penalty against Stevens seemed to be borne out of frustration. Holik met him along the side boards in front of the Pittsburgh bench and tried to drive Stevens into his seated teammates. Stevens recovered and hit Holik in the neutral zone, where the next infraction was whistled. "Before I hit him, he hit me on the side when the puck was already by me and almost threw me on the bench," said Stevens, who assisted on the only Penguins goal. "I just came back, the puck went by him and they called it. "There's no sense complaining about it. They called it. I don't agree with it but I don't agree with a lot of penalties I get." The Penguins, playing less than 48 hours after outlasting Buffalo in Game 7 of the second-round series, were sluggish after the opening seven minutes when they held a 1-0 lead and a 6-1 shots advantage. Jaromir Jagr recorded only one shot, and Lemieux endured his third playoff game this year without one. The Penguins are returning home for the two-day break before Tuesday's second game of the best-of-seven series. "The playoffs are grueling," Lemieux said. "You are not going to feel great the whole time, and you are going to get your rest when you can and hopefully feel good by the next game." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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