NEW JERSEY VS. PITTSBURGH COLORADO VS. ST. LOUIS

Saturday, May 12 Updated: May 14, 6:45 PM ET Sykora powers 'Big Easy' in Devils' win By Wayne Drehs ESPN.com EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Slouched in the corner of the New Jersey Devils' locker room, right wing Petr Sykora was barely visible through the throng of reporters that huddled around him. As the questions continued and answers became more muddled, the sweaty Sykora, still in his black Devils hockey pants and a soaked gray T-shirt, slouched further. Then he gave in. "Uhhh, Miiiike?" he called out, in search of Devils public relations director Mike Levine. "I need some help over here." Most of the reporters got the message, filing away from the drained star of Saturday's Devils victory. But a couple didn't. Then Levine arrived. "You OK in there man?" he asked. "Yeah … sure," Sykora joked back. "You gotta be kidding me." But Sykora had only himself to blame for the group that poked and prodded at him following Saturday's game. After all, he was the one who scored the two decisive goals in the 3-1 victory over Pittsburgh in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. He was the one who starred on the New Jersey line that held Penguins superstar Mario Lemieux without a shot. And he was the one who was unanimously voted the game's top star by the media who were in attendance. Sykora's two goals give him six in the playoffs - which tops the Devils. They also marked career playoff goals No. 17 and No. 18. In addition, the goals marked the continued dominance of the "Big Easy," New Jersey's starting line of Jason Arnott, Patrik Elias, and Sykora. The trio has totaled eight goals and 11 assists in the team's last four games. They had just one goal and three assists in the first four games of the conference semifinals vs. Toronto. "You give them the room to skate, especially to check guys on the sides, then they can really move the legs and can really shoot the puck," Pittsburgh coach Ivan Hlinka said. "And they did it again tonight." Through the regular season, the group tallied 96 goals and 136 assists for 232 points, and a plus-136 rating. But much like he didn't understand Saturday's postgame media crush, Sykora doesn't understand the newfound fascination with his line's success, either. "We're playing the same way we have all along," Sykora said. "It's just that now, I think we're getting a few bounces. Before, we weren't getting anything." Despite Saturday's offensive output, Sykora said he and his linemates were proudest of their efforts on defense Saturday. The group held the always-dangerous Lemieux without a shot and kept the line of Lemieux, Kevin Stevens and Alexei Kovalev scoreless. That – not scoring goals – was their goal. "For our line, we're trying to make sure we think defense first, then offense," Sykora said. "Because if you think offense first against these guys, they are going to beat you pretty good. "I feel good about what we did on offense, but it was great limiting their scoring chances." Still, it was Sykora's lamp-lighting abilities that not only energized the sellout crowd of 19,400, but also carried New Jersey to the victory. Sykora's first goal, at 17:04 of the second period, came on a power play. After defenseman Scott Stevens aggressively pushed the puck up ice, Sykora batted down the bouncing shot of Elias past goalie Johan Hedberg. "He made a good play because the puck kind of tipped and was bouncing and he knocked it right in the air," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "That was a very good individual effort. The ice wasn't very good tonight and the puck was doing a lot of bouncing." While Sykora's first goal was a testament to his cat-like reflexes and split-second instincts, his second was credit to his lightning-fast wrist shot. The goal that put the game away came in the third period. After the Devils sent the puck deep into the zone, Sykora was left wide open at the point for a blazing wrist shot. The laser-like goal sent Hedberg's Gatorade bottle flying into the air. "That second one – I don't care who's in the net, you can't stop that. He got all of that one," Robinson said. Even the humble Sykora agreed. "It was a simple play and it worked," he said. "I finally got a little room and when the pass came, I got some good wood on it." The score gave New Jersey a 3-1 lead and all but put away the Penguins. "It was an important goal to help settle us down," Sykora said. "It's so much easier to close a team out when you have a two-goal lead." Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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