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No. 2 line hopes to convert on chances Associated Press WEST ORANGE, N.J. – For the past few weeks, it's been a common belief that the New Jersey Devils have been hitting on all cylinders approaching the Stanley Cup finals. It's not true. While almost everything is in good order, the Devils' No. 2 line is going into the finals against the Colorado Avalanche in need of help. Scott Gomez and Alexander Mogilny have not scored in 10 games and linemate Sergei Nemchinov has just one goal. What makes the slump so surprising is that the line has had a lot of scoring chances. Mogilny, who had a team-leading 43 goals in the regular season, has been stopped on his last 24 shots dating to a five-point game (two goals, three assists) against Toronto in the second round of the playoffs on April 28. Gomez has been denied on his last 22 chances, including a couple of breakaways against Pittsburgh's Johan Hedberg in the Eastern Conference finals. "I am hoping it's just a matter of time before the puck starts going in," Devils coach Larry Robinson said Thursday after a 30-minute workout at the team's South Mountain facility. "When you are not getting chances, that's when you start to worry. "The fact they are getting chances and they are not going in for them, at least there is a little light at the end of the tunnel." Gomez is trying to keep a sense of humor. He hasn't started a barbecue with his sticks, and the good news is the defending champion Devils are right where they expected to be at this point despite the slump by the line. "After we won the last game, we were skating to Marty (Brodeur) and Alex kind of joked to me, 'Hey, we're saving them,"' Gomez recalled. "Now, let's go and get them. The chances are there. That's all you can ask for." Earlier in the season when the line was struggling, the chances weren't there and the guys had to work through it. "Once one goes in, they come in bunches," Gomez said. A 12-year veteran, Mogilny knows patience is the key. "There are a lot of things you don't have answers for," said Mogilny, a 76-goal scorer in the 1992-93 season with Buffalo. "Some things you can't control. "Sometimes you get a bounce and it goes in, and sometimes you don't and it doesn't," the Russian said. "As long as you keep working and keep putting the puck at the net, good things will happen." The Devils are going to need goals going against Colorado's Patrick Roy, 12-4 with a 1.74 goals against average and .932 save percentage in the playoffs. "We need to get traffic and get the puck at the net as much as possible," Mogilny said. "But it seems like every series in the playoffs we've faced a good goalie, and this is another." Gomez thinks the Devils are well prepared. "We face Marty every day," Gomez said. The Devils won both regular-season games with Colorado, knocking out Roy twice in winning by a combined 12-4 margin. "The season doesn't mean a thing, and the best example of that is Patrick," Robinson said. "You can get by with certain things in the year but when the playoffs roll around he is a different goaltender. He loves the challenge. He is like our guy. The tougher the challenge, the better they play." That's why Gomez and company have to get it together if the Devils want to win their third Cup since 1995.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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 ALSO SEE Notebook: Peter the Healed? What, Avs worry? Not about the regular season Colorado's Klemm hopes to return for Cup opener |
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