NEW JERSEY VS. TORONTO BUFFALO VS. PITTSBURGH COLORADO VS. LOS ANGELES DALLAS VS. ST. LOUIS

Wednesday, May 9 Updated: May 10, 3:24 AM ET Tough, but characteristic win for Devils By Adrian Wojnarowski Special to ESPN.com EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The cuts behind Scott Stevens' right ear, dipping down to the side of his face, were beginning to heal now. There was the dried blood and the scars of a playoff series the hardest hitter in the National Hockey League believed had been the most brutal of his career. He was tired and sore in the dressing room, and suddenly it washed over him that these New Jersey Devils had made it just halfway home in their defense of the Stanley Cup championship. Defenseman Scott Stevens had a goal and an assist in the Devils' series-clinching win over the Leafs on Wednesday night. "This was like nothing I've ever experienced," Stevens said late Wednesday night after a 5-1 Game 7 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs that sends the Devils to the Eastern Conference finals for a meeting with the winner of the Pittsburgh-Buffalo series. "It just shows you how hard it is to repeat." The Maple Leafs turned this best-of-seven series into a bloodwar, reducing the Devils to retaliating and taking foolish penalties, and the seventh seed nearly stole the series. They had the Devils down 3-2, had them confused and angry, and wondering why they had let the Leafs unravel them. There's something to these Devils, something hard to touch but easy to see: They're talented and tough, yes, but it goes deeper. It goes to the core of a champion. "We're down 3-2," Stevens said, "and we come out and play our two best games of the series." They did it without their best player, Scott Niedermayer, who had gone to his roommate, Ken Daneyko, Wednesday afternoon at the Devils' home hotel and told him how desperately he wanted to play Game 7. Still, his concussion from the Tie Domi elbow hadn't had a week to heal, and he was still cloudy and unsure, and Daneyko could see through Niedermayer's emotion and understand this was just too much, too soon. "I think he wanted someone to agree with him, to give him some reassurance that he just shouldn't play if he didn't feel perfect," Daneyko said. "I told him we'd get the game for him, and give him a chance to come back in the next series." Niedermayer has his chance now. The Devils won two of three games to end the series without him, and he's determined to be in the lineup Saturday when the Devils play Game 1 at Continental Arena. When Game 7 was over, Niedermayer stormed into the locker room and made a move for Daneyko, his friend, and gave him a big, long hug. He had accepted the handshake of Domi in the hallway, and these tough, nasty Maple Leafs disappeared into the distance now. The Devils were halfway home to a repeat, bringing with them the scars and dried blood of a series the defending champions never expected to push the season to its brink. As the Devils do, they pushed back. Mostly, the Devils were just grateful to get out alive, and get on with the toughest task in sports: Winning the Cup, all over again. Adrian Wojnarowski is a columnist for the Bergen (N.J.) Record and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

ALSO SEE Niedermayer, Domi shake hands after Devils' Game 7 win Devils blow away Leafs 5-1, reach East finals Maple Leafs deal with second straight ousting by Devils