Devils Scouting Report

The Devils' team speed, which is vastly underrated, is a big
reason New Jersey forechecks so well and has one of the top
penalty-killing units--led by the quartet of John Madden, Jay
Pandolfo, Sergei Nemchinov and Claude Lemieux....

The Devils are also very strong along the boards, something that
will come in handy during games on the Stars' poor ice in
Dallas....

New Jersey clogs shooting lanes as well as any team in the
league, one of the reasons goalie Martin Brodeur doesn't usually
see as many shots as his counterpart. In protecting Brodeur, the
Devils often commit five men to guarding the slot, making it
difficult to create offense in that area. The Devils need to be
careful in deploying this strategy against Dallas, because the
Stars have the skill players to get the puck to their point men,
who can generate offense from there....

One of Brodeur's strengths is his ability to break down the
opposing team's forecheck with his mobility and puckhandling
skills; however, at times he struggled doing so in the
conference finals against the Flyers....

New Jersey's power play is often overlooked, but it's
outstanding. The unit uses quick puck movement and has lethal
shooters like Jason Arnott, Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. Also,
expect Alexander Mogilny and Scott Gomez to get lots of ice time
with the man-advantage....

The Devils may have to help slow-footed veteran defenseman Ken
Daneyko if he finds himself on the ice opposite swift-skating
Joe Nieuwendyk....

The Stars know that New Jersey defenseman Scott Niedermayer is
the one backliner who can break their trap, so expect Dallas to
try to slow him by being physical.

--Pierre McGuire