Ice Hockey: Devils scupper Ducks in deciding match

EAST RUTHERFORD - Mike Rupp had a goal and two assists and Martin Brodeur collected his third shutout of the finals as the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup with a 3-0 win against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks yesterday.

Victory in the seventh match of the series gave the Devils their third Stanley Cup in nine years and marked only the 12th time in 110 years of Stanley Cup history that the finals had gone to a deciding game.

Pulled off in the sixth game after giving up all five goals in the Ducks' 5-2 win, Brodeur rebounded in brilliant fashion, stopping all 24 shots he faced to establish a new NHL record with his seventh shutout of the post-season.

While Brodeur has been a cornerstone of all three New Jersey cup wins, Rupp was an unlikely hero, the faceoff specialist playing in just his fourth post-season game.

The Ducks entered the match knowing that Stanley Cup history and their record in New Jersey were against them.

The home team had won nine of the 11 previous cup finals that required seven games to reach a decision.

Over the years Continental Airlines Arena has never been kind to Anaheim, the Ducks having won only once here since 1996. They lost the next 10, including successive 0-3 shutouts to open the series.


- EUTERS