NHL FINALS Devils claim pivotal Game 5

New Jersey won 6-3 to move to within one game of claiming the title.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New Jersey Devils didn't even need to score the first goal to move within one win of their third Stanley Cup in nine years.
Brian Gionta had a goal and two assists, and Jamie Langenbrunner scored twice in the third period as the Devils rallied for a 6-3 victory over Anaheim on Thursday night.
The Mighty Ducks will have to improve to 3-0 in the series at home Saturday night to force a deciding Game 7 in New Jersey. That would pose a pleasant problem for Anaheim, which hasn't beaten the Devils on the road since 1996.
"We knew we had to win. We had to go out there and do it," New Jersey coach Pat Burns said.
Anaheim scored first, and until now that meant victory. The Ducks, like the Devils, were 10-0 in this postseason when scoring first. Petr Sykora took care of that when he beat New Jersey's Martin Brodeur off a faceoff 42 seconds in.
In the first four games of the series there were no goals in the first period. That changed dramatically in this one, with each team scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes.
Short-lived lead
Where one goal in overtime won Game 4 for the Ducks, one goal on this night merely gave Anaheim the lead for 2:53.
That's when Pascal Rheaume tied it by deflecting in a pass in front from Turner Stevenson. Patrik Elias needed only 3:10 more to put the Devils up 2-1 with a power-play goal. He took a perfect pass from Brian Rafalski and steered it past suddenly ordinary goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
Steve Rucchin got Anaheim even again at 12:50 of the first as Anaheim's top forwards finally connected. The goal was set up by Sykora and Paul Kariya, who didn't have a point in the first four games. Sykora was the Ducks' top goal scorer in the regular season while Kariya led in points.
"Our first two lines haven't been playing well all series," Kariya said. "We need a lot more from us to win."
Gionta made it 3-2 at 3:12 of the second after being set up by Jay Pandolfo. But the Ducks made their last stand just over three minutes later when Samuel Pahlsson tied it again.
It all fell apart after that for the Ducks, who couldn't muster a win in New Jersey despite a three-goal outburst. They didn't score any in a pair of 3-0 road losses to open the series.
"We're disappointed with the way we played," Kariya said. "Six goals in a playoff game is embarrassing. It's not our style of game, and we're not going to have any success like that."
Rest of the scoring
Pandolfo scored his fifth goal of the playoffs 9:02 into the second. Langenbrunner added two goals, one on a setup by Gionta, in the third period to seal the victory.
"There were a few bounces that didn't go our way in Anaheim, but we didn't let that bother us," Langenbrunner said. "We didn't let that get us down. Tonight, we got a few fortunate bounces."
One was when the puck went in off Pandolfo's skate instead of his stick. Another came as Mike Leclerc tried to make a defensive play in front of Giguere. Instead he knocked the puck in his own net, giving a goal to Gionta.
Brodeur made 20 saves for the Devils.