NHL FINALS Devils face familiar situation leading 3-2

The Ducks haven't been in an elimination game yet this year.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The New Jersey Devils were in this position going into Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals only two years ago. They have not forgotten how miserably they failed.
Leading Colorado 3-2 in the series, they needed only to win Game 6 at home to raise the Cup for the second consecutive season. Not only did they lose, they lost badly, 4-0, then lost Game 7 on the road, 3-1.
That lost Stanley Cup is the most glaring failure of an otherwise exceptional nine-year run that has the Devils a victory away from their third cup since 1995.
The circumstances going into Saturday night's Game 6 against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks are different than in 2001, when their Game 6 letdown forced them to play Game 7 on the road. This time, Game 7 would be in New Jersey, where they have outscored the Ducks 12-3 in three victories.
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who very much remembers the disappointment of 2001, wants to wrap this up in Game 6. Wait until Game 7, and the bounces and the breaks might not come like they did Thursday night in the Devils' go-ahead 6-3 victory in Game 5.
Brodeur remembers how that comfortable two-game cushion in 2001 turned out to not be an advantage as the Avalanche outscored the Devils 7-1 in the final two games.
"It's not going to be an easy game for us," Brodeur said. "They feel pretty good about playing in their building and they feel they could push it to Game 7. We'll try everything in our power not to do that."
Rally time
Everything, that is, except to ask the Rally Monkey to pay a visit to the Pond on Saturday night.
After all, if the Ducks are looking for any inspiration to pull off a comeback, they need only look to the Anaheim Angels' memorable comeback victory in Game 6 of the World Series against the Giants last fall. The Angels went on to win Game 7, giving them their first World Series championship since joining the AL as an expansion franchise in 1961.
"We're not frustrated at all. We're down 3-2 and we're going home where we've been real good," Ducks forward Steve Thomas said, referring to the Ducks' 8-1 home record in the playoffs.
"This team is confident, that hasn't changed," Petr Sykora said. "I'm confident, the team's confident, Jiggy (goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere) is confident. It's just another game."
Actually, it's not. The Mighty Ducks lost only two games in their first three playoff series, so this is the first time they've faced an elimination game.
The Stanley Cup will be in the arena Saturday for the first time in the series, but the only team that can win it that night is New Jersey.
"It's going to be interesting to see how we respond," Giguere said. "This is a new challenge we haven't faced yet, and we'll see what we're all about."
The last time the Ducks dealt with a crisis in the finals, Giguere challenged his teammates to play with more emotion and aggression. They responded by winning Games 3 and 4 in overtime to tie the series.
Asked if Giguere gave another such talk Friday, Sykora said it wasn't necessary.
"Everybody knows hockey," Sykora said. "We know we can't play that way again. We know we're going to change it and we're going to play better (in Game 6). You don't get too many chances like this."
That's one reason why Devils center Joe Nieuwendyk may try to play after being out since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals with a hip-related injury. He'll try to skate in warmups and, if he does better than he did during a failed test run Wednesday, he may be on the ice.
"I'm not going to stop him, that's for sure," coach Pat Burns said.