NHL 3-goal outburst puts Devils ahead, 3-1

New Jersey is one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The next time the New Jersey Devils put their undefeated home mark on the line, they hope it'll be in the Stanley Cup finals.
The Devils took a major step closer to their third finals appearance in four years Saturday with a three-goal outburst in the third period of a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Jeff Friesen, Patrik Elias and John Madden scored in the first 7 minutes, 35 seconds of the final period to break open a tie game and give the No. 2 seeded Devils a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
New Jersey is 8-0 at home in the postseason and can advance to the finals against the West champion Anaheim Mighty Ducks with a win Monday at Ottawa.
"We have to be ready for our best game," Friesen said.
No one, except maybe Scott Niedermayer, is looking ahead to a matchup with the Ducks.
"They're the best team in the NHL," forward Scott Gomez said of Ottawa. "To think about Anaheim would be crazy, absolutely crazy."
Top seed in trouble
Ottawa earned the top seed in the East after accruing an NHL-best 113 points.
The Senators looked every bit like that team in the first two periods, when they held a 23-13 shots advantage. New Jersey scored on its first shot 7:25 in, before Karel Rachunek and Vaclav Varada put Ottawa on top.
"This is a game we didn't dominate, but we found a way to win," Friesen said. "We got timely goals, and obviously Jay Pandolfo's goal was the biggest goal of the season."
Pandolfo tied it late in the second period.
"I'm glad they didn't take that one back," said Pandolfo, who lost a goal that wasn't detected two days earlier.
Ottawa forward Daniel Alfredsson, limited to just one point in the series, took a roughing penalty in the offensive zone with 51.7 seconds remaining in the middle period.
Game-winning goal
The Devils converted 41 seconds into the third when Brian Rafalski's drive was deflected by Friesen between Patrick Lalime's pads to make it 3-2.
It was the second power-play goal of the game for the Devils, who failed on their first 12 man advantages of the series. Alfredsson took two penalties that led to New Jersey goals.
"Any time you take penalties you feel responsible. Those were weak calls," Alfredsson said.
Elias, the Devils' leading scorer this season, made it 4-2 with just his second goal of the playoffs. Then Madden scored a short-handed goal.
Alfredsson assisted on Rachunek's goal that tied it 1-1 with 14.5 seconds remaining in the first period.
The Senators got even when Alfredsson took advantage of a Devils turnover and set up Rachunek's spin-around goal from the blue line. The goal snapped Brodeur's shutout streak at 117 minutes, 43 seconds.
It was just reward for the Senators, who outshot the Devils 11-3.
Varada put the Senators on top for the first time in New Jersey 7:08 into the middle period when the Devils were caught in a line change.