MON

NJD

New Jersey Wins Series 4-1

The New Jersey Devils are returning to the SMJ Cup finals with some unfinished business on their mind.  They proved to be too much for the Montreal Canadiens, who seemed to run out of steam after two straight upset series victories.  It was especially evident in the 2nd and 3rd periods when the Devils outshot them 29-13 and broke open a 2-2 tie after the opening frame and coasted to a 6-3 Game #5 victory.  Laurie Boschman had a goal and 2 assists to lead the charge, aptly assisted by Eric Desjardins, Daryl Evans, Dave Andreychuk and Dallas Drake who all had a goal and assist.  Peter Bondra rounded out the scoring.  Cory Stillman had 2 goals and Valery Kamenskky the other for Montreal.  The Devils will now have a little rest as they wait to see who will win the Campbell Conference final.  They will start the finals in either Vancouver or a repeat matchup with the Winnipeg Jets.

VAN

WIN

Winnipeg Leads Series 3-2

The Winnipeg Jets are a game away from a repeat trip to the SMJ Cup finals after a narrow 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks tonight.  Brendan Shanahan, Joe Nieuwendyk and Al MacInnis scored Winnipeg's goals.  Cam Neely and Esa Tikkanen scored for Vancouver.  Game #6 goes in Vancouver, but the Jets will be doing it without Don Sweeney.  Late word from NFHL HQ indicated that the defenseman has been suspended for Game #6 as a result of his actions in injuring Vancouver forward John Morris in Game #4 action.  Will that be enough for Vancouver to force a deciding seventh game or will the Jets overcome the loss and book consecutive trips to the finals.