Game Recap

NEW JERSEY 4, DALLAS 1 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Patrik Elias, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora picked up right where they left off in the Stanley Cup Finals against Eddie Belfour and the Dallas Stars. Elias had a goal and three assists in the opening 10:29 as the Devils drove Belfour to the bench and defeated the Stars, 4-1, on Wednesday night in their first meeting since New Jersey beat Dallas in last season's Stanley Cup Final. "We were ready to go from the drop of the puck," said Arnott, who also registered a goal along with Sykora. "The passing was on. We had chances in other games. Tonight they went in for us." Stanley Cup MVP Scott Stevens also scored and Martin Brodeur had 23 saves in the very one-sided game. "The first 10 minutes was almost too good to be true," Stevens said. The opening 10 minutes were a horror for Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock, who has seen his team outscored 10-1 in its last two games. It lost to Minnesota 6-0 on Sunday. Kirk Muller's first-period goal prevented Dallas from being shut out for the second straight game. "The identity that we have is we are a territorial, passionate, puck defending team," Hitchcock said. "We're not doing that. We're making fundamental errors that are costly and we've played two revved up teams. Jersey meant business and we weren't there at the start." Belfour, who came into the game with a 1.89 goals against average, struggled for the second straight game, giving up four goals on nine shots, with the final three goals coming on the last three shots. He has given up 10 goals on 37 shots in less than four periods in his last two starts. The game was very reminiscent of Game 1 of last year's cup finals. The Devils won that one 7-3 behind an 11-point performance by the line of Arnott, Elias and Sykora. The trio dominated play again, accounting for nine points. Elias' four points in the first period tied a team record accomplished five other times, the last by Stephane Richer in 1993. Arnott, who scored the cup-clinching goal in Game 6 in June, got the Devils on the scoreboard 89 seconds after the opening faceoff. Stevens kept a clearing pass by Mike Modano in the Dallas zone. The puck went to Elias who turned and found Arnott in the left circle for a quick shot that beat Belfour. Muller squeezed a shot past Brodeur and the goalpost at 5:12 of the first period on a nice setup by Blake Sloan, who was recalled from Houston of the IHL two days ago. It was Muller's first goal of the season. The Devils blew the game open on goals by Stevens, Sykora and Elias in a 3:38 span. Each of the tallies was set up by a Dallas turnover. NEW JERSEY DEVILS 4, Dallas Stars 1 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 1 0 0 1 New Jersey 4 0 0 4 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, New Jersey, Arnott 6 (Elias, Stevens), 1:29. 2, Dallas, Muller 1 (Sloan, Donato), 5:12. 3, New Jersey, Stevens 3 (Sykora, Elias), 6:51. 4, New Jersey, Sykora 8 (Elias, Holik), 8:52 (pp). 5, New Jersey, Elias 14 (Sykora, Arnott), 10:29. PENALTIES: Helenius, Dal (roughing), 7:36; New Jersey bench, served by Mogilny (too many men), 12:43. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: None. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Modano, Dal (slashing), 1:28. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 9 8 7 24 New Jersey 10 8 5 23 POWER PLAY: Dallas 0 of 1; New Jersey 1 of 2. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 14-9-4 (9 shots-5 saves), Turco (10:29 first, 14-14). New Jersey, Brodeur 15-8-4 (24-23). Referees: Blaine Angus, Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Derek Amell, Jean Morin. A: 14,892 (19,040).