Devils Raise Banner, Bury Habs

Canadiens roster

"I think everybody has to be worried who plays against us," Devils forward Patrik Elias said. "We didn't play as good as we could at first but the second and third we took over, cycled and gave them a lot of trouble."

Alexander Mogilny had two goals and Bobby Holik, Sergei Nemchinov, Colin White, Petr Sykora, Turner Stevenson and Steve Kelly each scored for the Devils.

"It was a very emotional night," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "I don't think it's really how we want to play, but I was very pleased with how we moved the puck and made the most of our opportunities."

Xavier Delisle, Brian Savage, Saku Koivu and Oleg Petrov scored for Montreal, which just didn't match up to the Devils.

"They ate us alive in one-on-one situations," Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault said. "When that happens you get the type of game and the type of score you got tonight."

"We made some bad decisions in the neutral zone which led to bad turnovers," Savage said. "They are a good regrouping team and they have speed coming down the wings. That really hurt us."

Last time the Devils were defending the Cup, they missed the playoffs the following season.

"We have a lot of pressure on us," Mogilny said. "We won the Cup last year and it was an emotional night for a lot of people. It wasn't a pretty win but we got the job done."