Devils Blow (3 goal lead) - Marty benched!

As we wait for game 4 tonight in Ottawa - you pal Dave Pucks has been scouting the other series.

And there was a wild one in Newark last night. First, the Devils jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first 6:16.

Then - the Panthers benched their goalie. Jose "Three-or-more" Theodore, and replaced him with Scott Clemmensen.

But the fun was just beginning. The Panthers then scored twice on the powerplay without giving up a single shot on goal for the rest of the first period to cut the deficit to 3-2.

In the first two minutes of the second period the Panthers scored again - their 3rd goal in 12 shots and guess what - the Devils benched Marty Brodeur!

Hedberg came in and posted a .929 save percentage - but it wasn't quite enought.

The Panthers went on the powerplay a third time - and scored a third time - to take a 4-3 lead into the third period.

In the third both backup goaltenders were perfect - and so the Devils had a catastrophic fall-from-in-front home loss to put them behind 2-1 in the series.

It's the feel-good story of the day.




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