NEW YORK (AP)
-- Without Patrik Elias, the New Jersey Devils were questionable to even make the playoffs.
Now that the Czech Republic star is on top of his game, the only question being asked is will anyone stop the three-time champions from hoisting the Stanley Cup again.
Elias scored two goals and assisted on Scott Gomez's power-play goal early in the second period that wiped out the Rangers' only lead of the first-round playoff series. That was enough to lift the Devils to a 4-2 win Saturday and a four-game sweep of New York.
"We put ourselves again in a good position to end the series," Elias said.
That wasn't the case for the first 39 games of the season when Elias was recovering from Hepatitis A, contracted during last season's lockout. New Jersey was 16-18-5 when the calendar turned to 2006, and Elias' teammates looked to him to help turn things around.
The Devils made up a 19-point deficit in the Atlantic Division and skated off with the crown on the final day when they won their 11th straight game.
"People don't realize when this guy is going, he's top five in the league," Gomez said. "He's that good."
Brian Gionta scored 4:30 into the third period with the Devils' third short-handed goal of the series after a terrible turnover by Petr Sykora, and Elias ripped in his fifth of the series, with 6:39 left to make it 4-1.
The Rangers scored only four times in four games, while yielding 17 goals.
New Jersey will have to wait to find out who it will meet in the second round, but will enter that series just as it did this one -- as the hottest team in the NHL. The workmanlike Devils stretched their winning streak to 15 games, tying the league mark for the longest run that spanned the regular season and playoffs.
Martin Brodeur made 31 saves and broke Patrick Roy's league record by playing his 137th consecutive postseason game. His 88th playoff win moved him into a third-place tie with Billy Smith and Ed Belfour on the NHL career list.
"It's pretty sweet for everybody especially in a season that the Rangers dominated all year long," Brodeur said. "It was a long time coming for the Devils fans. For myself it's been a long time, too."
The Devils, who turned sloppy Rangers play into goals throughout the short series, earned their third playoff sweep. They have won the Stanley Cup in the two other years they pulled off the feat.
New York was facing long odds at the start of the day, knowing that only two NHL teams have rallied to win a series after trailing 3-0. But things got much worse just 53 seconds in when team scoring leader Jaromir Jagr aggravated a serious shoulder injury and was forced out of the game.
The right wing, who posted team records of 54 goals and 123 points this season, went into the right corner in the Devils end when defenseman Brad Lukowich met him with a hit on the right shoulder. The force drove Jagr into the boards, leading with his left shoulder that is thought to be dislocated or separated.
"I was just playing the game," Lukowich said. "He was no target or anything."
Jagr crumpled to the ice and stayed down until he was assisted by New York's training staff. Jagr skated off, doubled over and with his left arm drooping, and headed straight down the tunnel to the dressing room.
"You lose a guy like him, it's not the same team," forward Martin Rucinsky said. "Throughout the course of the season, he took this team to a different level."
For the Rangers, it was a bitter end to a season that had so much promise but finished with a flameout in their first playoff appearance since 1997. New York led the Atlantic Division for most of the season but fell to third by losing the final five games. The Rangers enter the summer break on a nine-game losing skid.
"We started to feel insecure about ourselves in the last couple of games before the playoffs," said rookie goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who never recovered his game after a late-season injury. "Stepping into this series, we faced one of the best teams in the league. It was a tough challenge for us."
Jed Ortmeyer gave his team and the frustrated fans in Madison Square Garden a lift when he charged in to Brodeur's right and put in a rebound of his own backhander with 18.6 seconds left in the opening period.
It was his first goal in 38 games and snapped a stretch of 367 minutes, 23 seconds over 18 periods since April 13 when the Rangers last held the lead.
Elias made sure it was gone quickly. That made summer vacation come early for his seven countrymen in the Rangers' lineup.
"I'm happy with the way I played and happy to help this team out," Elias said. "I'm glad I'm the one Czech staying."
After putting New York in a hole with two goals and four assists in the Devils' 6-1 win in Game 1, he struck again one week later to help New Jersey knock out its Hudson River rival for the first time in four playoff meetings.
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