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--> --> Avalanche two wins away from cup Smith EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - After more than 22 years of anticipation, Ray Bourque might not have to wait too much longer to drink from the Stanley Cup. Bourque, who has played more games in NHL history than any player who hasn't won the cup, scored on a power play early in the third period, breaking a tie and leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. The victory gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and moved the Avalanche and Bourque within two wins of taking the cup from the defending champions. "You could say it was the biggest goal of my career," said the 40-year-old Bourque, whose bid for a cup has been one of the focal points of the postseason. Any time you walk into the Colorado locker room, someone seems to be either talking about it or asking a question about it. "If Ray wins, that means we all win," said Colorado captain Joe Sakic, who set up Bourque's goal by beating John Madden on a faceoff deep in the New Jersey end. "That's something we have strived for since the beginning of the year. We still have a got a ways to go," Sakic said. "You have got to get two more wins against the defending champs. It's not going to be easy." That's somewhat debatable heading into Game 4 on Saturday night at the Continental Airlines Arena For the first time in the playoffs, New Jersey is facing a team that is as talented and as physical as it is. The Avs have matched the Devils hit for hit, beaten them at their own game in the neutral zone and taken them out of their game. "There is always a problem when you don't come to work and you don't stick to the game plan," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "You are not going to win a lot of games when you only have eight or nine guys playing. We didn't have enough guys competing." Martin Brodeur was one of the few Devils who was outstanding in defeat. But even the Devils goalie was frustrated seeing his team two losses from giving up the cup. While he insisted the Devils are quite capable of spoiling Bourque's cup run, there was concern in his voice. "Right now, I think we are on the edge," Brodeur said. "It's been a long playoff for everybody. When things go wrong, a lot of guys are panicking. It's time for us to be confident about ourselves and being poised out there." The Devils looked very poised in the first period against Colorado, but they didn't play at the same level in the final 40 minutes. Jason Arnott finally got the Devils' A-Line on the scoreboard in the series with a power-play goal 3:16 after the opening faceoff, but Colorado defenseman Martin Skoula tied it with a shot that Brodeur said tipped off the pants of Avs center Stephane Yelle. "It was going wide and redirected," Brodeur said. Colorado took over in the second period, but it had to survive an unbelievable giveaway by goalie Patrick Roy near the sideboards late in the period. Patrik Elias stole the puck from Roy while killing off a penalty, and Elias' shot hit the goalpost with Roy out of position and the net open with less than 20 seconds left in the period. "I don't think he could have scored," said Roy, who was outstanding, stopping 21 shots. "It would have hit my pad if it was on net. But I was not pleased with myself. It was a bad decision." Instead of a 2-1 lead entering the final period, the Devils had 62 seconds of Arnott's penalty still to kill off. They failed to do it. Thirty-one seconds into the final period, Bourque made Arnott pay for the penalty with a slap shot past Brodeur. "I saw it," said Brodeur, who made 18 saves. "It took me a while to see him because I didn't know where he was. He kept moving with the crowd. When he got out of the crowd, he was stepping into the slap shot. "He shot it right at my shoulder. I put my glove there instead of keeping my shoulder there and it went off my glove." Dan Hinote capped a great rush with Chris Drury and Ville Nieminen a little less than three minutes later for a 3-1 lead. After that, the Avalanche shut down the neutral zone, limiting the Devils to just a few good chances in the final 20 minutes. "They are playing as much a trap, if not more, than our club," Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko said. And if the Avs keep doing it well, they and Bourque will do what the Devils did last year - drink from the cup. "I know we are two games away, and we are one step closer," Bourque said. "But we've got a lot of work left." For Bourque though, the job could be over in just four days. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing