EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Martin Brodeur withstood Toronto's best period of the series and went on to stop 22 shots in the New Jersey Devils' 5-1 victory over the Maple Leafs on Monday night.

Jason Arnott, Scott Gomez, Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora and Alexander Mogilny scored as the Devils took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series. Elias also had two assists as New Jersey dominated for the third straight game.New Jersey could easily have a 3-0 lead if Curtis Joseph hadn't stolen the opening game with a 32-save performance in a 2-1 Toronto victory.

Brodeur came within 4:17 of recording a second straight shutout before Kevyn Adams scored a short-handed goal.

Joseph was just as good at the other end for a period, stopping 14 shots. However, he never had a chance once New Jersey got rolling in the second period.

RED WINGS 3, AVALANCHE 1: At Detroit, Detroit got goals from Igor Larionov and Sergei Fedorov to beat Colorado in the third game of the Western Conference semifinal series.

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Brendan Shanahan also scored for the Red Wings, who lost the first two games of the series in Denver.

Peter Forsberg scored for Colorado, which had won 14 of its previous 15.

The best-of-seven series continues with Game 4 on Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena. Game 5 will be Friday night in Denver.

The first three goals came on power plays, and Shanahan scored into an empty net with 40 seconds remaining. The Red Wings outshot the Avalanche, who eliminated Detroit in the Western Conference semifinals last season, 36-23.

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