EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils have been falling into a trap throughout the NHL playoffs, and one of these days it might catch up with them.
This isn't the neutral zone trap, which the Devils employed so effectively against the Colorado Avalanche in a 2-1 win on Tuesday to tie the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals at a game apiece.
This is another trap, the one the Devils have been using on themselves.
It's a propensity for taking stupid penalties.
For a team that prides itself on disciplined hockey, the Devils have driven coach Larry Robinson up a wall with a rash of retaliatory penalties in the playoffs.
You know the kind. Someone lands a hard check on a Devils player, and the immediate response is to whack his opponent illegally.
"There have been moments when we have been very disciplined and focused on just going out and winning," defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. "There have been times where we still want to win, but we're not doing the right things. We're showing the energy and intensity in the wrong areas and doing stupid things."
Sergei Brylin (interference) and Patrik Elias (slashing) both did that in the first period on Tuesday night in Game 2.
Brylin's mistake led to a goal, and Colorado had at least two good scoring chances with Elias off.
Ironically, Bob Corkum scored to tie the game at 1-1 just after Elias' penalty expired.
"I thought we played with fire taking all the penalties against Pittsburgh, but these guys are more potent and they work harder," Devils forward John Madden said of the Avalanche. "They could have blown us out of the water last night if they had taken advantage of their opportunities. We were lucky."
Robinson nearly lost it after Elias' penalty at 12:28. It was the Devils' third in the period — they've taken 11 in the first two games of the finals — and the Devils' coach was livid on the bench. His face was red and the veins in his neck seemed to be popping out as he let his players know his displeasure.
"It is disappointing," Robinson said. "You get to such an important event as the Stanley Cup finals, and yet guys continue to take stupid penalties." Robinson added. "We haven't paid the price for it yet, but unless it's addressed, and unless they buckle down and stop taking them . . . ."
Someone will pay the price, Robinson finished.
Defenseman Colin White knows the cost. He paid it in the Devils' second-round series with Toronto after a rash of penalties in Game 6.
With the Devils trailing the series 3-2 and the season on the line, White was benched early in the third period after taking a dumb penalty.
As annoyed as the Devils were with their own stupidity, the Avalanche weren't too happy knowing they squandered a chance to win both games at home.
Instead of being up halfway to their second cup in five years, they know they have to worry about finding ways to get through the Devils' real trap, the one in the neutral zone.
"They played tighter, a little more physical," Colorado captain Joe Sakic said Wednesday before the Avalanche left for New Jersey. "We can play that way. We just didn't do a very good job. We let them take over the game."
Colorado's skating room was cut down, and that choked off the end-to-end and odd-man rushes that was so prevalent for the Avs on Saturday night.
"A lot of times, we look at negatives," Avalanche coach Bob Hartley said. "Our passing could have been better, and certainly our big guns could have been better. But for both teams, there's no room out there. It's pretty tough to make a good play."
That's what made the power play so important for the Avalanche, and it only came through once in six chances in Game 2.
While some pointed to the continued absence of Peter Forsberg and his importance on the power play, Roy said not to use him as a crutch.
"It's not going to make a difference in this series because he's not going to play," Roy said. "We should try to find a solution."
Hartley agreed.
"We're better than this," the coach said. "We have to find ways and we have to use days like today to not only refuel, but refocus, look at what we did good and what we could have done better. We did a lot of good things, but not enough to give us a chance to win."
Colorado is 0-7-3 in their last 10 games at the Meadowlands.
"There's a lot of buildings that we've struggled in; we've struggled in Los Angeles ever since we got to Denver, and we did well there in the playoffs," Sakic said.
Game 4 will also be played in New Jersey on Saturday. The series shifts back to Colorado for Game 5 on Monday.