ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – The New Jersey Devils failed to sustain their momentum from a pair of decisive home victories into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Now they know they’re in a series.

When Ruslan Salei’s goal eluded Martin Brodeur at 6:59 of overtime, giving the Anaheim Mighty Ducks a 3-2 victory Saturday night, the Devils retreated to their dressing room knowing that they missed a chance to sweep the series. After the Devils limited the Ducks to 16 shots in each of their consecutive 3-0 home wins, New Jersey allowed 18 shots through the first two periods and 33 overall.

Right from the start, the Devils realized it would take more than a one-man advantage for their struggling power play to score against Jean-Sebastien Giguere. They were 0-for-4 on the power play.

John Madden was cross-checked by Steve Thomas just 15 seconds after the opening faceoff, but the Devils failed to capitalize. They got another chance at 3:58 of the first period when John Leclerc was sent off for slashing – but came up empty again as Giguere displayed the form that held Minnesota to one goal in the Ducks’ four-game semifinal sweep.

Anaheim’s Marc Chouinard opened the scoring at 3:39 of the second, moments after Brodeur went behind his net to clear the puck and turned it over to Anaheim defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh.

The goal ended Brodeur’s scoreless streak at 143 minutes, 39 seconds, leaving him second in the record books behind Toronto’s Frank McCool, whose 1945 streak of 188:35 made him the only goalie in Finals history to post three straight shutouts.

The Devils pulled even at 14:02 of the period when Patrik Elias beat Giguere just under the crossbar with a short wrist shot after Jamie Langenbrunner spotting him cruising down the slot.

The Devils fell behind again just 45 seconds later when Brodeur came a few feet out of his crease to steer a dump-in by Ozolinsh to the right circle – and lost his grip on his stick as the puck trickled across the goal line. To add insult to injury, Giguere was credited with an assist.

New Jersey got a break in the third period when rookie defenseman Kurt Sauer tried to knock down a fluttering puck between the circles in the Anaheim zone and Grant Marshall got control of it before taking a 25-foot wrist shot that Scott Gomez redirected for his third goal of the playoffs.

Two more wins also would erase the sour taste Devils coach Pat Burns still has in his mouth from his first trip to the finals in 1989 with Montreal, when Calgary beat the Canadiens in six games. Only four coaches have won the finals in their second try after losing the first time – Jack Adams, Dick Irvin, Glen Sather and Bob Johnson.

AP-ES-05-31-03 2332EDT