It seems the only thing that had been missing from the arsenal of the red-hot New Jersey Devils lately was a chance to breathe easy.

In what is easily shaping up as their most inspiring playoff run since they won the Stanley Cup in 1995, the Devils keep winning despite the fact they hardly seem to be scoring.

In the early stages of Game 3 of this Eastern Conference semifinal against the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night, the script was repeating itself. At least it seemed that way as the game was locked in a scoreless tie with the second period almost half over and two brilliant goaltenders named Martin Brodeur and Curtis Joseph showing no signs of letup.

Then, out of nowhere, the Devils scored. And scored ... and scored ... and scored.

Well, you get the point.

Backed by an unanswered five-goal barrage that started at 9:42 of the second period and ended at 6:01 of the third, the Devils turned over a new leaf of sorts as they buried Toronto 5-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Combine that with their sweep of Florida in the first round, and the Devils are 6-1 in the playoffs.

But winning is supposed to be fun, isn't it? It's just that it's hard to enjoy it when you are constantly biting your nails and watching the scoreboard as the minutes and seconds seem to tick down so slow. And even harder to enjoy when every quality bid you get seems to hit the post or the cross bar or the often impenetrable glove of CuJo.

In fact, the Devils were lucky to come back here with a split, considering they had scored but one goal in each of the first two games.

Then again, they also are lucky to have Brodeur on their side. The veteran netminder has been almost untouchable in these playoffs, surrendering 10 goals in seven games, one of which was a meaningless Leafs tally that came late in Monday night's third period after the gracious visitors already had fallen behind by five goals.

So white hot has Brodeur been, Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn suggested that the air seeped out of his team after the first goal of Game 3, a power play redirection by New Jersey's Jason Arnott.

"I would say that in the first half of this game we played our best hockey of the series," said Quinn. "But we couldn't figure out a way to get it in. We had some good chances and (Brodeur) had them all figured out. I think our players were frustrated. Maybe that is why we couldn't get going after the (first) goal."

Under ordinary circumstances, you can say with relative certainty that one goal does not a hockey game make. But the way things have gone in this tense series, what with the Leafs winning 2-1 in Game 1 and the Devils' 1-0 conquest in Game 2, that was not a safe assumption to make.

"In this type of series, it's a big difference when you score a goal," gritty Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko said. "You feel good about your team because both teams have such good goaltenders. That's why the second one was huge. You get up 2-0 in a series like this, you feel confident."

The mystery of CuJo, who had been so baffling in the first two games and for the first half of Game 3, finally had been solved.

And not just by one sniper, but by a plethora.

Perhaps more significant than the Devils' five-goal breakout was that there were five different scorers. This was big for a team that had been in a collective offensive funk.

Arnott's goal was his first of the playoffs. Gomez, the dazzling rookie who is almost a shoo-in for the Calder Trophy, had been stone cold for the first time all season before making it 2-0 Devils with a vicious blast from the slot. And Elias, the Devils' most dynamic scorer, finally broke out of his mini slump with a pretty wrap-around that gave New Jersey a virtually insurmountable lead after two periods.

"We all worked hard and (Gomez's) goal was nice," Elias said. "Even in the first round, it seemed like we always had a one-goal lead. We felt a little more confident and loose after the third goal."

"It would certainly be nice not to have just a one-goal lead every night," Daneyko said, "but that's the way it's been all playoffs. That's what we expect. There's no easy games. Every team is playing their heart out. Tonight, we just capitalized on some of our opportunities. These are the types of things that lift your team."

New Jersey's Jason Arnott (middle) is hugged by teammates after scoring a goal.(AP)

And you wonder whether it can sink Toronto.

As hotly contested as the series played out until Game 3, the Devils are a much deeper team than Toronto. And unlike the Leafs, who rely so heavily on the mastery of Joseph, the Devils can beat you in a variety of ways.

It's just that so many people who don't watch them on a regular basis still have them confused with the dump and chase and trap team that disgusted much of the puck-loving public during that 1995 Cup. And it was a perception that wasn't dying easily with the way the Devils had been winning in these playoffs.

But in that furious second- and third-period barrage of Game 3, the real Devils showed up for the first time in a while.

"Everybody keeps going back to '95 and '94, and Jacques Lemaire and defense and all that," Daneyko said. "But we have a lot of firepower now. It's just that it's a team concept. We don't have 40- and 50-goal scorers. Just a lot of guys with 20 and 30. "

"There are things you can't control," Brodeur said. "Like the way CuJo plays and makes these saves all the time, we can't control. The only thing we can control is shooting a lot of pucks and going at the net. Some day it's going to pay off. "

And it did Monday night. Over and over and over again.