The Devils are the only one of 42 teams to win a conference final/NHL Semifinal after trailing 3-1 (since 1974-75), and only three other series went to Game 7. Twenty-five series ended in five games, and 13 were over in six.
Robinson's out-of-character outburst is given much of the credit for the turnaround.
"It was a 'put your head down and try not to get hit by something' moment," forward Jason Arnott told the Devils website in February. "After Larry lost it on us, we regrouped and took it one shift at a time. It actually helped us calm down and refocus. Larry helped us recognize that we were the better team and if we played the way we did the first two series, we would be fine."
Unlike Winnipeg, New Jersey had to win Game 5 on the road (4-1). The Devils won Game 6 at home 2-1, when Flyers forward Eric Lindros played his first playoff game returning from injury.
"For whatever reason, we lost momentum when that series was at 3-1," Brian Boucher, a Flyers rookie goalie then, told Philly.com last year. "Was it Eric coming back? I don't know, to this day I can't really pinpoint it. But we lost momentum."
New Jersey then won Game 7 at Philadelphia 2-1 after Lindros was knocked out of the game in the first period by a hit from Devils defenseman Scott Stevens.
"I remember that place (First Union Center) was so electric. I had goose bumps going down my spine (when Lauren Hart sang) 'God Bless America,'" Boucher said. "It was 1-0 (Devils), and then Eric got hit, and that place, you could hear a pin drop."
The Flyers tied the game 1-1 before Patrik Elias scored with 2:32 left in the third period.
"Knowing Larry, he's not a guy who reacts like that a lot and he wasn't asked to react like that, but I think everyone kind of felt for him, how much he cared," Devils goalie Martin Brodeur said in 2010. "The biggest thing he said was, 'You guys have tried it your way for a while and now I'm telling you what to do and just do it and you'll see, we'll be good.'
"It was an impressive speech and came from the heart, and you could see he was upset about the situation. We responded really well."
New Jersey went on to win the Stanley Cup, its second of three, defeating the Dallas Stars in six games on Arnott's double-overtime goal.
"It was probably one of my favorite ones to win," Brodeur said. "It's hard to say a favorite because winning is winning, but that year we had a change of coaches, had to come back from a 1-3 deficit, and then had those OT games against Dallas. It felt like we earned that Cup."
