TAMPA, Fla., April 22  On days like this, it is hard for the Devils center Scott Gomez to picture himself gone. For seven years the Devils have been the only team Gomez has known. He has been around long enough to have grown almost blasé about goaltender Martin Brodeurs brilliance and the teams closeness and the franchises postseason success.  At the seasons end, Gomez will be a free agent, eligible to follow the money trail to a huge pot of gold. But today, as the Devils celebrated their Eastern Conference quarterfinal-clinching 3-2 victory against the Lightning in Game 6, Gomez sounded like someone who senses that he is part of something special.  Everyone gets along, everyone cares about each other, he said. From the grizzliest veteran to the greenest rookie, youre expected to contribute, Gomez added. Its always a team effort.  Today the Devils top line of Gomez, Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta generated enough scoring chances to see the Devils through to the next round, where they will meet the Ottawa Senators. Gionta scored twice, Elias added three assists and Gomez contributed two assists.  The top line provided the offense but if that is all that was required to win, the Lightning would still be playing. Their top line accounted for 11 of their 14 goals in the series. The difference was that the Devils got contributions from everybody.  I think there were a lot of people that did a lot of good things at the right time, said Lou Lamoriello, the Devils general manager and coach.  One of those people was Brodeur, whose star turn in the postseason is such a given that Devils fans were frustrated when he let in 9 goals in the first three games.  After blanking the Lightning in Game 5, Brodeur was even better today. He finished with 32 saves, one more than on Friday, and made 10 stops in the final 20 minutes when the cornered Lightning were wielding their sticks like machetes.  Brodeurs final period flourish included a glove save of a Ryan Cross slapshot, a stop of defenseman Filip Kuba on a back-door play that the Lightning had employed with great effectiveness the first three games, and three point-blank shots in the closing minutes, one by Richards and two by Martin St. Louis.  He was phenomenal the other night, defenseman Richard Matvichuk said, referring to Brodeur, and I think he was even better today.  The same could be said of Matvichuk, for whom little was expected at the start of the series. He had back surgery last June and did not return to the lineup until the Devils final regular-season game. After not dressing in the first two games against the Lightning, Matvichuk was thrust into action in Game 3 when Colin Whites balky back prevented him from playing.  Matvichuk was paired with Paul Martin, who logged over 30 minutes today, and together they did a laudable job of curtailing if not containing the Lightnings top goal scorer, Vincent Lecavalier, and his right-hand man, St. Louis.  In the games first minute, Matvichuk threw his body in front of a Lecavalier shot for the first of his six blocked shots. Lecavaliers frustration at being covered like clear wrap by Matvichuk got the better of him in the final minute of the period when he struck Matvichuk in the back with his stick a couple feet in front of Brodeur.  The 34-year-old Matvichuk was very slow to get up and looked wobbly on his skates as he headed straight for the dressing room. It was just a little jolt of pain, said Matvichuk, who returned to log 15 minutes of ice time over the next two periods.  I think everyone in this room feels right now respect for that man and what he did, top-line forward Scott Gomez said, meaning Matvichuk. Everyone is so proud of him. To not play all year long and come in in a series like this and play like he did was awesome.  Lecavaliers cross-checking penalty looked even worse than it was when, in the second minute of the second, Jason Ward received a hooking penalty.  In their 3-2 loss here in Game 3, the Devils had squandered a two-man advantage. That was before their power-play unit, led by Gomez, started playing as if the ice beneath their skates was cracking.  With 33 seconds remaining in Lecavaliers penalty, Gomez and Elias set defenseman Brian Rafalski up for his second goal of the series to extend the Devils lead to 2-0.  Less than four minutes later, Richards broke up Brodeurs bid for a league record-tying 23rd playoff shutout with a power-play goal. The score ended the Lightnings 123-minute scoring drought.  Thirty-nine seconds later, the public address announcer was just getting around to saying, in his booming voice, Another power play goal ... as a way of introducing Richardss score and inducing delirious cheering from the crowd of 20,019 when Gionta scored his second goal on feeds from Elias and Gomez.  The goal, coming so quickly after the Lightning had struck, gave the Devils a huge psychological lift. No question about it, Elias said.  In the tense third period, the Devils could feel the momentum at their backs with every big save Brodeur made.  Between Matvichuks locker and Giontas was a giant grease board with the words HUGE WIN scrawled in black letters. Gionta was answering questions about the game when the left side of the grease board came unhinged from the nail holding it up.  The board swung from the wall and was headed straight for Giontas head. Watch it! Matvichuk said, raising his voice only slightly, and Gionta calmly stepped aside in time to avoid getting hit.  It was one final catastrophe coolly averted in a series where the final momentum swing belonged to the Devils.
Martin Brodeur stopped 32 shots and Brian Gionta scored two goals to lead the Atlantic Division champions to a victory over Tampa Bay.