Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - Of the teams who've made up the triumvirate of National Hockey League dominance in the last decade, the New Jersey Devils are the only one still alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The other members of the trio are, of course, the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings, who, like the Devils, have won multiple championships since the mid 1990s. But the Avs and Wings have lived up to the label of "teams to beat," except they did so in a literal sense - getting beaten in the first round.

All the while the team from Exit 16w in North Jersey has experienced business as usual this postseason, all but erasing memories of last year's quarterfinal exit with a trip to its third conference final in four years. The Devils glided through the first and second rounds by disposing of two overmatched teams, the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, in five games apiece.

And New Jersey has enjoyed success this spring with the same formula that has worked for what seems like ages - defense, defense and a little more defense. While Larry Robinson injected a potent attack into the mix when he was the head coach a few years back, the five division championships and two Stanley Cups in East Rutherford were won because the other club simply couldn't score.

How else can you explain the fact that New Jersey won the Atlantic this season despite finishing 14th in the league in scoring.

Others have tried, but no team plays shut 'em down hockey like the Devils, who, as has been the case for the past 10 years, have the four ingredients needed to do so. Those components are: a coach who doesn't mind being boring; an abundance of forwards who put defensive responsibilities first; a rock solid defense corps anchored by future Hall of Famer Scott Stevens; and an elite goaltender.

That final cog, of course, is accounted for by Marty Brodeur, who is fresh off perhaps his finest NHL season and has carried the momentum right into the playoffs. With Patrick Roy now in his golden years, there is absolutely no question who the best goaltender in the league is at the moment and, although Dallas' Marty Turco posted the best goals-against average since WWII, Brodeur is favored to win his first Vezina and is a finalist for the Hart Trophy as well.

The 39-year-old Stevens, meanwhile, might not be able to log 30 minutes per night anymore and he has lost a step, but he can still be counted on to butt heads with the top guns of the opposition and provide premium results. Just ask Joe Thornton and Glen Murray on Boston, or Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis on Tampa Bay if they enjoyed playing against him, and then look at their statistics.

The Devils' captain is one half of the team's standard plan to hamper the opponent's top line, and the other is former Selke winner, and 2003 finalist, John Madden. Despite being only 5-11, 190 pounds, he is a tenacious checker and a prime reason why the Devils posted the top penalty-killing mark in the NHL during the regular season.

Last but not least is head coach Pat Burns, who was hired on the heels of last year's first-round debacle against Carolina. After Robinson lost touch with his dressing room and replacement Kevin Constantine failed to advance in the postseason, Burns brought with him three Jack Adams Awards and a winning track record, although he has yet to drink from the Cup. If you're lining up men of the past 20 years to coach defensive hockey, Jacques Lemaire, Ken Hitchcock and Roger Neilson would be in the front, and Burns would be right there with them. Ironically, the same defensive approach that nudged his firing in Boston two seasons ago helped Burns eliminate the Bruins in the first round.

Of course, the Devils do need to score at least once a night in order to win, and, while they still don't put fear into the hearts of opposing defensemen, the timely goals have been there this spring. Jamie Langenbrunner has been the catalyst the club lacked entering the playoffs, scoring seven goals -- four of which have been game-winners.

Langenbrunner is bettering the tremendous playoff run he put together for Dallas in 1999 -- he scored 10 that year -- and showing the ability to play the lead role. Madden, meanwhile, has again displayed that he isn't all defense, with four goals, and grinder Grant Marshall chipped in three -- including the series clincher in triple-overtime versus Tampa Bay.

And the Devils have yet to really tap into their full arsenal either, as Patrik Elias and Jeff Friesen, the team's top two gunners in the regular season, have combined for just three markers in the playoffs.

You would expect Elias and Friesen to get going at some point this spring, but the team will be fine as long as someone, no matter where they sit on the depth chart, puts the puck in. And it's that philosophy that has allowed the Devils to succeed for so long without keeping an offensive nucleus together like the Red Wings and Avalanche have done.

During their first Cup run in '95, the Devs had only five double-digit goal- scorers and were led by the likes of Stephane Richer, John MacLean and Bill Guerin. In 2000 it was the vaunted "A-line" of Elias, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora at the wheel, and this year it's essentially goal-scoring by committee.

So that's the Devils' story and, as they've done for a decade, they're sticking to it. Anaheim might have the hottest goaltender in the postseason, Vancouver the most potent offense and Ottawa the best balance, but the Devils have the proven formula to win the Stanley Cup.

I'll take proof over prospect any day.