EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Tie Domi had come and gone to Continental Arena on Saturday, blubbering tears of self-pity over his suspension for the despicable shot to Scott Niedermayer's unsuspecting skull.

	Domi

Domi had been back at the Maple Leafs' team hotel, watching Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, and understanding he had been the first goon in the history of hockey to win the No. 1 star while laying on his bed and cackling over the misdirected rage of the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils didn't just lose Game 5 to the Leafs, 3-2, on Tomas Kaberle's goal with 29 seconds left, they also lost to Domi.

This was the shame of it to Devils coach Larry Robinson. New Jersey let the Leafs' goon send Niedermayer to the emergency room late in Game 4, and foolishly, the Devils let him send them to the brink, down three games to two, following Game 5.

"We talked about not letting it bother us and yet we started out running at everybody," Robinson said.

The Devils had meetings, long talks, and Robinson implored his players to rise over the temptation for retribution Saturday and dispose of these Leafs.

They had to forget the dirty deed of Domi and the inciting words of Toronto coach Pat Quinn, and remember the reasons they were champions. The Devils swore they understood and rushed out on the ice for the start of the game hell-bent on pushing, fighting and bringing the game into the back alley, where the Leafs are glad to play it.

"They want to fight," Bobby Holik said. "We don't. We can't win that way. We talked about this in a meeting for an hour, and we go out there and did something totally different to start the game. I don't know when it's going to change, but we're running out of time."

The Devils were whistled for roughing and crosschecks and soon Toronto had a 5-3 advantage to take a 1-0 lead, and would never trail again.

New Jersey spotted the Leafs a goal to start the game, and truly never recovered. For their carelessness, the Devils deserved to lose. They deserve to be down 3-2 on the way back to Toronto, where the Leafs have a chance to close out the series Monday night at the manic Air Canada Center.

"They're an agitating bunch over there," Robinson said. "They like to stick you in the back of the leg with the stick, rub their glove in your face and cross check to get you off your game, and they're doing a wonderful job of it.

"I warned them that we can't get caught up in all that," Robinson said. "You've got to use your head. That's exactly why Pat (Quinn)'s bringing all this stuff up, why he keeps talking about different things about our club. It's just to get us off our game. We're guilty of reading it and listening to it."

Truly, the Leafs have done a masterful job of playing on the minds of these Devils. Domi had the Devils chasing his ghost on Saturday night, and Quinn has Robinson shuffling his lines to react to the Leaf coach's moves.

Along the way, the Devils have forgotten that they're the defending Cup champions, that the Leafs have to come to them. When it's mattered most in the series, the Leafs have crawled into the minds of these Devils and refused to climb out.

Domi was nowhere to be found Saturday night, suspended for the season, but it didn't matter. The Devils could still see his smug face skating around an unconscious Niedermayer in Game 4 and they were going to make him pay for it.

Only, they couldn't.

The Leafs absorbed the hits, stole a goal and made it out of Jersey alive Saturday night. They go home Monday to try and close out the champions.

Whatever Domi's ill intentions, here's the result: The Devils lost their most talented player in Game 4, lost their minds in Game 5, and now they could lose the series in Game 6.

Adrian Wojnarowski is a columnist for the Bergen (N.J.) Record and a regular contributor to ESPN.com.