The Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - He laughed it off at the time as a regrettable accident, one that wouldn't affect his play or confidence and ultimately wouldn't matter in the Stanley Cup finals.

As the New Jersey Devils prepare for Game 5 Thursday night, their lead over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks erased by two overtime losses, goalie Martin Brodeur's Game 3 missing-stick misplay might turn out to be the turning point of the series.

If Brodeur had not dropped his stick and allowed Sandis Ozolinsh's dump-in to wind up in the net, the Ducks possibly would not have won 3-2 in overtime.

That would have changed the entire complexion of Game 4, which the Ducks won 1-0 Monday night on Steve Thomas' goal 39 seconds into overtime. The Ducks admittedly would have faced an all-but-insurmountable 3-0 deficit and a Devils team eager to finish off the series immediately.

By winning, "We've gotten our respect back and our game back," Ducks coach Mike Babcock said Tuesday night.

Maybe Brodeur's now-he's-got-it, now-he-doesn't misadventure with his stick won't matter if the Devils reassert their home-ice dominance by winning Game 5. They are 10-1 at home in the playoffs this season, and the Ducks were not competitive at New Jersey in two shutout losses last week.

Maybe the gaffe will mean everything. Given how close the rest of the series figures to be, it seems inevitable that a visiting team eventually will win. If that team is Anaheim, then the pressure and the urgency to win will shift to the Devils, who scored only two goals in two games at the Pond.

Consider this: Until Brodeur's mishap, the Devils had led or were tied in all but 10 1/2 of the first 94 1/2 minutes of the series. They have not led for a single minute of the 93 minutes played since then.

Harmless misadventure or a Stanley Cup-losing faux pas that will go down among the great blunders in finals history? The Devils are about to find out.

New Jersey's biggest worry must be if another game goes into overtime, where the Devils are only 2-4 in these playoffs and Brodeur has won only eight of 26 times in his career. Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere has only one fewer OT win in the last two months.

STANLEY CUP FINALS

New Jersey vs. Anaheim (Series tied 2-2)

Game 1: New Jersey 3, Anaheim 0

Game 2: New Jersey 3, Anaheim 0

Game 3: Anaheim 3, N.J. 2, OT

Game 4: Anaheim 1, N.J. 0, OT

Thursday: at New Jersey, 8 p.m.

Saturday: at Anaheim, 8 p.m.

x-Monday: at New Jersey, 8 p.m.

x-if necessary