New Jersey Devils fans are used to seeing a Gionta come up big.
Just not this Gionta.
While he wasn't named one of the three stars of the game in Wednesday night's battle between the Devils and the New York Rangers - a 5-3 Devils win that put New Jersey one victory away from the Stanley Cup Finals - there's no doubt that Stephen Gionta got his turn in the spotlight at Madison Square Garden, scoring a goal and assisting on the game-winner on a night when the Devils' fourth line came up big.
"I can't really explain it in words," said Gionta, who has played in more playoff games with the Devils (17) than he has regular-season games (13, including 12 last season). "It's just fun to be a part of this right now and just trying to enjoy every moment."
The moment he seeks most, of course, is a moment with the Stanley Cup, which he and his teammates are one win away from playing for. It's a moment that Gionta's older brother, Brian, enjoyed as a member of the Devils in 2003, his second year of a seven-season tenure with the team before going on to sign with the Montreal Canadiens.
Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador said on Wednesday he sees shared attributes in the two Giontas, who both played their college hockey at Boston College, and that statement is something that the younger Gionta values quite highly.
"It's a huge compliment," Stephen Gionta said Wednesday night, "he's been in this league for 10, 11 years now, and if I'm in the same comparison, I'm happy."
The Devils have made a practice in recent years of signing the hockey-playing brothers of the team's top stars. Jordan Parise, a goaltender who played one season with his younger brother Zach at the University of North Dakota before the Devils captain embarked on his NHL career, spent two seasons with the Devils' AHL affiliate (then in Lowell, Mass.) before continuing his career in Europe with teams in Austria and Germany. Darcy Zajac, who followed in older brother Travis' footsteps at North Dakota, just finished his first full season with the Devils' AHL affiliate in Albany, where he was recently joined by younger brother Kelly, a former standout at nearby Union College who helped lead the Dutchmen to this year's NCAA Frozen Four. And then there's Gionta, who's been in the Devils organization since 2006 and has finally gotten his opportunity to break through.
"The organization has shown great loyalty," Gionta said, "especially to family, and that's what they preach here in the organization. I'm just happy to have the opportunity."
Devils fans are pretty happy that he has it, too.
