against Dallas, Brodeur led the Devils the rest of the way as he gave up only six goals in the next five games, giving the team their second Stanley Cup Championship in six years. The next year, Brodeur topped the 40-win mark for the third time in his career, despite having an average GAA and save-percentage throughout the season. He played in the All-Star Game for the sixth consecutive season, and helped the Devils earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference. In the first round Brodeur recorded two shutouts against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Devils took the series in six games. After struggling to beat seventh-seeded Toronto in seven games, the Devils defeated the sixth-seeded Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals, where Brodeur added two more shutouts, both on the road. In their second straight Stanley Cup finals appearance, the Devils played a back-and-forth series against the top seeded Colorado Avalanche, and lost in seven games. In the 2001–02 season, Brodeur finished among the league leaders in wins and GAA. Brodeur continued to lead the league in victories and remained a Vezina and MVP candidate. The next season, in 2002–03, Brodeur won the Vezina Trophy for the first time. He also won the Jennings Trophy again, was a Hart Memorial Trophy finalist for the league's Most Valuable Player, and was named a First Team All-Star and started in the All-Star Game. With one of the most impressive playoff performances of his career, Brodeur guided the Devils to their third Stanley Cup victory after seven-game series wins against the top-seeded Ottawa Senators and the seventh-seeded Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He posted 3 shutouts against Anaheim and had a playoff total of 7 overall, breaking the NHL record of 6 that had been set by Dominik Hašek the previous year. Despite this, the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP was awarded to Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère, who became the first player not on the championship team to be named playoff MVP since Ron Hextall of Philadelphia in 1987. Some hockey writers speculated a New Jersey player did not win because there were multiple candidates, resulting in a split vote among the sportswriters who selected the winner. In the 2003–04 season, Brodeur won his second consecutive Vezina Trophy and Jennings Trophy. He was a first Team All-Star, a starter in the NHL All-Star Game, and a finalist for the Hart Trophy