The Devils won the Stanley Cup four years ago but are establishing an embarrassing legacy of thriving in the regular season and not surviving in the post-season.

The Devils made an abrupt exit in the first round of the playoffs tonight for the second consecutive year after finishing atop the Eastern Conference. They lost by 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Jaromir Jagr in Game 7 at Continental Arena.

This was a devastating loss for the Devils, who were upset in the second round by the Rangers in 1996. The ghosts that haunted them all season after last year's first-round loss to the Ottawa Senators will continue to haunt them for another year.

''It's very disappointing to go out of the playoffs so early as the No. 1 seed,'' said Petr Sykora, who had three goals but failed to even take a shot in this game. ''I'm personally disapppointed because the three goals I got were not enough.''