Rangers deliver at MSG, take 3-1 series lead

Rangers domination continues against the New Jersey Devils

By Jim Cerny, newyorkrangers.com

Marc Staal’s first career playoff goal with 3:13 remaining in the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and sent the Rangers on their way to a crucial 5-3 victory over the Devils in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers now lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and could advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a win in Game 5 on Friday night at the Prudential Center in Newark

Staal stepped into a slap shot off of a Martin Straka feed and blasted the puck past the left leg of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur for the game-winning goal. Rangers’ captain Jaromir Jagr started the winning play by gaining the offensive zone and forcing Brodeur to make a great pad save on his booming left-wing slap shot.

“It’s incredible. I hadn’t scored a goal at home during the entire season this year, so to get one in the playoffs, and from the timing that I got it, it’s pretty amazing. It’s a great feeling,” said Staal.

The goal will not only be extremely memorable for the rookie defenseman, but it will serve as sweet vindication, as well, since it came one game after Staal inadvertently deflected John Madden’s shot into the Rangers net for the game-winning overtime score in Game 3 Sunday.

“The big thing with Marc is that he is so good at parking whatever goes on in his game, good and bad, and you know he’s all ready for the next one,” Rangers head coach Tom Renney said of Staal. “Good for him.”

Scott Gomez scored his second goal of the game, into the empty net off a faceoff win, with 12.2 seconds left in regulation to seal the victory. Gomez (2-0-2), Straka (1-1-2), and Chris Drury (1-1-2) each recorded two-point games for the Blueshirts, while Jagr (0-1-1) had a monster game with a team-high 10 shots on goal.

“It wasn’t easy because they never give up. I’m just waiting for them to quit, and I just keep waiting because they keep coming back and coming back,” Jagr said of the Devils, who erased three one-goal deficits before finally succumbing to the Rangers on Wednesday.

The Devils were able to tie the game at 3-3 just 4:37 into the third period, taking advantage of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist after he had lost his stick when it was knocked out of his hand by New Jersey’s Zach Parise. Former Ranger Mike Mottau collected the puck along the right wing wall, skated around two Rangers, and fired a shot high over Lundqvist’s shoulder into the top part of the net for his first playoff goal.

“That was just a lot of bad things happening at the same time,” said Lundqvist, who made 28 saves on Wednesday night. “It was an obvious penalty to me, then we didn’t clear the puck, and they made a good play. It was frustrating because they tied the game when we thought we should’ve had the power play. But we regrouped and were able to come back.”

With the Rangers scrambling, the Devils nearly took advantage on another pretty move by one of their defenseman at 5:20 of the third. Paul Martin danced around two Rangers and broke in toward the crease, where he flicked a shot on net that Lundqvist was able to expertly smother. Later in the period, Lundqvist made big-time saves on Patrik Elias — who already had scored twice earlier in the game — and Travis Zajac to set the stage for Staal’s heroics.

The Rangers got off to the fast start they were seeking in the first period, pumping 12 shots on goal compared to the Devils’ six, controlling play for most of the period, and scoring the very important first goal of the game.

Up a man after New Jersey’s Madden was penalized for holding Blair Betts during a Devils power play, the Rangers opened the scoring when Gomez redirected a gorgeous pass from Dan Girardi past Brodeur at 12:37.

Rangers’ defenseman Fedor Tyutin did a terrific job keeping the puck in at the left point as the puck careened quickly around the boards following an errant centering pass seconds before the goal, and Drury accepted Tyutin’s pass in the left circle. Drury zipped a perfect pass on to the stick of Girardi at the right point, and the Blueshirt defenseman in turn whipped a pass to the cutting Gomez to give New York a 1-0 lead.

One minute later The Garden Faithful rose as one as the Rangers broke in on a 3-on-1 rush against Brodeur. Michal Rozsival carried the puck on right wing, saw that his passing options had been taken away, and then fired a shot on goal that a perfectly positioned Brodeur swallowed up, much to the dismay of the excited fans.

Just 30 seconds after that save, Brodeur had to make a very difficult stop on Brandon Dubinsky’s tricky left-wing wrist shot that was no more than a foot off the ice. Brodeur was off balance, but he was able to kick the puck away and out of danger.

The Devils did not produce much offense in the opening period, but they were able to put together a strong sequence early in the second to tie the game 1-1. On a rush toward the Rangers net, Parise fired a high shot on goal that Lundqvist denied with his blocker. Jamie Langenbrunner had the rebound land at his feet and he whacked a shot from in tight that Lundqvist made a sharp pad save on, before the puck rebounded back to Elias at the bottom of right circle. Elias blasted a shot past the out of position Lundqvist for his second goal of the series just 31 seconds into the middle period to pull the Devils even 1-1.

As it turned out, Elias’ goal would open the game up, as the two teams began to trade scoring chances, as well as goals, over the remainder of an entertaining second period.

Straka would restore the Rangers’ one-goal lead at 2:53 by scoring his first goal of the series. Staal started the play all the way back in the Rangers’ end of the ice with a neat pokecheck that separated New Jersey from the puck. Jagr pushed the puck to Dubinsky, who danced around the Devils’ Colin White, creating a 2-on-1 break with Straka. Dubinsky patiently waited as he skated in on right wing, and then fed to Straka, who hammered the puck into the back of the net to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

Elias would strike again, though, and New Jersey would pull even 2-2 at 6:58 of the second. Skating shorthanded after being penalized for having too many men on the ice, the Rangers surrendered their fourth power-play goal of the series when Elias snapped a left wing shot to the short side, past the stick of Lundqvist, for his second goal of the game.

Just 1:01 later, the Rangers were handed a huge opportunity to regain the lead when Zajac was assessed a four-minute minor for high-sticking Rozsival in the face. However, the Devils turned in an outstanding penalty kill, and the game remained tied.

Instead of being deflated by the wasted opportunity, the Rangers kept working hard, and Drury would score at 12:39, giving the Blueshirts a 3-2 advantage. The scoring play took shape as Parise failed to clear the puck out of the Devils zone, and Tyutin made the steal inside the blueline. Tyutin skated to his right and wristed a shot towards the net that Drury deflected past Brodeur for the go-ahead goal.

“It became a track meet there for a while,” said Renney. “I’m not sure either team wants to play that way, but it was a tough battle, a tough battle. And this thing is far from over.”

Though there would be no more scoring in the second period, play continued to be very intense and exciting. Lundqvist made a good save on Elias’ powerful left wing slap shot at 14:32; Sean Avery flew into the Devils zone and ripped a left wing shot on goal that required a terrific save by Brodeur at 16:02; Avery drove hard to the net and was hauled down by White and into Brodeur, knocking the Devils goalie into the back of the net, at 16:29; and Jagr also had a collision with Brodeur while driving to the net at 17:10, knocking the mask off Brodeur’s head.

With the intensity reaching a fever pitch, and the Rangers holding a 3-2 lead, the two teams regrouped in their respective dressing rooms for the extremely important third period.

Though it was touch-and-go for the Rangers for much of the third period after Mottau’s goal, the club settled down in the second half of the final stanza and persevered for a hugely important victory.

“It’s obvious how big a win this was,” said Lundqvist. “And it feels really good to get a win at home after playing two really good road games. To find a way here in the end, it’s just really great for your confidence.”

The Rangers now have three chances to eliminate the Devils and move on to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second straight season, beginning with Friday night’s match in Newark.

Source: Rangers Official Website