Devils try to even series in Game 4 against Rangers
Posted: Wed Apr 16 10:41 AM
(Sports Network) - The New Jersey Devils will try to even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the New York Rangers tonight, when they visit the rival Blueshirts for Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.
The fifth-seeded Rangers won the first two games of this best-of-seven series on the road, outscoring the Devils, 6-2, in the process. However, New Jersey rebounded with a Game 3 victory in the Big Apple to cut the series' deficit to 2-1.
John Madden scored at the 6:01 mark of overtime as the fourth-seeded Devils grabbed a big 4-3 win over New York in Sunday's Game 3 meeting at MSG.
In the extra session, a left circle faceoff win resulted in the puck going into the left boards. Madden got the puck and from the boards threw a shot out front that hit off the right skate of Marc Staal and made its way past Henrik Lundqvist for the win.
Zach Parise, Sergei Brylin and Patrik Elias each scored a goal for the Devils, while Martin Brodeur finished the game with 27 saves.
Brandon Dubinsky scored a pair of goals while Sean Avery also lit the lamp for the Rangers. Lundqvist made 29 saves in the loss.
Game 3 of this series will also be memorable for the fact that certain actions by Avery resulted in an NHL rule change.
In Sunday's game, Avery planted himself in front of Brodeur during a Rangers power play and began faceguarding the star netminder while waving his stick in power play and began faceguarding the star netminder while waving his stick in front of Brodeur's face. There was no formal rule against the action, until front of Brodeur's face. There was no formal rule against the action, until Monday, when NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell issued a statement with the new interpretation. In short, the play would now result in an unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty.
Avery eventually scored during the 5-on-3 power play, re-directing a Scott Gomez feed under Brodeur's pads for a 2-1 Rangers lead. Gomez feed under Brodeur's pads for a 2-1 Rangers lead.
With or without the rule change, the Devils need to find a way to stop Avery from scoring goals. New York's sparkplug has scored a goal in every game of the series and is tied for second on the Rangers with four points (3 goals, 1 assist).
The Rangers dominated the regular-season series against the Devils, posting a 7-0-1 record this year against New Jersey. New York's lone setback came in a shootout at New Jersey on the final day of the regular season.
The Blueshirts were 4-0 against Jersey at the Garden this year and, including Sunday's loss, have defeated the Devils in seven of the last 10 meetings in Manhattan.
The Blueshirts have won three of the four all-time playoff series against New Jersey, but the Devils swept New York in four games during the last meeting two years ago in the conference quarterfinals.
New York had an impressive 25-13-3 record as the hosts this season, while the Devils were 21-15-5 as the visiting club.
After tonight's contest, the series will shift back to Jersey for Friday's Game 5 matchup at the Prudential Center.