Nigel Dawes scored the tie-breaking goal while sliding on his back into Devils goalie Martin Brodeur late in the third period and the Rangers beat New Jersey for the seventh straight time this season, 3–2 last night.

A pass by Chris Drury, who assisted on every Rangers goal, hit the skate of Devils defenseman Sheldon Brookbank and caromed in on Brodeur. He steered the puck into the onrushing Dawes, on the ice after being knocked down by New Jersey’s Travis Zajac. Both players crashed the crease, with Dawes pushing the puck over the line with his shoulder with 3:06 left in the period.

That was enough to rally the Rangers, who trailed 2–1 entering the third period, and send the Devils to their fifth straight loss (0–4–1). The teams are tied in the Eastern Conference playoff race with 91 points, but New Jersey is still ahead because it owns more wins than New York.

The teams have five games remaining, including one more head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season.

Christian Backman made up for his second-period gaffe that led to the Devils’ go-ahead goal by tying it in the third during a power play. Brendan Shanahan had given the Rangers a 1–0 lead in the first by helping New York snap out of a drought with the man-advantage. Former Devils star Scott Gomez shook off the effects of sore ribs and had two assists following a one-game absence for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 saves for his 35th win.

Brodeur made 28 saves, including a snatching glove shot during Ryan Callahan’s third-period breakaway. Patrik Elias and Zach Parise scored in the second for the Devils, on their longest losing streak since a six-game skid in November 2000. Backman set up Dawes’s heroics when he took a pass from Gomez a few feet inside the blue line and snapped a shot that beat Brodeur stickside at 1:38 of the third.