Devils Top Rangers in Shootout, Sweeping Home-and-Home
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Jamie Langenbrunner scored the decisive goal in the shootout after Zach Parise got New Jersey even in the third period, and the Devils swept a home-and-home series from the New York Rangers by winning 3–2 last night.
Henrik Lundqvist blocked Langenbrunner’s drive with his glove, but the puck bounced behind him and went in before he could recover. Petr Prucha had a chance to tie in the first extra round, but rang a shot off the crossbar.
Parise forced overtime and completed New Jersey’s rally from a 2-0 deficit with his 25th goal, scoring with 7:13 left in regulation. Brian Rafalski scored in the second period for the Devils, who won the season series 5–2–1 — including two shootout victories.
Marcel Hossa and Prucha scored for the Rangers, 11th in the Eastern Conference and five points behind Carolina and the playoff cutoff.
Martin Brodeur earned his 38th win while making his 31st straight start for the Devils, who beat New York 2–1 on Tuesday.
New Jersey nearly ended it in overtime after Jaromir Jagr was called for interference on Brodeur, but Lundqvist knocked Scott Gomez’s drive away with his left arm.
Parise tied it moments after Lundqvist used the shaft of his goal stick to turn away Patrik Elias’s shot during a 2-on-0 with Gomez.
Langenbrunner deftly tipped the puck into the Rangers zone while facing the other way. Travis Zajac ripped a shot that Lundqvist knocked aside, but the rebound came right to Parise for the return shot.
The Rangers took a 2–0 lead on Prucha’s 15th goal during their first of two power plays.
Jagr brought the puck out front and jammed a shot into Brodeur’s pad. Prucha, dealing with defenseman Brad Lukowich at the left post, dug the puck out from under Brodeur and nudged it in at 9:20 of the second.
Rafalski cut New Jersey’s deficit in half 4:14 later, the defenseman’s seventh goal this season and fifth in five games.
Jagr stick-handled through the zone, cutting so hard inside the blue line that New Jersey forwards John Madden and Langenbrunner smacked into each other while chasing him. But the Devils rushed the puck up, and Rafalski let go a shot from above the right circle that clipped the stick blade of defenseman Marek Malik and beat Lundqvist. Madden and Langenbrunner earned assists on the otherwise embarrassing shift.
