LA Kings End 45 Year Stanley Wait

The Los Angeles Kings have won their first NHL championship, beating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 Monday night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis scored two goals apiece, and Jonathan Quick made 17 saves in his latest stellar performance for the Kings, the first eighth-seeded playoff team to win the Stanley Cup.

Captain Dustin Brown had a goal and two assists as Los Angeles ended its dominant two-month playoff run in front of frenzied fans who had waited 45 years for their first look at the Stanley Cup since the Kings' expansion birth in 1967.

With three first-period power-play goals after New Jersey's Steve Bernier was ejected for boarding Rob Scuderi, the Kings finished ferociously after taking a 3-0 series lead and then losing two potential clinching games last week.

Martin Brodeur stopped 19 shots for the Eastern Conference champion Devils, just the third team to force a Game 6 in the finals after falling into an 0-3 hole.

Devils Quick to Reach Game Six

Bryce Salvador scored on a deflection off a defenseman and the New Jersey Devils derailed Los Angeles' Stanley Cup coronation for a second time, beating the Kings 2-1 in Game 5 of the finals Saturday night.

Zach Parise ended a five-game goal drought on a rare mistake by goalie Jonathan Quick, and Martin Brodeur stopped 25 shots to help the Devils end the Kings' 10-game postseason winning streak on the road and 12-game run over the past two years, both NHL records.

"That's how a goalie wins the game for you," Parise said about Brodeur.

Justin Williams scored for the Kings, whose once seemingly insurmountable 3-0 series lead has been cut to 3-2. Game 6 is Monday night in Los Angeles.

More importantly, the Devils have the Kings wondering what's going on for the first time in the postseason.

This marks the first time the Kings have lost consecutive games this postseason, and the Devils are halfway up a mountain that only one other NHL team has climbed in the finals after losing the first three games.

Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs came back in a best-of-seven finals and won. Three years later, the Detroit Red Wings rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the series, but they lost Game 7 to Toronto.

The Kings haven't played terribly in losing the past two games, but the Devils have made the plays when it counted or gotten the breaks when they needed them.

Take Salvador's winner, his first goal in seven games. His shot from the left point was deflected right in front of Quick, hit off the chest of Kings defenseman Slava Voynov and rebounded into the net at 9:05 of the second period. It was the second time in this series that a point shot by a Devils defenseman hit off Voynov and caromed past his goaltender.

This one turned out to be a winner because Brodeur stood tall the rest of the way and had one shot hit off the goalpost and had a goal by Jarret Stoll on a second-period power play waved off because he hit the rebound with his stick too high.

Brodeur's biggest save might have been with 7.6 seconds to go in regulation when he stopped a slap shot by Mike Richards from the right circle.

The Kings, overtime winners in the first two games in the series in New Jersey, never got another shot and Brodeur took a patented victory swig of the Gatorade bottle on top of his net, as he has done for 18 years.

However, there was no overwhelming celebration from the home team. Slaps on the pads, a few head nods, then it was off to the locker room.

The Kings meanwhile, heads down, made a bee line for their locker room.

As the crowd filed out, again to the 1984 Bruce Springsteen hit, "Glory Days," the chants of Mar-tee! Mar-tee! were loud and long.

The Kings seemingly had the territorial advantage in the opening period but they also made the biggest mistake.

And it came from a guy who has been almost flawless in the postseason -- Quick.

With Willie Mitchell serving the final 20 seconds of a penalty for interference, Quick played a puck in front of his net and tried to send it around the net into the corner. The puck slid off his stick, went around the net and barely made it to the right edge of the crease.

Parise, who had not scored in five games, darted to the edge of the net and stuffed it home a split second before Quick could cover the corner of the net.

Earlier in the penalty, Quick made a stop on a point-blank blast by Travis Zajac. The puck momentarily got through his pads and lay in the crease, but Drew Doughty quickly cleared it.

While Quick made the bad play that led to the goal, he also made a big stop on a point-blank shot by Zajac in the opening seconds of the power play that kept the Devils off the scoreboard.

The Kings were unlucky not to have the lead in the opening minutes. Williams picked up a loose puck in the Devils' zone and hit the right goalpost dead on with a blast that could be heard throughout the sold-out Prudential Center.

Williams tied it early in the second period with a great individual effort. He avoided a check skating into the Devils' zone, cut to the center of the ice and ripped a 30-foot shot into the upper corner of the net past a screened Brodeur.

Minutes later, Brodeur stopped Stoll with a sliding save on a breakaway.

Quick, who was outstanding making 17 saves, stopped Zajac on a backhander in close before Salvador gave the Devils the lead with his fluky goal.

Devils Stop Kings Stanley Plans

The New Jersey Devils' remarkable rookie and their 40-year-old goalie have sent this series with the LA Kings to another game

Adam Henrique scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:29 to play, Martin Brodeur made 21 saves, and New Jersey beat Los Angeles 3-1 on Wednesday night to avoid a sweep in the Stanley Cup finals.

Patrik Elias and Ilya Kovalchuk also scored third-period goals for the Eastern Conference champion Devils, who forced the NHL to pack up the Cup for another cross-country trip. Game 5 is Saturday night in Newark, N.J.

"It's a tough situation, but we live another day," Brodeur said. "We wanted to at least have one more game in our building for our fans. Hopefully, we'll make the best of it and come back here."

The Kings have won all 10 of their road playoff games this spring and 12 straight overall -- both NHL postseason records. But after never trailing in the Stanley Cup finals, the Kings never led in Game 4.

"I think (wrapping it up) was definitely on our minds, but they found a way to get a late goal," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. "We've just got to hit the reset button. We've been in this situation now four times in the playoffs, and we've always come back with a big rebound game."

After two tense, scoreless periods in front of fans hoping to see the Kings win their first title in their 45-year history, Elias scored on a rebound with 12:04 to play -- but Drew Doughty scored a tying power-play goal for the Kings 1:02 later.

Henrique then scored his third enormous goal of the postseason, taking a pass from David Clarkson and rocketing a wrist shot past Jonathan Quick, the Kings' nearly unbeatable goalie. The Calder Trophy finalist ended two of the Devils' first three playoff series with overtime goals, and he kept New Jersey alive with his latest.

"That's probably the best feeling I've ever had in my whole career," said Clarkson, who took the questionable penalty that led to Doughty's goal. "I saw (Henrique) coming, so I got it to him, and the shot was incredible."

Quick stopped 21 shots for the Kings, but lost his streak of nearly 139 shutout minutes right when he probably could have wrapped up the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. The Kings had allowed just one third-period goal in their previous nine games.

Kovalchuk added an empty-netter that sent fans streaming forlornly out into a warm evening in Southern California -- and put the Devils back on their plane with a chance.

"We stayed alive," said Elias, who has two of the Devils' five goals in the series. "Marty had to work hard, but he gave us a chance. All we've got to do it keep playing hard."

With a golden chance for a Hockeywood ending, Los Angeles dropped to 15-3 in its spectacular postseason run, failing to win the franchise's first championship on its first try -- and in its 200th playoff game -- in front of the long-suffering fans who have never seen the Stanley Cup.

Los Angeles set an NHL record by taking a 3-0 lead in all four of its playoff series, but failed three times to close out its opponents in Game 4. Vancouver and Phoenix also won Game 4 before losing Game 5.

The Devils became just the sixth of 26 teams in finals history to force a Game 5 after falling behind 0-3. Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs ever rallied with four straight wins in the finals, and only three teams in NHL history have done it in any playoff round.

"I think the last three games could have gone our way as easily as they've gone L.A.'s way," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "We finally got rewarded tonight."

After a tight-checking game between two very tight teams, Elias' rebound goal put a hush over Staples Center. Six seconds after Clarkson went off with that questionable boarding penalty, Mike Richards passed Anze Kopitar's faceoff win to Doughty, who rocketed a long shot past Brodeur for the fourth goal of his breakthrough postseason.

But after so many minutes of tight defense, New Jersey won it with a stunning goal in transition: Former Kings forward Alexei Ponikarovsky got the puck to Clarkson, who found Henrique across the ice for his first goal since ending the Eastern Conference finals with an overtime goal.

The Kings opened their first Stanley Cup finals in 19 years with two tense overtime victories in New Jersey, surviving largely on the brilliance of Quick. Los Angeles then returned home and routed the Devils 4-0 in Game 3 on Monday night, setting the stage for a celebration.

But the Devils got into the details, and the Kings must regroup.

No surprise given the tremendous stakes, both teams were nervous and jumpy from the opening faceoff in Game 4. Quick got plenty of work early when the Devils got two power plays in the opening minutes, but he made a slick glove save on Petr Sykora's shot in the slot and later scrambled to cover Zach Parise's unobstructed rebound chance.

Slava Voynov and Kopitar hit Brodeur's posts for the Kings in the scoreless first period. Both teams appeared to be as tense as the crowd in the second, with Brodeur making a stellar pad save on Simon Gagne's breakaway chance late.

The NHL unpacked the Stanley Cup deep inside Staples Center before the third period, but it never saw the ice.

Gagne and Trevor Lewis got an outstanding breakaway chance early in the third, but Brodeur sprawled on his back to stop Lewis. Brodeur mishandled the puck moments later and nearly gave it right to Brown, but the deflection off Brown's right skate barely missed the net.

Elias finally slipped in on Quick and slapped home a rebound of Bryce Salvador's shot, putting a pall on the crowd and ending Quick's scoreless streak at 138 minutes, 39 seconds.

The gloom didn't last long: Doughty teed up the latest in his long line of booming shots, and Brodeur was at least partly screened by Anton Volchenkov in front.

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Rangers Fall Short at Devil's Gate

The memory of missing the playoffs for first time since 1996 and the ghost of an 18-year-old wound were wiped out with a sweep of rookie Adam Henrique's stick.

The New Jersey Devils are going back to the Stanley Cup finals, thanks to Henrique, a 40-year-old goaltender and a coach who'd never been to the postseason in the NHL.

How's that for a turnaround?

Henrique scored off a wild scramble in front at 1:03 into overtime and the Devils defeated the rival New York Rangers, 3-2, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to advance to their first Stanley Cup finals since 2003.

"It means a lot," Devils leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk said minutes after reaching the Cup finals for the first time. "It's a great feeling. Last year was a tough one, but this year was totally different. We played well all year. The first round of the playoffs was a little tough but after that, I think we figured out our game and what it takes to win."

After beating Florida, Philadelphia and their biggest rivals, the Rangers, only the Los Angeles Kings stand in the way of a fourth Cup for New Jersey.

The title round begins here Wednesday.

This series win came against the Devils' most intense rival, and it was that much sweeter.

"That one was like Christmas," said Henrique, who also scored the series winner in overtime as Devils' first-round, Game 7 win over the Panthers.

It also was needed. The Devils blew a 2-0 first-period lead and didn't want to head back to New York for a Game 7 on Sunday.

"It didn't matter how it got to overtime, we were in a good position," Devils captain Zach Parise said. "We were at home. We just needed one shot."

Actually, the Devils needed four shots to win the game.

Henrique's winner came after Henrik Lundqvist stopped Kovalchuk twice and Alexei Ponikarovsky. The last shot lay in the crease and Henrique tapped it home.

"We caught them on a line change and their defensemen were tired," said Devils coach Peter DeBoer, who was fired by Florida after missing the playoffs in his three seasons. "We found a way to jam one in. That's the only way you're going to score on Lundqvist. You're not going to get a clean one. You're going to have to work for it around the net.

"And that's what we did."

Ryan Carter and Kovalchuk also scored for the Devils, whose biggest move this year was hiring DeBoer. He has more than proved his coaching ability.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan tallied for top-seeded New York, which had a good flurry just before New Jersey scored to end it.

Henrique, who is nominated for the Calder Trophy -- given to the NHL's top rookie -- skated away from the crease and jumped against the end boards in the corner as his teammates hopped off the bench and mobbed him.

The six Rangers on the ice just stayed down in disbelief and frustration. This was very much like Game 5, which the Devils won 5-3. New York carried the play after the first period and had a 35-29 edge in shots.

But when it came time for a game-deciding play to be made, it was a Devil who made it.

"When they scored, it was such an empty feeling," said Lundqvist, who said the puck took a weird bounce on the final play. "It is shocking."

Henrique overcame injury to score this one. He seemed to take a stick from Brian Boyle in the groin area late in the third and had to leave the ice.

He felt no pain after the game winner.

All the Rangers could do was bow their heads and then line up for the traditional handshake after losing to their cross-rival rivals in a series that was close.

"That's playoff hockey, and that's usually where you get an overtime goal," Rangers veteran Brandon Prust said. "Just whacking away in front of the net, getting rebounds."

Martin Brodeur, 40, kept the Devils alive in the third. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards, made a save on Artem Anisimov between the circles and used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute just before it got to Marian Gaborikon the edge of the crease.

"You could tell he was in the zone. He led us," Parise said. "He made some big saves tonight."

Lundqvist's best stop in the third was on Dainius Zubrus on a shot from behind the circles.

Facing elimination and down 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Rangers found their game in the second period and tied the game at 2-all on goals by Fedotenko and Callahan in a roughly four-minute span.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who assisted on both goals, made the big play to get New York back in the game. He collected the puck above the left circle, skated around the net and tried a wrap around. The shot didn't go on goal but it turned out to be a perfect pass to Fedotenko who a tap-in into an open net at 9:47.

Callahan, who had a New York goal go off his leg in the Devils' 5-3 win on Wednesday, tied the game at 13:41 when Dan Girardi's shot from the right point deflected off his leg into the open lower corner of the net. Callahan's sixth of the postseason was set up when Brandon Dubinsky won a faceoff in the left circle.

Carter, who scored the game winner in New York on Wednesday night after the Devils blew a 3-0 lead, put New Jersey ahead again at 10:05 of the opening period.

The play started with a bad pinch at the point by Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. Steve Bernier led a 3-on-1 and found Stephen Gionta coming down the middle for a solo chance against Lundqvist. The Rangers goaltender stopped the shot, but Carter swatted the rebound home for his fourth of the playoffs.

Kovalchuk's seventh goal of the postseason and fifth on the power play was a thing of beauty. All five Devils skaters touched the puck with tape-to-tape passes with Zubrus finding Kovalchuk alone low in the left circle for a shot that Lundqvist had little chance to stop.

The Devils -- as is the tradition for many Cup finalists -- did not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy that was presented at centre ice. As the team skated off to their locker room, "Glory Days," the 1984 hit from New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen serenaded them.

The game was played on the 18-year anniversary of the Rangers' dramatic, 4-2, Game 6 victory over New Jersey at the Meadowlands, a victory that pushed that classic Eastern Conference final series to a Game 7 and eventually led New York to its first Stanley Cup in 54 years. That game, of course, was preceded by a guarantee from Rangers captain Mark Messier, who delivered three goals en route to the victory.

This time, though, there will be no Game 7.

Devils Stay Within Rangers

The Devils turned a stellar first nine minutes and an opportunistic final five into a stirring victory over the Rangers that moved New Jersey within one win of a trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

Suddenly, No. 1 seed New York is on the brink -- again.

No one would have guessed when Travis Zajac scored 9:49 in to give the Devils a three-goal lead that they would be desperately looking for one more late in the third to hold off the Rangers, who had fought back to tie and appeared to have every bit of the momentum.

But the game, and perhaps the entire Eastern Conference finals, changed in the blink of an eye when Ryan Carter put the Devils in front to stay.

Carter snapped a tie with 4:24 left, and New Jersey survived en route to a 5-3 victory over New York after blowing a three-goal lead in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night.

The rugged fourth-line forward, who had only four goals and four assists in 72 games with Florida and New Jersey, already has three goals in the playoffs, including two in the East finals.

The Devils, who led 3-0 before the first period was half over, have a 3-2 edge in the series and can advance to face the Los Angeles Kings in the finals with a win at home on Friday night. If the Rangers can stay alive, Game 7 would be back in Madison Square Garden Sunday.

"It's a good feeling," goalie Martin Brodeur said of the Devils' status. "We worked really hard to get in that position. (There's been) a lot of unsung heroes and guys producing at different times. Players are playing well. We've just got to keep going.

"Nothing is done yet."

The Devils seemed primed for an easy win when Stephen Gionta and Patrik Elias scored within the first 4:13. Travis Zajac made it 3-0 before the Rangers woke up and began chipping away.

Brandon Prust brought New York within 3-1 before the first period was over, and Ryan Callahan made it a one-goal game in the first minute of the second. The Garden really rocked when Marian Gaborik tied it at 3 just 17 seconds into the third.

But the comeback was for naught. Carter put the Devils back in front, and Zach Parise sealed it with an empty-net goal.

"I thought," Rangers coach John Tortorella said, "we probably played our best game of the series."

Once Gaborik tied it with an unassisted goal that ricocheted in off the skate of Brodeur, it appeared the Rangers would ride the comeback all the way to one of the most stirring wins in team history -- one that would rival victories over New Jersey in the classic 1994 East finals when the Rangers erased a 3-2 series hole behind Mark Messier's guarantee.

Carter made sure it wouldn't happen.

"You have to (keep it together) this time of year," Gionta said. "You have to have a short memory. Fortunately we did and came out with the victory."

Ilya Kovalchuk knocked Michael Del Zotto off the puck in the right corner, and Gionta sent a pass in front to Carter -- who had just charged in front from the bench -- for a quick shot that beat Henrik Lundqvist.

"A great play by Kovy to separate their (defensemen) from the puck," Carter said. "Gio scooped the puck up, took a look and made a fantastic pass to me. All I had to was redirect it."

New Jersey was outshot 28-17 overall and had only six shots in the third period, but two of them went in. Now the Devils are on the verge of their first Cup finals appearance since they won their third title in 2003.

Brodeur, the backbone of every New Jersey title, kept his focus throughout the third when he was loudly taunted with chants of "Mar-ty, Mar-ty" after New York got even.

"It was a mistake," Brodeur said of Gaborik's goal. "I'm pretty happy that the boys bounced back and made this a win for us. It would have been tough and people would have blamed that mishandle."

The Rangers were ultimately done in by another terrible start. For the 13th straight game in these playoffs, the team that scored first in New York's contests has gone on to win. The Rangers had been on a pattern of win-one, lose-one, but now they are on the verge of elimination with their second two-game losing streak in a series this year.

The only time the Rangers have won two straight in a playoff series is when they overcame a 3-2 hole in the first round and knocked out Ottawa. They have faced elimination three times already this postseason.

"We have to. There is no other way around it," Lundqvist said of the Rangers' comeback chances. "We have to bring all the good things we did and keep doing them in the next game. We played really well in the second and third period."

They couldn't say the same about the first.

"It's different when you go down 3-0. You don't have a whole lot to lose," Rangers forward Brian Boyle said. "It was good nonetheless. Now it's 3-2. Now we have to win two. That's the bottom line."

The Rangers burned their timeout early, and Devils coach Peter DeBoer spent his with 10:17 left. Parise implored his teammates on the bench to, `Come on boys.' and the messages from the coach and the captain did the trick.

New Jersey surely never thought it would be in this kind of fight after storming in front early.

"It wasn't pretty by any means, what we did tonight," Parise said. "But we're going home with a 3-2 lead."

Not only didn't the Rangers have the strong start they craved and insisted they needed, they were practically run out of their building less than 10 minutes in.

The same problems that plagued New York in its 4-1 loss in Game 4, when the Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, cropped up again in front of the home fans that grew frustrated and angry early.

Gionta got the Devils going 2:43 in when he gathered a rebound of Mark Fayne's shot right in front of Lundqvist, steadied himself without any pressure from the defense, and slipped in his third goal of the playoffs to start the barrage.

Elias made it 2-0 just 1:30 later on New Jersey's fourth shot of the night.

After Kovalchuk fumbled the puck just inside the blue line, he dived to keep it from leaving the Rangers' zone. The puck eventually came to Adam Henrique at the right point for a shot that was stopped by Lundqvist. Elias got it in front and scored his fourth.

Tortorella used his timeout then, but it made little difference. He appeared to be calm as he moved back and forth behind the bench while talking to his players. Whatever the message was didn't sink in.

The Devils shrugged off a few scoring chances by the Rangers, and padded their lead again.

Just 5:26 after Elias' goal, Zajac made it 3-0 with his seventh of the playoffs. Bryce Salvador wiped out Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the New Jersey end and started the play going the other way. Zajac got a clean shot from just inside the right circle that sailed past Lundqvist and beat him inside the left post at 9:49.

The tide began to turn the Rangers' way the rest of the period as they allowed only one shot the rest of the period and began cutting into the deficit.

Prust, making his return following a one-game suspension for an elbow he delivered to the head of Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov in Game 3, showed off a bit of scoring touch when he converted on a breakaway with 4:19 left in the first.

The Rangers outshot the Devils 9-6 in the lopsided first period, but continued their sudden defensive dominance well into the second. Then they cut the Devils' lead down to a goal just 32 seconds into the second.

Brandon Dubinsky, back from a foot injury, fired a shot from the left point that was deflected in front and caromed toward the left corner. Artem Anisimov flung the puck back toward the crease and it struck the left skate of the driving Callahan and got past Brodeur. The goal stood up after a brief video review.

New Jersey didn't record its first shot of the period, and its second since its third goal, until Henrique put a puck in on Lundqvist at 6:23.

Lundqvist, who had stopped 94 percent of the shots he faced in the playoffs before Wednesday, made just 12 saves. The Rangers allowed five goals one game after allowing four for the first time in this postseason.

To make the finals now, New York will have to win a third consecutive seven-game series. The Rangers have already played 19 postseason games.

"We have to have a short memory," McDonagh said. "We've been in this position before in this playoffs and we found a way to get it done. We don't want to look ahead. We have to win two games, but we just have to focus on winning one."

Devils Get Ugly and Level

The Eastern Conference finals between the rival New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils finally got ugly -- real ugly.

Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was sucker punched in the third period by former teammate Mike Rupp. Coaches Peter DeBoer of New Jersey and John Tortorella of New York screamed at each other after the incident. And the Rangers blew their cool, as the Devils rode two goals and an assist by Zach Parise to a 4-1 victory on Monday night that evened the series, 2-2.

"Throughout a seven-game series," Parise said, "both teams are going to get frustrated with things."

Well, Monday was New York's turn. And only time will tell if it spills over to Game 5, Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. As for Game 3, though, the story was the hit on Brodeur, who made 28 saves en route to his 10th win of the postseason.

After all, the punch came out of nowhere and almost set off a battle on the ice before the coaches got into it on the benches.

"You don't like to see that," DeBoer said of the hit on his goaltender. "He's a key guy for us. Two teams battling it out. He's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

Brodeur was more surprised by the incident than anything else.

"I didn't expect anything," the 40-year-old said. "I never got punched like that in my career. First time. It kind of surprised me more than anything, but now I know I can take a punch."

Tortorella refused to say anything about his shouting match with DeBoer, with whom he has argued several times this season, including Sunday when he complained about the Devils using illegal picks and embellishing penalties.

"This isn't about John and I," DeBoer said. "This is about the guys on the ice. So, I don't have anything to say about that."

This game -- and its result -- seemed almost anticlimactic after the shenanigans.

Bryce Salvador and Travis Zajac beat Henrik Lundqvist less than four minutes apart in the first to give the Devils their first two-goal lead in a series where the intensity and the emotions are picking up to the point where they now compare to the classic 1994 Eastern Conference Finals between these two rivals.

In that series, there were suspensions on both sides, three double-overtime games, a Game 6 "Guarantee" by New York captain Mark Messier, and unparallelled drama.

Well, this one is getting there.

On Monday, Brodeur, the only remaining player on either side from that 1994 series, even notched an assist in the third, on Parise's empty netter, capping a game in which the Devils maintained their composure and bounced back from a 3-0 shutout in Game 3, while the Rangers took several uncharacteristic penalties and seemed rattled from the start.

And the chippiness increased with each period. New York's Marc Staal whacked Patrik Elias in the back of the knee with his stick in the second. Ryan Callahan, the Rangers captain, and New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk tussled and then jawed at each other from the respective penalty boxes.

"There are going to be situations out there where we get into each other's faces," Callahan said. "That's playoff hockey."

But the Rupp incident might have been a little over the top, even for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

A former Devil who scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for New Jersey in 2003 vs. Anaheim, Rupp jabbed Brodeur in his crease in the third after a stoppage in play. That almost set off a free-for-all among the players on the ice, especially after Brodeur reacted like he had been hit by a roundhouse left.

As Brodeur walked through the locker room, he was asked if Rupp was his friend.

"That's what I thought," he said before heading to the podium for a postgame news conference. Meanwhile, Rupp was not available for comment.

The punch came about four minutes after Parise scored on a power play to give New Jersey a 3-0 lead and for all practical purposes, ended the game. Ruslan Fedotenko ruined Brodeur's bid for his 25th career playoff shutout with just over five minutes to play.

The Rangers pulled Lundqvist, who had shut out the Devils in Games 1 and 3, with less than three minutes to play, and Brodeur made two outstanding saves to keep it a two-goal game.

Parise -- two days after he did not speak to reporters after a disappointing effort in Game 3 -- finally iced it with his second of the game and sixth of the playoffs. It was a clearing pass that found its way into the net. Brodeur notched the assist on that play. It was his fourth point of the playoffs.

But this game -- which did not include New York's Brandon Prust, who was suspended for elbowing Anton Volchenkov in Game 3 -- was decided early because the Devils finally found ways to beat Lundqvist.

New Jersey dominated much of the play in Game 3, and the first period of Game 4 was even worse for the Rangers. They looked slow, were outhustled on nearly every shift, and they didn't get a shot on goal until roughly halfway through.

By then, New Jersey already had a 1-0 lead, on a goal by Salvador, and was cruising.

Salvador's see-eying shot through a half-dozen players from the left point sneaked by the Rangers' netminder for New Jersey's first goal since the third period of Game 2. New Jersey's Jacob Josefson, playing for the first time since breaking his left wrist on April 3, failed to deflect the shot on the way in, and New York's Anton Stralman seemed to screen Lundqvist, who seemingly never saw the wristshot.

Zajac's goal gave the Devils a 2-0 edge at 11:59, and the rejuvenated Parise had a big hand in it.

New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus sent the puck along the boards and New York's Michael Del Zotto made two mistakes. He didn't flag down the puck and then, he allowed Parise to skate past him, setting up a 2-on-1 break. Parise lifted a pass over the stick of a prone Dan Girardi, and Zajac one-timed the pass into the upper portion of the net before Lundqvist could react.

Parise extended the lead to 3-0 early in the third, just four seconds after New York's Derek Stepan was sent off for high sticking. Kovalchuk took a shot from the point that Lundqvist could not control and Parise whacked the rebound into the net.

Lundqvist Has Devil of a Time

Henrik Lundqvist had little time to do more than stop every breakaway or 2-on-1 attempt New Jersey shot his way. When he took a moment to breathe, Lundqvist had all the confidence his New York Rangers would bail him out with a goal or two.

"You know sooner or later it's going to turn," he said. "It's going to turn in our favour."

Unlike those dozens of Devils' shots, his feeling was right on the mark.

Lundqvist had 36 saves, and Dan Girardi, Chris Kreider and Ryan Callahan scored third-period goals to lead the Rangers to a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday.

Girardi and Kreider scored goals only 1 minute, 57 seconds apart early in the third to seize the momentum in a packed building with fans of both teams at a fever pitch, and give New York a 2-1 series lead. Indeed it was a quick span the Devils may long regret, especially after they dominated long stretches of Game 3.

"We played a real good hockey game," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "We lost. We gotta find a way to score a goal."

The Rangers did, and they did so in a stretch that would compare to some of coach John Tortorella's short and not-so-sweet press conferences. But Tortorella abandoned his normally terse responses to praise his goalie after the win.

"He a great competitor," Tortorella said, "as far as his preparation and as far as what he does for this hockey club."

Lundqvist was busy from the opening faceoff en route to his second shutout of the series and third in the postseason. Callahan iced it with an empty-netter late in third.

Game 4 is Monday in New Jersey.

Not even playing on home ice, where they had won four straight, was enough to help New Jersey. The Rangers have won every Game 1, lost each Game 2, and rebounded to win Game 3 in every round this postseason. Each preceding series, of course, saw them win the all-important last one: Game 7.

Kreider, a rookie called up during Round 1 vs. Ottawa, has scored in every game of this series.

"I'd trade that for three wins," Kreider said. "I'm worried about the next one."

Lundqvist was fantastic as he showed again why he led the Rangers to an Eastern Conference-high 109 points. He stoned Adam Henrique on a nice backhander late in the second period to keep it scoreless entering the third, setting the stage for New York's late magic.

He also toyed with Ilya Kovalchuk all game and stopped him on a nice breakaway in the second. Kovalchuk, who scored in Game 2, couldn't get untracked and neither could the rest of the Devils.

Especially not with the way Lundqvist shined in net.

"I was a little lucky today, a couple times where I made the first move I still ended up making the save," he said. "That's not going to happen all the time. So you need some luck sometimes. I always say you earn your luck by working hard.

"But today was a good day."

The Rangers opened the third ready to go against Martin Brodeur and found a way to give Lundqvist a needed cushion.

With New Jersey's Bryce Salvador in the penalty box, Girardi pushed a slow wrist shot past Brodeur's glove side, off a faceoff win by Brad Richards. Brodeur could have easily stopped the point-blank shot, especially with no traffic in front of the net.

"I thought the biggest play there was the faceoff win," Tortorella said of Richards' play. "We struggled a little bit there on our power play."

Ryan McDonagh then wristed a shot along the ice toward Brodeur that got through to the crease, eventually being deflected by Kreider and around a prone Brodeur. New Jersey's Marek Zidlicky was out of position at the faceoff circle, when Kreider sneaked in behind him and poked it in.

"I was just trying to get to the net," he said. "It was a great shot and found my stick."

The Devils kept up the pressure the rest of the way, but got nowhere with an ineffective 0 for 5 power play. And as they skated off dejectedly toward their locker room, they could only look back and wonder how they came up empty with so many shots on Lundqvist.

"It's not like we didn't create anything," New Jersey's Patrik Elias said. "They didn't block everything, they didn't outbattle us. It was a battle from both teams -- hard."

New Jersey spent most of the game sticking it to the Rangers all over the ice. The Devils dominated and outshot the Rangers (26-14) through the first two periods.

In the second period, New York's Brandon Prust threw a hard right elbow into the back of Anton Volchenkov's head that knocked the defenseman down in a heap. No penalty was called and the crowd howled in protest. DeBoer was furious at the non-call and was yelling on the bench as he looked up at the replay overhead. Volchenkov eventually got to his feet and later returned to the ice.

"Head-hunting," DeBoer said, stealing Tortorella's tone for an answer or two. "Plain and simple."

Lundqvist was at his best in the third, snaring Kovalchuk's one-timer to turn away any attempt at a late Devils' rally.

"He's been the backbone of our team for a long time now," Girardi said. "He's making huge saves."

The Devils pulled Brodeur with 2:33 left and that backfired only 10 seconds later when Callahan knocked in an easy look that bounced off the back boards. The three-goal cushion allowed the Rangers fans in attendance to boast a bit as their rivals struggled. "Let's go Ran-gers" chants were prevalent, as were derogatory "Mar-ty" chants toward the Devils' veteran netminder.

Brodeur shrugged off the chants.

"It's momentum off the way we play that dictates how our crowd is going to be in our building, because there are a lot of Rangers fans coming over," Brodeur said. "They are the ones, I guess, with the money and they are sitting right beside us, too.

"It's not new for us."

Losing at home, though, is. The Devils, after all, had won four straight postseason games at The Rock.

That streak is history. Thanks to the man the Rangers call "Hank."

Devils Level Eastern Finals

Rangers Bring Down NJ Devils

After 14 games and two nail-biting playoff series wins, the New York Rangers insist they have plenty left to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

If any proof was needed, Henrik Lundqvist provided it with a shutout victory over the well-rested New Jersey Devils in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night.

Lundqvist made 21 saves in his fifth career playoff shutout. Rookie Chris Kreider, defenseman Dan Girardi, and Artem Anisimov all had a goal and an assist in the third period as the Rangers turned a scoreless game into a 3-0 win. It came two days after New York outlasted the pesky Washington Capitals in Game 7 of the second-round series.

"I don't know where you guys get all this stuff about being tired," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "If we're tired this time of the year, there's something the matter. We still have a month to play. You might as well not even ask me questions about being tired."

The Rangers said during their one day off before facing the Devils that they liked the rhythm of playing every other day, and didn't think the quick turnaround would affect them. The Devils, however, had been off for five days since they knocked out the Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

"It's always tough to come from a Game 7. So emotional, and everything around it, and then start over," Lundqvist said. "(Sunday) was all about regrouping, and move your focus to a new team and just a different type of game.

"I didn't really know what to expect from this game, honestly."

No team forced to play seven-game series in each of the first two rounds has gone on to win the Stanley Cup, but the Rangers are determined to be the first. The Rangers slogged through two scoreless periods and pulled out a win with a dominating third period.

The Rangers are in the conference finals for the first time since 1997, and they haven't reached the Stanley Cup finals since 1994, when they beat 22-year-old goalie Martin Brodeur and the Devils in a classic seven-game series that backed up captain Mark Messier's guarantee.

Brodeur and the Devils are making their first conference finals appearance since 2003, the year they won the Cup for the third time.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in New York.

Girardi, who struggled at times with his defensive duties, got a perfect setup from Kreider and scored 53 seconds into the third period. Playing in just his 13th NHL game, all in these playoffs, Kreider sent a pass back from the right circle in the Devils' zone to the point. Girardi took long strides as he charged up ice and stepped into a shot that ripped through a screen in front by teammate Derek Stepan.

"I saw (Kreider) coming up the wall, and I was delaying to see what he was going to do," Girardi said. "I saw no one go to the point, and I kind of stepped into it and got it through."

The shot beat Brodeur for Girardi's second playoff goal this season and second in 47 career postseason games. It was a drive Brodeur said he never saw.

"We didn't finish Kreider down the board," Brodeur said. "We didn't close him out and get him off of the puck. Nobody went to him, probably a miscommunication, and he was able to lay a puck to Girardi and for a bomb."

The other assist went to 21-year-old defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who along with Kreider was only 3 when these teams last met in the conference finals in `94.

Girardi also earned a secondary assist on Kreider's power-play goal with 8 minutes remaining that made it 2-0. New York's slumping power play connected after Girardi was drilled hard from behind into the boards by Devils forward Steve Bernier.

Anisimov, who also assisted on Kreider's goal, scored into an empty net to make it 3-0 with 1:27 left.

Brodeur heard sing-song chants of "Mar-ty, Mar-ty" before the game started. Those got much louder after Girardi's goal, and even more taunting after Kreider scored as the blue-shirt wearing, towel-waving fans' excitement grew. Brodeur finished with 25 saves.

Lundqvist showed no signs of fatigue and was solid throughout in posting his second shutout of these playoffs -- helped by 26 blocked shots by his teammates.

"Hank is huge for us back there," Girardi said. "We were struggling a little bit in our defensive zone and he was there to bail us out. That's what happened. He made some big saves, and in the third period we came out hard and got a couple of goals for him."

To no one's surprise, the teams were still tied heading into the final frame, but not because of a lack of chances.

Lundqvist was sharp in turning aside pucks that sneaked through the wall of teammates that blocked so many shots. He was at his best while the Rangers were on a power play late in the second period.

Zach Parise had the puck to the left of the net and snapped off a forehand that Lundqvist blocked. Parise got another whack at the rebound, and was again denied. Given one more chance with a backhander, Parise failed to break the deadlock with a short-handed goal.

"I tried to go 5-hole on the first one and it just kept popping back to me," Parise said. "I tried to go up, and he made the save. It came back, and I tried to go high, and he made another save. It was unfortunate. It was a few of those opportunities we had. We just didn't capitalize."

It wasn't the first bit of frustration in the series opener for the Devils captain. Parise was caught from behind by hard-charging defenseman Ryan McDonagh to thwart a first-period breakaway before Parise could get a shot on Lundqvist

McDonagh made the most of his 22-year-old legs, and showed no signs of fatigue from 14 previous playoff games this season, when he also chased down Ilya Kovalchuk in the first period. Lundqvist made a stop at the end of the charge.

The Devils also peppered Lundqvist in the opening minutes of the second period. Lundqvist fought to see between a maze of players and even gave a shove to the back of teammate Anton Stralman, trying to move the defenseman out of his line of sight.

Brodeur also was sharp at the other end, even shaking off a collision with teammate Marek Zidlicky, who got tangled with Rangers forward Brandon Prust. Brodeur's mask was knocked off after the whistle.

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