Sunday, April 13, 2008

Desperate Devils take one back from Rangers


Having had the Rangers come into their new house in Newark for games one and two and take two wins across the Hudson with them, seemed to be more than enough motivation for the New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon.

John Madden became New Jersey’s overtime hero as he banked a shot from behind the net off the skate of the Rangers Marc Staal, providing New Jersey with a victory and a taste of playoff life.

The Rangers who had battled back in the third period to force the overtime frame, allowed the Devils to take charge of the extra time, unable to clear their zone and giving New Jersey a few chances to win the game, while the deflection off of Staal was a bad break, it seemed to at least provide a sense of destiny for the Devils who had probably done more than enough to win the game during the original sixty minutes.

The victory will breathe a bit of life into the Devils who were looking at a tough road to travel had they dropped to 3-0 in the series, with the win they are very much back into the hunt to advance, providing they can capitalize on the room they created for themselves on Sunday.

Expect New York to review the tape from game three and make the necessary adjustments to slow the Devils down again and create more offence for the Ranger forwards to test Martin Brodeur when the teams next meet on Tuesday.


New York Post-- Devils strike back
Newark Star Ledger-- Rangers not irked by luck of puck
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NHL.com-- Stats Pack

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