Rangers hold on to eliminate Devils in 5 with 5-3 win

[April 19, 2008]  NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- The New York Rangers rocked the New Jersey Devils' house like no team and rolled right into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Rangers trailed for 18 seconds in the first period before scoring four straight times and holding on for a 5-3 victory Friday night that ended the best-of-seven series in five games.

New Jersey's John Madden was awarded a penalty shot with 7:08 left in the third period after Dan Girardi dragged him down with a sweeping dive with his stick. Madden couldn't net the tying goal when his backhander at the right post was stopped by Henrik Lundqvist's pads.

Brandon Dubinsky sealed New York's second straight 5-3 win with an empty-net goal with 59.1 seconds left.

Never had a team won three road games against New Jersey in a playoff series, but the Rangers did it in the first season at the Devils' new arena, Prudential Center, affectionately known as "The Rock."

New York took the first two on the road before splitting two at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers beat New Jersey seven of eight times in the regular season, with the only loss coming on the final day when the Devils secured home-ice advantage in the first-round matchup.

It was anything but.

After Brian Gionta gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 4:40 in, Michal Rozsival answered at 4:58. Jaromir Jagr and former New Jersey star Scott Gomez scored to make it 3-1 for New York, outshot 9-7 in the first period that was played largely in the Rangers zone.

Chris Drury pushed the lead to 4-1 early in the second, but a freak goal from the neutral zone by Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador and Patrik Elias' 5-on-3 tally cut the deficit to one before the middle period expired.

The Devils outshot the Rangers 11-3 in the third and pressed heavily throughout, but couldn't beat Lundqvist again.

When this one was over, Rangers agitator Sean Avery and Devils goalie Martin Brodeur had one more confrontation, this time in the handshake line. Avery, who crashed into Brodeur several times in the series and tried to distract him by waving his stick in the goalie's face in Game 3, was the only player Brodeur didn't extend his hand to.

"I shook everybody's hand but one," Brodeur said.

Avery said he was fully prepared to reach out to Brodeur, but didn't get the chance.

"Everyone talks about how much class I don't have, well it's the end of the series and men go to war against each other," Avery said. "I guess he forgot to shake my hand. I don't know if anyone saw that. Of course I was going to shake his hand."

Only once in the tight regular season did the Rangers score more than four goals against Brodeur, but they did it in back-to-back wins in this series to finish off the Devils. The home team won just one of the five games, New York's 5-3 victory on Wednesday that gave the Rangers a commanding 3-1 series edge.

Lundqvist yielded three goals to the Devils for the third straight game after not doing it for 16 straight. Still, he has the Rangers in the second round for the second consecutive season after a 10-year absence.

New York will have to wait for other Eastern matchups to end to find out its next opponent.

With the Rangers three goals ahead and the building quiet, Salvador's unorthodox goal at 9:26 of the second gave the Devils new life.

Salvador wound up for a drive between the blue line and center ice circle. Dubinsky raised his arm to shield his face, and was struck by the puck. It then took a hop and hit the post before caroming into the net off Lundqvist.

Dubinsky and defenseman Marc Staal, who scored the winning goal late in Game 4, took consecutive penalties 29 seconds apart to give New Jersey a two-man power play. Elias struck with a little help from the Rangers.

Fedor Tyutin took a backhanded swipe at the loose puck in front and whiffed. Elias smacked the puck, which struck Tyutin's leg and found the net with 6:10 left in the period.

If not for a clutch save by Lundqvist on Sergei Brylin in the closing seconds of the frame, the Devils would've tied it.

Gionta sparked the home crowd with his first of the series, but Rozsival tied it with his first before Gionta's was even announced. Jagr made it 2-1 at 6:38 as the sound system blared in an attempt to drown out cheering Rangers fans that filled large pockets of the arena. Gomez, in his first season with New York, tormented his former teammates again with his third at 18:01.

Drury took Nigel Dawes' long feed from the left-wing boards to the right circle and snapped a shot past Brodeur, who made his 158th consecutive playoff start for the Devils, at 5:35.

Notes:@ The Devils have been eliminated in the first round five times in their run of 11 straight postseason appearances. ... This was the only time in the series that the team that scored first lost. ... Gomez also had four assists in the series. ... The Rangers outscored the Devils 19-10 in the five games after a 17-9 edge in the regular season. ... New York has beaten New Jersey in four of five playoff series. ... Jagr had two assists.

[Associated Press; By IRA PODELL]

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