Rangers Take Control of Series

by: Joe McDonald | Publisher and Editor-in-Chief | Saturday, April 12, 2008



NEWARK, NJ – It was as intense 1:23 could get.

With the Devils finally able to get through on the brilliant Henrik Lundqvist to make it a one goal game, the desperate team from New Jersey gave the New York Rangers all it could muster.

But John Madden’s heroic goal was not enough, because 29 seconds later, the 6-5 advantage became even strength with Jamie Langenbrunner going to the box for hooking.

It was enough to have the Rangers hold on for a 2-1 win to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

“It was pretty intense,” said forward Ryan Callahan. “We wanted to go up 2-0 and there was no give up in their side. Our leaders showed what they could so in the last minute there.”

In the final moments, it go so heated coach Brent Sutter slammed a stick on the side boards because of a non-call on Blair Betts and then what he felt was an improper icing ruling. And general manager Lou Lamoriello then screamed at the officials in the Prudential Center hallway after the game.

Yet, that was the way this game was played from start to finish and only because Lundqvist was able to stop the Devils for most of the night, while the rest of the Rangers stood up to every Jersey attack, even getting into a few skirmishes late in the second period, with Brendan Shanahan right in the middle.

“It was more intense tonight, more fighting,” said Lundqvist who made 26 saves on the night. “They went a little harder to the net. We talked before the game and we prepared for it. Our ‘D’ did a great job in front of me and there was a lot of scrambling in front of me. It was a great relief to pull it off.”

After the first two periods, when the Rangers and Devils served time in the box - including a 4:00 high sticking call to Christian Backman, who knocked two of Zach Parise’s teeth out with a high stick - the referees warned both benches about the extracurricular activities and the fighting stopped.

And then the scoring began. Actually, the Ranger offense came 23 second apart when both Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery scored off Marty Brodeur, who stopped the other 28 shots on the night. The Ranger captain was able to turn around from the left circle and hit Brodeur in the back sending it to the net 4:26 into the session.

“We played our game in the third period and made our plays,” Jagr said. “The first two periods were like a tennis game. You know…Bing, bang, boom. But nobody made plays. The third period we made plays.

Avery followed with a turnaround shot from high in the slot for the eventual game winner.

“It was intense,” Lundqvist said. “It was good we could hold 2-0 until a minute and a half left. We proved ourselves as a really good third period team and dominated the first 10 minutes.”

Then the desperate Devils took over. A scramble in front of Lundqvist with 6:56 left was reviewed, but showed the Ranger goalie kept the puck out of the net. Then Madden scored late to make it interesting.

“We improved in some areas,” Shanahan said. “They improved in some areas. I don't think anything has been black and white in this series, so far. We've just been fortunate to find ways to get goals and to find ways to get wins.”

Notes: The Rangers return home on Sunday for Game 3…Dating back to last year’s sweep against Atlanta, the Blueshirts have now won six straight Quarterfinal games….The Rock wasn’t so solid with the Devils penalty door coming loose in the first period, delaying the game for 10 minutes and then towards the end of the first intermission, a goal light lit and didn’t go out, stopping the start of the second period.