EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – It might be the rivalry. Or it might be their disciplined play. Maybe it's just having to play a future Hall of Famer in Martin Brodeur.

Whatever it is, though, the Devils seem to bring the best out of the Rangers.

And, although, the final score was 1-0 in favor of the New Jersey this time, the Blueshirts went toe-to-toe with them for all three periods.

“It's a chess match with them,” said the Rangers' big piece Jaromir Jagr. “They're a very disciplined team and if you don't match that level of discipline and kind of defensive game, you don't have a chance. I don't think I remember any games where the other team doesn't take any penalties. It's probably the first time this year we didn't have a power play.”

Added coach Tom Renney: “They are just a good team and they are well coached. Anyone who comes in here has to elevate their game to have success against this team anywhere. With that you have the terrific rivalry between the two teams and that elevates you attention on what has to be done.

The Devils were so crisp in this game, they were able to go unpenalized. Although, Renney thought there were some calls that went overlooked, New Jersey was able to keep the big power play unit off the ice, which helped Brodeur notch his 88^th career shutout of his career.

“That's what so fun about this league is you face the best players in the world and Marty is one of them,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 31 shots on the night. “It's a challenge to go out there. The way they play, we didn't do anything until the third and he made a couple of big saves. It was the key.”

Added Devils coach Claude Julien: “We realize the Rangers have a good power play and staying out of the box was a key to the game tonight. We were very good at keeping our sticks on the ice and not taking penalties.”

And being held with out a power play is a first for the new NHL Rangers, since the last time they went 60 minutes without the man advantage, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, was a 5-0 loss also at the Meadowland on March 30, 2004.

That helped Brodeur, as he had nine of his 26 saves in the third and he made a key save on Martin Straka with around 3:30 left in the match. It was enough to hold up the fragile goal, scored in the first by Brad Lukowich.

It happened at 9:42 of the first when the defenseman put it past Lundqvist for the lead.

“We were scrambling for the puck,” the Ranger goalie said, “and the next thing that happened, it went in.”

After that goal, the Renney tried different line combinations to get some scoring chances for Jagr and even double shifted him in the third to counteract the line of Sergei Brylin, John Madden and Jay Pandolfo.

“[We weren't] matching the lines, but don't give them anything that easy, let them work for it,” said Jagr. “That's why I wanted to stay a little bit longer, see what they are going to do. If they're going to match me individually, then Mikey [Nylander] and [Straka] should have a different line. But you can always improve for next game.”

But even with the double shift, Jagr still had trouble against the defensive minded Devils.

“I got used to it,” Jagr said. “It's nothing new. When you play against New Jersey it's even tougher because they know how to do it. Some guys try to do it, but they're not good at it. They are.”

And the 1-0 score proved that.

Notes: Nylander left the game late in the third after he was hit by Colin White. Renney said he got his bell rung, but should be ok for practice.

  E-mail this story |  Printer-friendly |  Discuss