EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – It's all about luck and when you are the first place Devils, you obviously have it.

And if you are the Rangers, good fortune is sometimes hard to come by, not matter how you play.

That was evident last night on Zach Parise's game-winning goal during the third period of the Devils' 2-1 win over the Rangers.

It happened with a little less than eight minutes left in the match, Parise's first shot was blocked by Henrik Lundqvist, but as he throws the rebound at the net, it deflected off Ranger defenseman Karel Rachunek's stick for the winning tally.

“Last year, this game we would have won,” said Lundqvist, who had 24 saves on the night. “This year we come out short. Too many games this year, like that.  We know we can do it. We need some luck too.”

There's that word again. The Blueshirts have to wonder what bit them tonight, since Rachunek said he didn't try to clear the puck, it just hit his stick. And that score deflated a strong effort from the City's team.

After starting out a little slow, they dominated the last 30 minutes of the game and outshot the Devils 36 to 26. In fact, it was a very different Ranger team with Sean Avery getting under Martin Brodeur's skin so much, the usually cool Hall of Famer shoved Avery late in the second after the was bumping Brodeur all night.

“He's a good goalie,” he said. “You have to get in front of him and that's how you score goals. Anyone who watched him in the playoffs, that's how you beat him. You don't beat him on clean shots, you get in front of him and that's how you beat him.”

Brodeur felt Avery was just playing his game. “It's a game, ya know, so I don't try to do anything. I just play the game the way it's played, regardless if I overreacted or not. I'm out there playing the game like that. What am I gonna do, that's gonna hurt him. I didn't do anything. I don't even lift weights, I'm not going to hurt anybody. I just want to play my game.

“He's a great competitor, love to have him on my team, that's for sure. It's a game, just like anything; don't try to find anything here, what's going on with me and him.”

Avery's strategy worked with three minutes left in the second. He tapped Brodeur enough to allow Petr Prucha's 14^th to get past him.

“There are bodies in front of the net,” Avery said. “Prucha tips in and there's someone in front of the net. Whether it's Prucha, me or [Jed] Ortmeyer, it's gotta be someone.”

His efforts went for naught, simply because the Devils' good fortune. Even Brian Rafalski's 16^th in the first trickled in after Lundqvist made a stop, which makes this game even more frustrating.

“It's a playoff game, I think,” Avery said. “We came out and played hard. We basically dominated the last 30 minutes of the game. It was a little bit of an error and they scored. We had a pretty good chance to tie it up and we didn't.”

Lundqvist feels the team needs to go 15-7 over the last 22 games to make the playoffs and that includes Thursday's second half of the home-and-home at Madison Square Garden, which Avery feels will be just as intense.

“It should,” Avery replied. “Two of our biggest games of the season, like the first two games of a playoff series, so it should boil over.”

Maybe this time, the Rangers will have a little luck on their side.

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