Devils 3, Rangers 2
NEW YORK -- A pair of 41-year-olds played a major role in the New Jersey Devils 3-2 win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Goaltender Martin Brodeur stopped 33 shots and right winger Jaromir Jagr recorded an assist on the Devils game-winning goal in the third period for his team-leading 14th point of the season.
Right wing Dainius Zubrus scored off his own rebound in front of New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist at 17:05 of the third period to snap a 2-2 tie with his forehand. Center Travis Zajac took an outlet pass from Jagr in the Rangers zone and found Zubrus for the strike.
The Devils (6-7-5) are 3-0-1 in their last four games.
The Rangers (9-9-0) were 0-for-5 on the power play.
New York knotted the score at 2 on a goal from defenseman Dan Girardi at 13:18 of the third period. Girardi's low shot from the right point skimmed off the skate of Devils defenseman Andy Green, who was tangled in front of the net with Rangers center Mats Zuccarello.
New Jersey center Ryan Carter ended a personal 18-game scoring drought going back to April 20 when he scored two second period goals. His backhand at 19:13 gave the Devils a 2-1 lead.
Carter out-skated the Ranger defense and swooped in across the blue line, sending his backhand shot through Lundqvist at the goalmouth. Devils defensemen Adam Larsson and Peter Harrold were awarded the assists.
Carter provided the Devils with a 1-0 edge when he jammed the puck behind Lundqvist at 6:37 of the second period. Defenseman Andy Greene did a nice job of keeping the puck in the Rangers zone from the before finding Carter.
The Rangers tied it at 1 just 18 seconds later. Rangers center Chris Kreider picked up the loose puck in front of the Ranger bench and sent a cross-ice pass to Zuccarello. The Rangers center skated behind the Devils net with the puck on his backhand and slid it to the left circle where an open Marc Staal blasted it by Brodeur for his second goal of the season.
The goal was the defenseman's 100th career point and fourth consecutive game that Zuccarello registered a point.
The Devils entered the game with the NHL's sixth best penalty kill and went 2-for-2 in the first period, allowing the Rangers just three shots on goal. The Rangers came out with a physical mindset, putting 14 hits on the Devils, five from the team's captain, right winger Ryan Callahan, in the opening period.
NOTES: Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist and Devils G Martin Brodeur faced each other for the 37th time in the regular season and the 51st time overall. ... The Rangers have scored at least four goals in four of their past five games after failing to get that many in the first 12 matches. ... Lundqvist is 5-3-0 with a 1.64 goal-against-average, .936 save percentage and two shutouts in his last eight games before Tuesday night. ... Devils RW Jaromir Jagr is the NHL's all-time leader with 17 career overtime goals. ... Rangers RW Ryan Callahan is sixth in the NHL in shooting percentage at 23.8 percent. ... Tuesday was the second of five meetings between the two Metropolitan Division rivals. ... Devils captain, LW Patrik Elias, missed his sixth straight game due to upper-body soreness. ... Devils D Anton Volchenkov left the ice in the first period with a lower body injury and didn't return.
