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DEVILS BEAT RANGERS, ADVANCE TO STANLEY CUP

DEVILS 3
RANGERS 2
NJ wins 4-2

Once again the Devils built a big lead early, once again the blew it, and once again the Devils found a way to win and beat their arch rivals the New York Rangers in overtime 3-2 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Needing a victory to force a Game 7, the Rangers played with tremendous heart, taking 21 shots in the second and third periods combined and kept the puck inside the Devils zone for the most of the night. But, it was the play of Martin Brodeur, who was unbelievable behind the net making 33 saves. The 40 year-old goalie turned back the clock in this game, making one spectacular save after another in the third period, as the Jersey defense played on its heels for much of the period.

The Devils took the lead midway through the first period. Ryan Carter, who scored the winning goal in Game 5, scored the opening goal of Game 6 to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later Ilya Kovalchuck scored his seventh goal of the postseason, on the Devils power play, to make it 2-0.

Then, the Rangers turned it on. They skated with great power, kept the puck inside the Devils zone, and New York inched their way back into the contest. Ruslan Fedotenko's goal to cut the Devils lead in half took the air out of the Prudential center. Then minutes later, Dan Girardi, who killed the Devils throughout the series did so again. His slap-shot to the net bounced off the shin of Ryan Callahan, and zipped into the net to tie it at two.

At that point, it looked like New York was on their way to repeating Game 6 in 1994. That day, Mark Messier guaranteed a Rangers win over the Devils in Game 6. NJ built a 2-0 lead that day, only to watch NY tie it at two and win it 4-2.

Only problem for New York, this wasn't 1994. It was 2012.

Broduer starred in the third period making one big play after another, and by the time the third period ended New Jersey started to pick it up on offense, taking three shots on Henrik Lundqvist in the final 90 seconds of the period.

In overtime, the Devils came out very aggressive on offense, pushing the puck immediately into the Rangers zone. Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexei Ponikarovsky did a great job in pushing the puck up against the Rangers net, forcing Lundqvist to play it close to the vest. Adam Henrique noticed that Lundqvist was not covering the back end of the goal, and snuck behind him. Kovalchuck saw Henrique and kicked the puck underneath Lundqvist to Henrique, who tapped it in to win it.

New Jersey will advance to the Cup Finals for the fifth time in 17 years. New Jersey's last trip was in 2003 when the beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in seven games. New Jersey will go up against a red hot Los Angeles Kings team that went 12-2 in the Western Conference playoffs. Game one is Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports Channel.

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