Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...
8 comments
Read more

Francisco Lindor Remains Red Hot as Mets Top Phillies

 Francisco Lindor remains the hottest player in Queens right now.  The Mets shortstop blasted two more home runs, including a three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning, Monday night to help propel the Mets to a 5-4 win over Philadelphia.   Lindor who typically struggles in the month of April is putting together a heck of a month. Monday's two hit effort was the 10th game in the last 11 where Lindor has recorded a hit. In fact in the month of April alone this year, Lindor was hitting at .311 coming into Monday's action.  On the year, Lindor is batting .284 with five homers and 13 RBI.  Lindor's efforts proved to be prophetic, as the Phillies Alec Bohm crushed a three-run bomb off Edwin Diaz in the top of the ninth to cut the Mets lead to a single run. Fortunately for New York, Diaz was able to shut the door with strikeouts of Trea Turner and Bryce Harper.  New York (16-7) has now won five in a row.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Mets Keep Rolling into Phillies Series

 The New York Mets are feeling pretty good about things right now!  The Amazin's swept a four game series from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, winning 7-4 Sunday afternoon. It was the first time since 1986 that the Amazin's had swept such a series from St. Louis. We all know what happened later that season.    Well, not to get too far ahead of ourselves, because the 2025 version now faces a very stiff challenge. The Mets will face their arch rivals the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday with only two games separating the two teams in the NL East.  The Mets took out Philly in the NLDS last October, so this figures to be a heck of showdown. The Mets begin a month long stretch against teams that are likely postseason contenders like the Phillies, D-Backs, Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers.  If the Mets (15-7) are this good, we will know for sure in a month.
Post a Comment
Read more