On This Date In Sports History: The New Jersey Devils Knock Off The New York Rangers, Advance To The Stanley Cup Final

By Jordan Long

The New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers met in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals.  The Devils were looking for their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since they won it all in 2003.  For the New York Rangers, this was the furthest they have gone since 1994, their last Stanley Cup Championship.  These two franchises played each other a lot in the regular season because they are in the same division.  In the regular season series, they split all 6 games.  On this date in 2012 the Devils were looking to end the Eastern Conference Finals in game 6.

                The series had been tight.  New York took game 1, 3-0.  In game 2, the Devils responded with a 3-2 victory.  The series headed to New Jersey tied a 1. New Jersey dropped game 3, 3-0.  The Rangers were looking for a stranglehold in the series. A win in game 4 meant a commanding 3-1 series lead.  New Jersey drummed the Rangers 4-1.  In game 5, New Jersey came away with a 5-3 victory, meaning they were 1 win away from advancing back to the Stanley Cup Final.  The Rangers, with the best record in the Eastern Conference, wanted to force a game 7 and head back to Madison Square Garden.

                The Devils started their future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur.  On the other side the Rangers went with their number 1 goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist.  These were the goaltenders throughout the series.  They were going to be the deciding factor.

                The Devils went up 1-0 halfway through the 1^st period when Ryan Carter scored. They doubled their lead 3 minutes 56 seconds later when Ilya Kovalchuk lit the lamp on the power play.  Heading into the 1^st period break, the Devils were in command.  The Rangers faced a 2-0 deficit but they knew it was one they could come back from.

                In the 2^nd period it was all New York Rangers.  Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan both found the back of the net, tying the game at 2.  Both teams had scoring chances in the 3^rd period but the goaltenders didn’t allow another goal.  Game 6 was headed into overtime.

                At the start of overtime, the Rangers had a few shots to try to end the game but Brodeur denied them.  The Devils moved the puck up ice.  They shot the puck on Lundqvist and he made a few saves but the puck was loose.  Adam Henrique found the puck with Lundqvist out of position.  He poked it into the empty net to send the Devils back to the Stanley Cup Final.               

                In the Final, New Jersey lost to the Los Angeles Kings 4 games to 2.  Today we remember Henrique scoring the game winner in overtime to defeat the New York Rangers in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.