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Dawes' late goal keeps Rangers perfect vs. Devils

Mar 28, 2008 - 3:31 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- It wasn't the prettiest of goals, but Nigel Dawes and the New York Rangers will take it.

Dawes was credited with a goal with 3:06 remaining in the third period, snapping a tie and lifting the Rangers to a 3-2 triumph over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Brendan Shanahan and defenseman Christian Backman also scored for New York (40-26-11), which pulled even in points with New Jersey (42-28-7) for second place in the Atlantic Division and improved to 7-0-0 against the Devils this season.

The win marked the first time the Rangers have defeated an opponent seven times in one season since they accomplished the feat in 1967-68 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I don't know why (we're so good against the Devils)," New York coach Tom Renney said. "We're just trying to play hard against them. We're just trying to play smart. I'm not sure we did that for three periods tonight. I thought they looked good, but we battled."

"It was huge," added Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who made 32 saves. "When we play the Devils, we have had really good games against them this year. We play really good hockey every time we play them."

Patrik Elias and Zach Parise tallied for New Jersey, which fell to 0-4-1 in its last five games. The Devils also dropped six points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Pittsburgh Penguins, who defeated the New York Islanders on Thursday.

"It was a 2-2 hockey game going into the last five minutes," New Jersey coach Brent Sutter said. "We have done this the last four or five games where we have let games get away from us in the last five minutes. We are letting points get away from us."

"We can't afford to lose games like this at this time of year," Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner said. "We can't give them away, we can't get blown out and we've done everything. It's extremely frustrating for us, a team that prides itself on finishing games."

With the contest even late in third period, Chris Drury carried down the right wing and attempted a pass that went off the skate of defenseman Sheldon Brookbank and into the low slot.

While sliding on his back after being pulled down by Travis Zajac, Dawes had the puck carom off his left shoulder and past goaltender Martin Brodeur for his 13th goal of the season and a 3-2 edge.

"I just tried to get to the net and tried to kind of get a little step on (Zajac), and then I got hooked," Dawes said. "I didn't really do anything. I was lying on my back and the puck was there. So it just kind of found its way into the net."

"I know he didn't do it on purpose," Brodeur said. "He just fell and the puck hit him and went in the net. It's just unfortunate for us. I didn't see the replay closely to see if it hit his hand or not. It looked like that."

The goal was reviewed and ultimately upheld, much to the delight of the Rangers.

"I was thinking shoot the whole time until I heard (Dawes) scream," Drury said. "I figured he must be wide open. If he wasn't hooked, he probably just puts it in. We are glad they counted it and it held up."

"You're not going to score if you don't have traffic going to the net," Renney added. "Certainly, Nigel's goal was pretty big."

It was not the first time Dawes has come up with a big goal against the Devils this season. He scored the only goal of the shootout at New Jersey on March 19 and also netted the only tallies in a 2-0 win on October 25, the first meeting between the rivals this campaign.

"I think it's huge," Dawes said of Thursday's win. "Two points are important this time of year and we battled really hard today. We played real well in the third, another come-from-behind victory, and we're going to have to do that to win games. We stuck with it and the fans were great in the third, getting behind us."

After a scoreless first period, Shanahan gave the Rangers the lead at 5:21 of the second with a power-play goal. But the Devils answered with 8:22 remaining, when Elias redirected defenseman Paul Martin's pass by Lundqvist while standing in the slot.

Backman made a costly blunder late in the period to allow New Jersey to move ahead.

In his own zone, the Swede made an ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Parise, who beat Brodeur high to the glove side with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle with 1:47 to go, giving the Devils a 2-1 edge.

Backman atoned for his miscue 98 seconds into the third, firing a wrister from just above the left circle into the top left corner of the net for a power-play goal that knotted the game at 2-2.

Brodeur - who finished with 28 saves - kept the contest even with 5:42 left, making a brilliant glove stop on Ryan Callahan during a breakaway.

Former Devil Scott Gomez set up both of New York's first two goals as he returned to the lineup after a one-game absence due to a rib injury. The All-Star was considered questionable but convinced Renney he could play after participating in pregame warmups.

"You go out there, it's a fun time of year," Gomez said. "Your adrenaline is going. It's one of those things. It's going to be that way in the playoffs."