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Devils face dire situation in Game Three

Apr 13, 2008 - 1:49 PM New Jersey at Ny Rangers 7:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference quarterfinals Rangers lead, 2-0

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Devils are in a dire situation.

Looking for offense, the Devils try to climb back into their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series when they visit the New York Rangers in Game Three Sunday.

In dropping the first two games of the series at home, the Devils managed a mere two goals against Henrik Lundqvist, who has stopped 52 of 54 shots. The Swedish netminder is 7-0-1 against New Jersey this season.

"When the team is playing really well, you get confidence from that and you can really focus on your game," Lundqvist said.

Captain Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery scored 23 seconds apart early in the third period on Friday to lead the Rangers to a 2-1 victory in Game Two.

While New Jersey doesn't believe its in a 'must-win' situation, it understands the perils of trailing three-games-to-none in a best-of-seven series.

"That 'must-win' gets thrown out there a lot," Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner said. "But obviously, you don't want to go down 3-0 (in the series). We know what that means. We have to throw it all out there. We've been close in these games, but we have to find that little bit extra to put us over the top."

John Madden scored the Devils only goal late in the third period but it wasn't enough to help New Jersey stop its struggles in the final frame against the Rangers.

The Rangers have outscored New Jersey, 10-2, in the third period - including a 5-1 margin over the first two games of the series - in winning nine of the 10 games between the clubs in 2007-08. The Devils' offense has beaten Lundqvist just 11 times in those 10 contests.