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Devils facing elimination against rival Rangers

Apr 18, 2008 - 1:33 PM NY Rangers at New Jersey 7:30 pm EDT Eastern Conference quarterfinals Rangers lead, 3-1

NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) - The New Jersey Devils are on the brink of elimination.

Trailing three-games-to-one, the fourth-seeded Devils put their season on the line Friday when they host the fifth-seeded New York Rangers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Rookie defenseman Marc Staal snapped a tie with 3:13 remaining in the third period as the Rangers claimed a 5-3 victory over New Jersey in Game Four on Wednesday.

Former Devil Scott Gomez scored a pair of goals and Chris Drury and Martin Straka also tallied for New York, which knows the series is not over yet.

"They're going to come out even harder (in Game Five)," Gomez said. "They're playing at home and the building will be rocking. ... To beat the Devils, you've got to earn it. They're going to brush (the loss) off pretty fast and they're going to be ready at home."

Devils coach Brent Sutter believes his team made too many mistakes on Wednesday which cost New Jersey a chance to even the series.

"Every goal they got on us (on Wednesday), we gave it away," Sutter said. "We are a good hockey team when we do things right. You can't give up five goals in the playoffs and think you are going to win."

Martin Brodeur, who has allowed 16 goals in the first four games of this series after posting a 2.17 goals-against average during the regular season, expects his team to play with a sense of urgency on Friday.

"We all play to go all the way and now they have chance to take something away from us by beating us," he said. "So we have to be desperate. ... No matter how we're getting it done, we've got to win."