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Atlantic rivalry renewed as hot Rangers host Devils

Oct 13, 2008 - 1:24 PM New Jersey (2-0-0) at NY Rangers (3-0-0), 7:00 pm EDT

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- It seems fitting that both the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils face off against each other for the first time with unblemished records.

In the first game against the Devils since their win in Game Five of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the rolling Rangers host their Atlantic Division rival in the first of six meetings on Monday.

Henrik Lundqvist and New York ended New Jersey's bid for a fourth Stanley Cup title in 13 years by peppering Martin Brodeur and cruising to a series victory before falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the conference semifinals.

However, the Rangers are a much different team that last season. They lost Jaromir Jagr (Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia) and Sean Avery (Dallas Stars) to free agency, but gained Nikolai Zherdev, Markus Naslund and defenseman Wade Redden.

The Devils seem divergent as well, and not just because of arrivals of Bobby Holik and Brian Rolston. They are off their first 2-0-0 start since 2002-03, while nearly eclipsing last season's dismal start in which they went 3-6-1 over the first 10 games.

Thanks to goals from Zach Parise and Patrik Elias, they rallied for a 2-1 overtime victory over the Penguins on Saturday. New Jersey was just over two minutes away from being blanked by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, but Elias tied the game with 2:29 left in the game and Parise capitalized with 38 seconds left in the extra session to claim the win.

The Devils outshot the Penguins, 49-15, including 15-4 in the second period and 20-2 in the third.

They will likely face another tough matchup in goal, since Lundqvist is rested after backup Steve Valiquette started in the Rangers' 4-3 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

New Jersey was just 1-4-3 in eight games against their cross-town rivals last season.