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After 14 games and two nail-biting playoff series wins, the NewYork Rangers insist they have plenty left to make a run at theStanley Cup. If any proof was needed, Henrik Lundqvist provided it with ashutout victory over the well-rested New Jersey Devils in theopener of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night. Lundqvist made 21 saves in his fifth career playoff shutout. RookieChris Kreider, defenceman Dan Girardi, and Artem Anisimov all had agoal and an assist in the third period as the Rangers turned ascoreless game into a 3-0 win. It came two days after New Yorkoutlasted the pesky Washington Capitals in Game 7 of thesecond-round series. "I don't know where you guys get all this stuff about being tired,"Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "If we're tired this time ofthe year, there's something the matter. We still have a month toplay. You might as well not even ask me questions about beingtired." How long will this series go? The Rangers said during their one day off before facing the Devilsthat they liked the rhythm of playing every other day, and didn'tthink the quick turnaround would affect them. The Devils, however,had been off for five days since they knocked out the PhiladelphiaFlyers in five games. "It's always tough to come from a Game 7. So emotional, andeverything around it, and then start over," Lundqvist said."[Sunday] was all about regrouping, and move your focus to a newteam and just a different type of game. "I didn't really know what to expect from this game, honestly." No team forced to play seven-game series in each of the first tworounds has gone on to win the Stanley Cup, but the Rangers aredetermined to be the first. The Rangers slogged through twoscoreless periods and pulled out a win with a dominating thirdperiod. The Rangers are in the conference finals for the first time since1997, and they haven't reached the Stanley Cup finals since 1994,when they beat 22-year-old goalie Martin Brodeur and the Devils ina classic seven-game series that backed up captain Mark Messier'sguarantee. Brodeur and the Devils are making their first conference finalsappearance since 2003, the year they won the Cup for the thirdtime. Game 2 is Wednesday night in New York (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 8 p.m.ET). Girardi, who struggled at times with his defensive duties, got aperfect setup from Kreider and scored 53 seconds into the thirdperiod. Playing in just his 13th NHL game, all in these playoffs,Kreider sent a pass back from the right circle in the Devils' zoneto the point. Girardi took long strides as he charged up ice andstepped into a shot that ripped through a screen in front byteammate Derek Stepan. "I saw [Kreider] coming up the wall, and I was delaying to see whathe was going to do," Girardi said. "I saw no one go to the point,and I kind of stepped into it and got it through." The shot beat Brodeur for Girardi's second playoff goal this seasonand second in 47 career post-season games. It was a drive Brodeursaid he never saw. "We didn't finish Kreider down the board," Brodeur said. "We didn'tclose him out and get him off of the puck. Nobody went to him,probably a miscommunication, and he was able to lay a puck toGirardi and for a bomb." The other assist went to 21-year-old defenceman Michael Del Zotto,who along with Kreider was only 3 when these teams last met in theconference finals in '94. Girardi also earned a secondary assist on Kreider's power-play goalwith eight minutes remaining that made it 2-0. New York's slumpingpower play connected after Girardi was drilled hard from behindinto the boards by Devils forward Steve Bernier. Anisimov, who also assisted on Kreider's goal, scored into an emptynet to make it 3-0 with 1:27 left. Showing no signs of fatigue Brodeur heard sing-song chants of "Mar-ty, Mar-ty" before the gamestarted. Those got much louder after Girardi's goal, and even moretaunting after Kreider scored as the blue-shirt wearing,towel-waving fans' excitement grew. Brodeur finished with 25 saves. Lundqvist showed no signs of fatigue and was solid throughout inposting his second shutout of these playoffs -- helped by 26blocked shots by his teammates. "Hank is huge for us back there," Girardi said. "We were strugglinga little bit in our defensive zone and he was there to bail us out.That's what happened. He made some big saves, and in he thirdperiod we came out hard and got a couple of goals for him." To no one's surprise, the teams were still tied heading into thefinal frame, but not because of a lack of chances. Lundqvist was sharp in turning aside pucks that sneaked through thewall of teammates that blocked so many shots. He was at his bestwhile the Rangers were on a power play late in the second period. Zach Parise had the puck to the left of the net and snapped off aforehand that Lundqvist blocked. Parise got another whack at therebound, and was again denied. Given one more chance with abackhander, Parise failed to break the deadlock with a short-handedgoal. "I tried to go 5-hole on the first one and it just kept poppingback to me," Parise said. "I tried to go up, and he made the save.It came back, and I tried to go high, and he made another save. Itwas unfortunate. It was a few of those opportunities we had. Wejust didn't capitalize." It wasn't the first bit of frustration in the series opener for theDevils captain. Parise was caught from behind by hard-chargingdefenceman Ryan McDonagh to thwart a first-period breakaway beforeParise could get a shot on Lundqvist McDonagh made the most of his 22-year-old legs, and showed no signsof fatigue from 14 previous playoff games this season, when he alsochased down Ilya Kovalchuk in the first period. Lundqvist made astop at the end of the charge. The Devils also peppered Lundqvist in the opening minutes of thesecond period. Lundqvist fought to see between a maze of playersand even gave a shove to the back of teammate Anton Stralman,trying to move the defenceman out of his line of sight. Brodeur also was sharp at the other end, even shaking off acollision with teammate Marek Zidlicky, who got tangled withRangers forward Brandon Prust. Brodeur's mask was knocked off afterthe whistle. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Plastic Grass Mats , Door Mat Carpet Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Commercial Door Mats.
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