2:10 PM: I’ll be liveblogging the action today between the Devils and Rangers.  Check back here at 3:00 PM ET for more goodstuffs from myself and hopefully all your Battle friends!  

2:46 PM: Betts and Malik are in for the Rangers, Mara and Hollweg are out.  Devils go with the same lineup as Friday night in Philly.    
 

2:57 PM: It is MSG+ on my TV today.  Game coming up!      

3:07 PM: Zach Parise with a big hit on Christian Backman.  No feeling out stage in this one folks.       

3:08 PM: First big chance to the Rangers as Brodeur stops Jagr from the deep slot.     

3:10 PM: Chico deems Newark, NJ “Hockeytown North America” for the day.  Oh boy.    

3:12 PM: Devils get their first chance of the day as Zach Parise tips a Patrik Elias shot…NEVERMIND THEY SCORE!  John Madden at the side of the net!  1-0 NJ! 

3:14 PM: Big hit from Vishnevski on Sjostrom as Madden gets his 20th for the second time in his career. Gionta and Martin get the assists on the goal from Madden at 4:26.

3:18 PM: Jagr fans on a great chance in front. It’s fairly clear who looks more ready for this one, and it’s a total suprise.

3:20 PM After a great Ranger chance one way, Gionta and Pandolfo fail on a 2-on-the-goalie.

3:21 PM: Drury off for charging. Devils to the power play. Bit of an iffy call, likely one the refs made to get what had become a hard-hitting game from getting nasty.

3:25 PM: Rangers kill it off. Devils continue to struggle on the power play vs. New York.

3:27 PM: SCORE! Rupp sent one to the net that Lundqvist couldn’t get the angle on! 2-0 Devils. Rupp’s 3rd of the year, from Zubrus at 12:57.

3:32 PM: The Devils are, how they say, owning the Rangers at the moment. Being physical and agressive and offensive, strangely enough. I’m having trouble with this software. If Hasan or Lenny or Derek can pick it up for me, let me know while I switch off to some other technology.

3:51 PM: It was mostly Devils in that period as they outscored the Rangers 2-0 and outshot them 11-2. I honestly am not surprised that they came out so strong. Especially after how Sutter ripped them as Hasan referred to about not being ‘professional’ in a bad loss in Philly Friday night which allowed the Flyers to clinch.

3:55 ET: The Flyers and Pens at last check were scoreless. A Pens’ win gives them the No.1 seed and a first round date in the Battle of Pennsylvania. If the Flyers win, they move up to No.6 and play Washington. As Hasan accurately reported yesterday, the other match-up is set between the Canadiens and Bruins in a battle of Original Six. Montreal dominated the season series sweeping all eight games. It wasn’t close. They outscored them by over 20.

Some Ranger thoughts on the opening stanza:

-Malik struggled in his first period back. He needs to get his timing back.

-Loved what Chris Drury did hitting a couple of Devils with clean hits. I didn’t realize that wasn’t allowed as the charging call was another softy in the BHL.

-Someone needs to give David Clarkson a beatdown. That shove on Malik right into Lundqvist was cheap and dangerous. He’s a dirty player. That can’t be tolerated. And his shenanigans after the whistle on Brandon Dubinsky was also idiotic. I really dislike that guy with a passion.

Second period’s apparently on as I heard a roar from my brother. So I’m guessing the Rangers got one to slice it in half. Be back for more later.

4:41 PM: Derek checking in again. The Rangers got a Chris Drury goal 19 seconds into the middle stanza to slice the deficit to one. That’s where we stand with 20 minutes left. His team-leading 25th was made possible by some great hustle from rookie Nigel Dawes, who beat Zach Parise to a loose puck to keep it alive allowing Drury to get to it and fire past the glove of Marty Brodeur.

Maybe it woke up the Rangers cause they played a much better second having the edge in play outshooting the Devs 10-5. Shots are now 16-12 New Jersey with the all important third coming up.

It’s rather simple:

A.If the game gets to OT, the Devils get home ice because of the tiebreakers regardless if the Rangers comeback and win.

B.The Rangers must prevail in regulation to earn home ice and the No.4 seed in the upcoming series.

4:45 PM: Just to update Pens-Flyers, Scottie Upshall’s 14th with 1:30 left in the second has Philly in front with a period to go. Sidney Crosby and Daniel Briere are sitting out.

We’ll have more later.

5:49 PM: It’s all over. The Devils get their first win in eight games in the season series by coming back to take the shootout 2-1 making the final score 3-2. Trailing on “fan fave” Scott Gomez’ sneaky backhand, hexed Zach Parise finally found a way to beat Henrik Lundqvist going to the backhand top shelf to force an extra round.

In it, after Fredrik Sjostrom fanned on his shot, Patrik Elias wired one off the inside of the crossbar and in to give his team a final victory ending the regular season.

5:54 PM: To the Rangers’ credit, they got the game tied when Sean Avery actually did something setting up the resurgent Jaromir Jagr for his 25th early in the third. A couple of highway robberies by Lundqvist on Parise actually allowed his team a chance to steal the home ice when John Madden was sent to the box for a soft hook. Another Bettman special.

5:57 PM: Tom Renney did go for it pulling Lundqvist for the extra attacker for a six-on-four but his team overpassed the puck a little and didn’t get the kind of opportunity needed to beat Brodeur, allowing the Devs to get the one point they needed for home ice and the No.4 seed. 

Both teams wasted four-on-three chances in OT forcing it to a shootout, where this time the Devils finally solved Lundqvist to improve to 1-4-3 in the season series.

That’s now meaningless once the second season begins. Expect Game One at The Rock to take place Wednesday night at 7 PM.

A little note which MSG used. In 4/5 first round history, the No.4 seed has won 19 of the 26 times. Another stat which won’t mean a whole lot once the first puck’s dropped.

6:03 ET: Here are the Eastern Conference match-ups:

(1) Mtl vs (8) Bos

(2) Pit vs (7) Ott

(3) Wsh vs (6) Phi

(4) NJ vs (NYR)

We’ll have much more on all the match-ups.