Like a lot of teams, the New Jersey Devils' off-season plan foundered on the inability of veterans to regain their form. Alexander Mogilny, Vladimir Malakhov, Darren Langdon, Krzysztof Oliwa and Dan McGillis disappointed and were gone. Coach Larry Robinson, beset by illness and frustrated with the team's malaise, stepped down Dec. 19. New Jersey was 14-13-5 and fourth in the Atlantic Division at the time GM Lou Lamoriello took over, and the Devils took off.

The Devils are 31-14-4 with Lamoriello behind the bench. Their 11-game win streak at season's end was the best in the NHL and their nine-game win streak in January tied for second-best.

Patrik Elias missed the first 39 games due to hepatitis, returning Jan. 3. His 16 goals and 29 assists in 38 games helped the Devils set an NHL record by closing from 19 points back to win the Atlantic Division title on the final night of the regular season.

The key to the Devils' late-season success is that they began to play like the Devils of championship seasons, displaying great team defense while scoring off opportunistic turnovers. Goalie Martin Brodeur's rebounds consistently go to teammates who beat opponents to them by fractions of seconds. Shooting lanes are closed off and defenseman Colin White ranks third in the NHL with 199 blocked shots. The line of Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and rookie Zach Parise became one of the NHL's best.

In New York, rookie goalie Henrik Lundqvist is going for his third major championship within a year and that right there is a big part of the Rangers' revival. Broadway's Blueshirts will be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, since they lost the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals to the Flyers.

Lundqvist led Vastra Frolunda HC Goteborg to the Swedish Elite League title last spring and then won a gold medal at the Torino Olympics with Sweden. Lundqvist is fourth in the NHL with a .922 save percentage and fifth with a 2.22 goals-against average. He's won 30 games. Lundqvist gives the Rangers tremendous confidence and he doesn't leave many rebounds, reducing confusion in his zone. Backup Kevin Weekes was inconsistent, but he was a Flyers' killer and finished the season very strongly.

Jaromir Jagr's bid for his sixth Art Ross Trophy seemed a sure thing until a late-season scoring slump. Jagr thrived playing on a line with Michael Nylander, Martin Straka and/or Martin Rucinsky, but Rucinsky was hampered by season-long knee problems and a late broken finger. Still, Jagr led the Rangers back to the playoffs with a strong season of 54 goals and 69 assists. Nylander had a career-best season with 23 goals and 56 assists. Midseason acquisition Petr Sykora finished with 23 goals and 28 assists.

Free agent Michal Roszival led Rangers' defensemen with a career-best five goals and 25 assists and tied for the League lead with a plus-35 rating. Rookie Fedor Tyutin was next with six goals and 19 assists. Darius Kasparaitis had only six assists, but he made opponents look twice entering the Rangers' zone. Midseason acquisition Sandis Ozolinsh made the power play much more dangerous.

You can't say enough about the great coaching job Tom Renney did. He helped bring along the Rangers' unheralded cast of role players. Guys like Dominic Moore, Ryan Hollweg, Jed Ortmeyer and Petr Prucha played for the name on the front of the uniform. It's been a while since the Rangers had that in the supporting cast and it made a difference.

New Jersey Game Breakers

1. Brian Gionta: The little, big man is only 5-foot-7 and 175 pounds, but he plays a rugged game and has a fine scoring touch. His goals are not all beautiful shots; he gets his nose dirty and has plenty of rebound goals and deflections. Gionta broke Pat Verbeek's single-season team record with 48 goals.

2. Scott Gomez: The speedy center had a career-best season with 33 goals and 51 assists. He meshes beautifully with Gionta and has become a much better player defensively. Gomez played in the ECHL last season and led the league in assists. While the competition didn't match this level, Gomez benefited by staying active.

3. Martin Brodeur: The laid-back veteran suffered a knee injury in October, missed six games and struggled to get back on track. He's fine now. Brodeur led the NHL with 43 victories, is third with five shutouts, 10th with his 2.57 goals-against average and first with three Stanley Cups. His even disposition keeps the team confident and relaxed.

New York Game Breakers

1. Jaromir Jagr: He is one of the game's all-time greats, a five-time scoring champ with two Stanley Cup rings. He's a rare combination of size, strength and skill. He can skate through you, knock you down or go around you. Jagr can shoot and pass and he can pass when you think he's shooting and vice versa. He's a logical candidate for the Hart Trophy that goes to the regular-season MVP. When Jagr's smiling, the whole team smiles with him. When he's not, they're usually losing. That didn't happen a lot this season, but they had a short losing streak at the end of the season while he slumped. Jagr tied for third in the NHL with nine game-winning goals.

2. Michal Nylander: The veteran tied for sixth in the NHL with a plus-30 rating. He has never looked so good as this season. He played most of his NHL career with teams that had little chance of making the playoffs and he's taking advantage of this opportunity. He played 81 games this season. They can't keep him off the ice, off the scoreboard or from shooting. He's been a game breaker all season and shows few signs of stopping now.

3. Petr Prucha: This rookie ranks second in the NHL with a 23.1 percent shooting percentage. He is the first Rangers' rookie to score 30 goals since Tony Amonte in 1991-92. His 16 power-play goals are second-best among NHL rookies and he broke Camille Henry's Rangers' rookie power-play scoring record of 15 goals. Prucha won two games this season with shootout goals. Prucha helped Pardubice win the Czech Extraleague title last spring.

X Factors

Brian Rafalski (NJD): The unheralded Rafalski was the Devils' fourth-leading scorer with six goals and 43 assists. When Rafalski read about the changes in rules and standard of rules enforcement, he must have the thought the League was doing it for him, a small defenseman who handles the puck remarkably well, makes excellent outlet passes and distributes the puck to guys who score. Rafalski is not awed by the increased responsibility of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He scores at the same rate in the postseason as he does in the regular season.

Dominic Moore (NYR): Although Dominic Moore is Harvard University's all-time 11th-leading scorer, he has found his niche as a penalty killer and "energy-line" player. Moore leads all Rangers' forwards in average shorthanded time, 3:34 minutes. Forwards Moore, Blair Betts, Ortmeyer and Jason Ward all averaged over three minutes of shorthanded time for the Rangers, who were the ninth-best penalty-killing team.