Schlemko, Stempniak power Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Defenseman David Schlemko scored his first NHL power-play goal with 8:46 remaining in the third period to help the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers at Prudential Center on Tuesday.
Schlemko atoned for a giveaway less than a minute earlier that gave Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh a shorthanded breakaway he shot high and wide. Devils goaltender Cory Schneider made 31 saves in getting his second victory against the Rangers this season.

"I made a pretty high-risk play and McDonagh is a good player and he made a great read at the blue line; it's a pretty helpless feeling watching him go on a breakaway, but luckily I had a chance to redeem myself in the end," Schlemko said.
Schlemko controlled a deflected pass before taking a wrist shot that beat Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to the top right corner for his fifth of the season. The Rangers were denied on four power plays, and a four-game winning streak against the Devils here ended.

"He was very apologetic," Schneider said of Schlemko, who played his 274th NHL game. "It didn't go in my net and he put one in their net, so that can happen any day of the week."
Lee Stempniak and Joseph Blandisi scored for the Devils (26-20-5). J.T. Miller scored twice, and Lundqvist made 22 saves for the Rangers (27-18-5).
Miller gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead 2:06 into the third period with a slap shot from low in the right circle that beat Schneider inside the right post. Blandisi made it 1-1 1:07 later when he took a bank pass from Andy Greene at center ice and skated past Dan Girardi down left wing before beating Lundqvist with a snap shot inside the left post.

"When you have a puck-moving defenseman like [Greene] you know he's going to make a play; you just have to find a way to get open," Blandisi said. "That's what I tried to do. I even took my eyes off him for a second. I just knew [the puck] was going to end up in front of me. He made a great play and I told him right after. I think it was a big goal at a key time."
Blandisi, a rookie center, has two goals and seven points in 12 games.
Miller, who has seven goals in the past seven games, had his third NHL two-goal game. He has never scored a hat trick in three-plus seasons.
Miller has earned more ice time in the absence of injured forward Rick Nash and gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first period when he scored off a 2-on-1 with Derick Brassard at 13:31.
Stempniak scored a power-play goal 1:34 into the second period off a rebound in the slot for a 1-1 tie. Defenseman Eric Gelinas took a shot from the point and Stempniak jammed home his 15th of the season. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault challenged, claiming goalie interference, but a brief review confirmed the goal.
The Devils were 2-for-2 on the power play.
"We didn't give them too many looks on the power play, but the two looks we did give them were the ones they scored on," Rangers center Derek Stepan said. "We didn't score when we had looks on our power play. We've got to find a way to get ourselves hungry. We need to compete the right way in the third period and make sure we get the job done. I think we had our chances to even it back up but didn't."
Schneider made six saves with the Devils shorthanded, and made 12 saves in the second period and 10 in the third.

"[Schneider] is our best player on any given night and he didn't miss a beat even after playing in the All-Star Game [on Sunday]," Schlemko said. "We stuck with it. We wanted to play more determined and harder, be tougher to play against. I think we did that."
Nash missed his third game because of a bone bruise in his left knee; he skated on his own for the first time in 11 days Tuesday and is day-to-day. The Rangers host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
The Rangers lost defenseman Kevin Klein late in the third period when Devils forward Reid Boucher knocked him into the boards at 16:58. Klein left for the locker room holding his right hand and did not return. Vigneault did not provide an update afterward.
The Devils were without left wing Michael Cammalleri and defenseman John Moore. Cammalleri, who is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, also will be out of the lineup Thursday at the Toronto Maple Leafs. Moore, who has practiced the past two days, missed his third game with a lower-body injury.