Improvement by Devils reinvigorates rivalry with Rangers

NEWARK, N.J. -- The red and blue jerseys in the crowd ran together like water paint as fans, some maybe even friends or neighbors, sat next to each other, shared armrests and cheered as loud as they could for their respective teams at Prudential Center.
The chants from the sellout crowd of 16,514 were persistent and loud, with "Let's go Devils" most often drowning out an upstart "Let's go Rangers." The play on the ice was fast and intense. The goalies were magnificent. The ending was dramatic.

From 1992-2012, the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers had one of the best rivalries in the NHL. It had cooled down a bit in the past few seasons but re-awakened with a bang Thursday in the Devils' 4-3 shootout win.
"This was something else tonight," said Devils forward Brian Boyle, who scored the game-tying power-play goal at 11:54 of the third period and the game-deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout.
To hear Boyle talk about the atmosphere in the stands and the play on the ice matters because he is one of the few players on either team who has truly experienced the intensity of this rivalry, which was heightened by six Stanley Cup Playoff series between the teams from 1992-2012.

Boyle played for the Rangers against the Devils in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final, won by New Jersey in six games. The Rangers players remaining from that series are goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made 45 saves Thursday, and defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal.
The two remaining Devils players from that series are center Travis Zajac and defenseman Andy Greene.
New Jersey hasn't made the playoffs since, which is why the rivalry has been somewhat quiet until now.
"We want to put ourselves in position where maybe we could have a series like that [against the Rangers]," Boyle said. "How fun would that be? That would be nuts. That would be great. But the game tonight, before Christmas, we're not even halfway through the season, you heard the building. It was great."
The players new to the rivalry soaked up the intensity.
"It's a blast; unlike anything I've ever played in front of," said Devils rookie forward Blake Coleman, who scored New Jersey's second goal. "When you have half the crowd in blue and half in red, the chants back and forth, you can feel their excitement when you score a goal."
Staal said he could tell before the game that this was going to be different than games against the Devils from the past few seasons. The team's respective places in the tight Metropolitan Division had a lot to do with it.
New Jersey entered the game in second place with 43 points, two more than the Rangers.
"Just look at the standings," Staal said. "Jersey is an intense rival for us no matter what, but when we're this tight in the standings, it's going to be amped up that much more."

The Devils finished the night in first place, three points ahead of the fourth-place Rangers.
"They're obviously a more competitive team," Staal said. "I mean, they're really good. It's not a mistake that they are where they are at this point in the season. They're a hard team to play against, no question."
The Rangers have made the playoffs every year since 2011. They went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 and won the Presidents' Trophy the following season, when they lost in the Eastern Conference Final. They got to the Eastern Conference Second Round last season.
The Devils haven't made the playoffs since 2012, when they went to the Final. Over the past five seasons they have defeated the Rangers eight times in 21 games. New Jersey missed the playoffs by 25 points last season.
The Devils, though, appear to be back, and with them comes the re-ignition of this great cross-river rivalry, which has featured memorable playoff series, like the 1994 Eastern Conference Final made famous by Mark Messier's Game 6 guarantee and Stephane Matteau's double-overtime goal in Game 7 to put the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final. In 2012, Adam Henrique's scored the series-clinching goal in overtime of Game 6 to send the Rangers home and the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final.
"We felt the buzz the last couple of days," Boyle said. "To a man in here, I think we wanted to make sure we made a statement on what kind of team we are."
They did by outshooting the Rangers 48-28, coming back to force overtime after allowing a goal 1:48 into the third period and killing off a penalty in the final 68 seconds of overtime to get to the shootout, where goalie Cory Schneider's save on Kevin Shattenkirk in the bottom of the fourth round allowed Boyle's goal in the top of the fourth to stand as the winner.
The Devils poured over the bench to celebrate the win, making it appear that it had a bigger meaning than just two points.
"It's just a ton of fun to play in these games," Boyle said. "The emotion comes out of you. When you're on the wrong end of it, it stays with you. Even after you play the next couple of games you're licking your chops for that team again."
The only problem is the Devils and Rangers don't play again until April 3.
"Well," Boyle said, "it might be a big one."