Rangers rally past Devils in shootout win

NEW YORK -- Kevin Hayes scored the shootout winner to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. It was the Rangers' second shootout win in as many nights and their third straight win overall.
It was also a historic night for goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made 29 saves and three more in the shootout to tie Dominik Hasek for the most wins in NHL history by a European-born goalie. They each have 389.
"It's special to me," Lundqvist said.

WATCH: All Devils vs. Rangers highlights
The Rangers got game-tying goals from Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan in the third period. Stepan made it 2-2 with 1:14 remaining and Kreider scored at 8:10 to tie the game at 1-1. Mats Zuccarello also scored in the shootout.
New York (23-10-1) has won six of its past seven games, allowing six goals in the process. Lundqvist has been in net for the past three and has allowed three goals on 90 shots.
"We talked about going into this game that both teams traveled [Saturday] night, have been playing a lot of hockey, but let's not try to find excuses for not winning this one," Lundqvist said. "I thought we did a really good job in the third to turn it up. You can never give up. You've gotta believe it. The way the guys continued to work in the third when we got down a goal, that was impressive. It builds character in this room too. Never give up."
The Devils (12-12-7) have lost six consecutive games. The previous five were in regulation.

New Jersey got goals from PA Parenteau and Miles Wood, who gave the Devils a 2-1 lead 2:22 after Kreider scored. Cory Schneider made 25 saves, but still hasn't won since Dec. 6.
"We're working at things and I think tonight, I could be wrong, but it felt there was an effort as far as commitment-wise what we want to do that can we can be proud of," forward Michael Cammalleri said. "We're not in the business of moral victories. No one is happy in here, but we'll move forward."
The Devils were close to getting their first regulation road win since Nov. 6 until Stepan tied the game with an extra-attacker goal off of a pass from Ryan McDonagh.
"It's a heck of a play by [McDonagh]," Stepan said. "[When you are] 6-on-5, you have to make a heck of a play to score and Ryan certainly did it. It ends up in the back of the net and we find a way to get it to overtime and we get a huge second point too."
They did because Lundqvist made four saves in overtime, including one off Wood's stick from point-blank range in front of the crease with 27.2 seconds left. He made saves in the shootout on Parenteau and Taylor Hall before sealing it with a poke check on Damon Severson's attempt.
"The biggest challenge for us was coming back from two really strong games on the road, to come back home and make it count here," Lundqvist said. "For the most part, we did a really good job."

#

Goal of the game

Hayes scored the shootout winner with a forehand shot through Schneider's five-hole in the fourth round of the shootout. He swung wide right, came back to the middle, made a backhand-to-forehand move and beat Schneider with a quick wrist shot.

Save of the game

Late in overtime, Wood was banging his stick on the ice, calling for the puck from Hall out of the corner. He got it and from inside the right hash marks put a quick one-timer on net, but Lundqvist tracked the puck and made a pad save before covering it.

#

Highlight of the game

With Lundqvist on the bench for an extra attacker, Stepan won the offensive zone faceoff back to Zuccarello and backed his way through the slot, into the left circle. He turned and kept his stick on the ice as McDonagh delivered the puck to him. Stepan redirected it into the top right corner of the net for the game-tying goal.

#

Unsung performance of the game

In addition to scoring the shootout winner, Hayes led all Rangers forwards in ice time at 23:18, finished with five shots on goal and won 12 of 19 faceoffs.

They said it

"At the beginning of the season as everybody remembers, we were scoring in bunches. Right now we're scoring one to two goals a game and finding ways to win those games. That's the timely save. That's making the high percentage play, not forcing something that's not there." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault

Need to know

Lundqvist needed 709 games to tie Hasek's record for most wins by a European-born goalie in NHL history. Hasek got to 389 wins in 735 games. … Parenteau's power-play goal at 4:37 of the second period was New Jersey's first power-play goal in five games. It also snapped a streak of 20 straight successful kills by the Rangers.

What's next

Devils: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG Plus, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Rangers: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ROOT, MSG2, NHL.TV)