Devils shut out Rangers in Game 5, take lead in Eastern 1st Round

NEWARK, N.J. -- Akira Schmid made 23 saves for the New Jersey Devils in their third straight win in the Eastern Conference First Round, 4-0 against the New York Rangers in Game 5 at Prudential Center on Thursday.

"The boys have been playing phenomenal in front of me," Schmid said. "Not a lot of work for me. I can't give the boys enough credit. We just blocked a lot of shots (24), were in lanes and didn't let the puck get through."
It was Schmid's first shutout in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in three starts, each in this best-of-7 series. New Jersey has a 3-2 lead heading into Game 6 in New York on Saturday.
Erik Haula had two goals and an assist, and Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist for the Devils, the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division.
"We just executed our game plan and played in our strength," New Jersey captain Nico Hischier said. "That was a really good game from everyone."
RELATED: [Complete Devils vs. Rangers series coverage]
Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves for the Rangers, the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan.
"Jersey played one [heck] of a game; their best game of the series so far," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "We got some traffic, and I thought the goalie played really well for them. [Shesterkin] was excellent too, but I thought Schmid was really good."

Ondrej Palat gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 39 seconds into the first period. After Vincent Trocheck won a defensive-zone face-off that went off the pads of Shesterkin, Palat scored from the slot when his shot deflected off the stick of Adam Fox and over Shesterkin's left shoulder.
Schmid made eight saves in the first, including a glove save on a wrist shot by Artemi Panarin from the left circle during a 3-on-1 at 9:10.
"It's basically a 1-on-1 for me," Schmid said. "You play it as a 1-on-1. You don't really think about who it is, you just try to make the save."
Haula extended it to 2-0 with a power-play goal on a deflection at 3:27 of the second period before Schmid denied Niko Mikkola 23 seconds later at the right post with a sliding glove save at 3:50.
Mercer pushed it to 3-0 with a short-handed goal at 13:32, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle off a pass by Haula during a 2-on-1. It was his first NHL playoff goal.
"I think this game and [Game 4], getting that first one is a big thing off the start," Mercer said. "You get the guys into it and around the emotion is there."

Haula scored an empty-net goal at 14:48 of the third period for the 4-0 final.
"We've grown as a team," Haula said. "Even during the playoff series, we've taken steps. A lot of credit to all the younger players of realizing what it takes to win and doing the right things."
New Jersey became the first team to win a game at home in the series.
"We've got to go home and win one game," Rangers forward Chris Kreider said. "... We've had a terrific fan base all year, but we let them down. We let ourselves down at home so it's up to us to show up and play the way we want to play from puck drop. It's time to play a full 60 (minutes) and win a hockey game."
NOTES:Schmidhas one regular-season shutout in 24 NHL games (18 starts); he made 23 saves in a 7-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 25. ... It was the first playoff shutout for the Devils since Martin Brodeur made 26 saves in a 4-0 win against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round on April 19, 2012, and the first shutout against the Rangers since April 26, 2006, when Brodeur made 25 saves in a 3-0 victory in the first round. ... Schmid became the third rookie goalie in Devils/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts history to earn a shutout in the playoffs, joining Brodeur (22 saves in a 2-0 win against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 9, 1994) and Sean Burke (31 saves in a 3-0 win against the New York Islanders in the Patrick Division Semifinals on April 9, 1988). ... Palat scored his 50th NHL playoff goal to join Jaromir Jagr (78 goals) as the second Czechia-born player to reach the milestone. ... New York is 0-for-10 on the power play in the past three games after going 4-for-10 in Games 1 and 2.