Rangers defeat Devils in Game 6, push East 1st-Round series to limit

NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers stayed alive in the Eastern Conference First Round with a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Game 7 will be at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday.
"Backs against the wall, you're going to leave it out there," Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. "No one wants the season to end. I think we maybe rode our high a little too high for the first two games and understood that we have a lot better in here. We were able to get into this Game 7, and we're excited for it."

Chris Kreider had a goal and two assists, Mika Zibanejad and Vladimir Tarasenko each had a goal and an assist, and Fox had two assists for the Rangers, who are the No. 3 seed from the Metropolitan Division. Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves.
Curtis Lazar and Dawson Mercer scored for the Devils, the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan. Akira Schmid allowed five goals on 29 shots before being replaced in the third period by Vitek Vanecek, who did not face a shot.
"What a game to be in," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "Where would you rather be, playing at home in front of your fans? Game 7 is something that if you're a little kid growing up, you're going to sit there and go, man, I'd love to play in that game. We've worked hard all year to get to this point. I know that team that's in that locker room is going to give me everything they've got."
RELATED: [Complete Devils vs. Rangers series coverage]
Lazar gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 11:49 of the first period, finishing the rebound of Kevin Bahl's shot off Shesterkin's left pad.
Kreider tied it 1-1 at 19:35 when Zibanejad's one-timer from the left point deflected in off his leg. It was Kreider's fifth power-play goal of the series and ended an 0-for-14 drought on the man-advantage for New York.
Zibanejad scored his first goal of the series to put New York ahead 2-1 at 10:10 of the second. Kreider retrieved the puck behind the net and sent a backhand pass to Zibanejad, who scored glove side from the slot.
"I can sit here and lie and say it wasn't a good feeling seeing the puck go in," Zibanejad said. "The wins are all that matters. We got the win that we needed and wanted tonight. Now we just keep going."

Tarasenko pushed it to 3-1 at 18:25, scoring glove side from the high slot after Kreider won a puck battle with Michael McLeod.
Barclay Goodrow made it 4-1 at 7:23 of the third when he batted in the rebound of Jimmy Vesey's shot on a 2-on-1.
Braden Schneider then scored his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal to extend it 5-1 at 12:28.
Schmid was pulled following the goal. The Devils rookie goalie had won his first three NHL postseason starts, making 80 saves on 82 shots (.976 save percentage), since replacing Vanecek for Game 3.
"When your backs are against the wall, you play your best game, and I thought they did tonight," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "We talked about getting hungry and getting into the blue paint. That was the biggest thing we talked about before the game. We didn't get there enough. Tonight, we got there. We got some opportunities and things worked for us."

Mercer scored a power-play goal at 15:12 for the 5-2 final.
"It [stinks] right now, but I think the effort was there and we had to take a little bit more risk in the third period, so gave up a couple 2-on-1s," New Jersey captain Nico Hischier said. "I don't think it was a bad game at all, and (we) got to take the good things out of here and see these guys in Newark. The battle level was there. It was just a couple D-zone mistakes we made that ended up in the back of our net."
NOTES: Kreider scored his 16th goal in a potential elimination game, tying Mark Messier for the most in NHL history. New York is 20-8 in elimination games when Kreider is in the lineup. … The Rangers and Devils will play in a Game 7 for the third time in their history. New York eliminated New Jersey in the 1994 Eastern Conference Final and 1992 Patrick Division Semifinals.