Zach Parise leads New Jersey Devils past New York Rangers 4-1 -NHL Playoffs Update
New Jersey was extremely disappointed after giving a 2-1 lead in the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoff Finals to New York but Zach Parise and the Devils bounced back yet again to take down Rangers, 4-1, Monday, May
21, 2012, at the sold-out Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Starting off strong right from the opening minute ultimately led New Jersey to take the victory as Bryce Salvador and Travis Zajac scored two straight on a sloppy Henrik Lundqvist nearly three minutes apart in the first.
Both, Henrik Lundqvist of New York and Martin Brodeur of New Jersey faced 29 shots each, but the former was also taken out in the final minutes in order to give Rangers an extra shooter but Parise was just too strong to tackle.
Mike Rupp of New York got tensed and physical with his team down as he firstly charged at two New Jersey players and then gave veteran goaltender, Martin Brodeur, a punch to the face which set him back a little along with stunning the goalie with surprise.
"I didn't expect anything," Brodeur said. "I never got punched like that in my career. First time. It kind of surprised me more than anything, but now I know I can take a punch."
"You don't like to see that," New Jersey head coach, Peter DeBoer, said of the hit on his goalie. "He's a key guy for us. Two teams battling it out. He's a big boy. He can take care of himself."
Peter DeBoer and head coach of New York, John Tortorella, also exchanged some words during the contest with the latter initiating the verbal abuse.
"This isn't about John and I," DeBoer said. "This is about the guys on the ice. So, I don't have anything to say about that."
Zach Parise got their third straight of the night on a power play at 2:41 of the third while Ruslan Fedotenko finally put the frustrated New York team on the scoreboard at 14:55 but Parise’s second of the night on an empty net killed it totally for the Rangers.
New Jersey Devils will be heading back to New York now to face Rangers in Game 5 of the series on Wednesday, May 23, 2012.
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