from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,
If you take a look at the names on the respective rosters, there is no way on earth the Devils should be within two points of their more celebrated and accomplished opponents from the other side of the river.
Yet, that’s the fact following New Jersey’s 3-2 victory on home ice in Tuesday’s Battle of the Hudson in a match in which the Devils competed all over the ice and for every puck and seemed hungrier and more desperate than the Rangers over the cumulative 60 minutes.
An unassailable work ethic — plus Cory Schneider, who outplayed Henrik Lundqvist in this one — has elevated a Devils team that seemed bound for prime territory in Entry Draft Lottery Land into a mad scramble for a playoff berth.
Seriously, this is a team that throws out Tyler Kennedy onto the power play. More to the point, this is a team that went 2-for-2 with the man advantage, including David Schlemko’s winner at 11:14 of the third period, while the more famous names on the other side conspired to go 0-for-4.
Derek Stepan — who took a mind-numbing hooking penalty 175 feet away from his own net with 5.9 seconds remaining in a first period that the Rangers had dominated while holding a 1-0 lead, and who was in the box when New Jersey tied the match at 1:34 of the second — twice chose to use the word “compete” while addressing the press after the match.
Game highlights are below...
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