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Rangers Clinch Presidents Trophy in Victory over Devils

The Rangers now have 111 points on the season.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

 

The NY Rangers were one point away from clinching the Eastern Conference and two points away from clinching the President’s Trophy for best record in the league and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. But the NY Devils came out with a game plan that seemed more bent on hurting the Rangers than defeating them.

The Broadway Blueshirts had other things on their minds. They were on the ice at the Prudential Center to chalk up their 52nd victory of the season, NOT to exchange stupid, cheap and dirty hits with the Devils.

Rookie C Kevin Hayes opened the scoring with his 16th goal of the season off a pretty feed from Marty St. Louis and then Ryan McDonagh blasted one by Corey Schneider on the Power Play off a feed from Keith Yandle.

The Devils scored on the Power Play, as Tanner Glass went to the Penalty Box, and Patrik Elias scored off a very pretty feed from Steve Bernier.

The second period was filled with penalty after penalty by the Devils, but the Rangers kept their collective cool and just continued to play their game. They could not score on those Power Plays, but the kept the Devils scoreless also.

The third period saw the Rangers extend their lead to 3-1 as James Sheppard, filling in for Mats Zuccarello, as the Hobbit was sitting one out due to “body soreness”, tipped in a shot by Dominic Moore.

The Devils then came right down the ice and put pressure on the Rangers and Steve Bernier took a shot on goal, that slid across the crease, was tipped by both Derick Brassard and Cam Talbot, as both tried to keep it out of the net, but knocked it in instead. This cut the lead to one goal again and set the stage for the last half of the third.

The Rangers tightened their defense and again took their shots when they were available. As the clock ticked away, the Devils pulled the goalie with just over 2 minutes left, but Kevin Hayes intercepted a pass, and fed Carl Hagelin with a nifty no look pass, and Hags hit the empty netter.

That was the end of the scoring and the Rangers had victory number 52 in the books. They were no longer just the Metropolitan Division Champs, they were now the Eastern Conference Champs and with this victory, the winners of the President’s Trophy for the 2014-15 season.

The NY Rangers have the best record in the NHL and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

Congratulations to the 2014-15 NY Rangers on all of these accomplishments!

 

Scoring:

NYR: Kevin Hayes (16) Assisted by Marty St. Louis & Carl Hagelin

NYR: Ryan McDonagh (PPG) (8) Assisted by Keith Yandle and Kevin Hayes

NJD: Patrik Elias (PPG) (12) Assisted by Steve Bernier & Scott Gomez

NYR: James Sheppard (7) Assisted by Dominic Moore & Marc Staal

NJD: Steve Bernier (14) Assisted by Travis Zajac & Mike Cammalleri

NYR: Carl Hagelin (ENG) (17) Assisted by Kevin Hayes

 

Team Stats                              NYR                              NJD

Shots on Goal                         40                                  21

Power Play                              1 for 7                           1 for 2

Hits                                         14                                  13

Face Off Wins                        26                                  33

Giveaways                              3                                    8

Takeaways                             9                                    8

Blocked Shots                         7                                    9

 

3 Stars of the Game

3rd Star: Andy Greene (NJD)

2nd Star: Steve Bernier (NJD) 1 Goal and 1 Assist

1st Star: Kevin Hayes: 1 Goal and 2 Assists

 

Goalie Stats:

Corey Schneider: 36 Saves on 39 Shots for a SV% of .923

Cam Talbot: 19 Saves on 21 Shots for a SV% of .905

 

Broadway Bits:

The Rangers opened the game against the Devils ranked fourth in the NHL on the Penalty Kill. They killed off 195 out of 230, which is 84.8%

The Rangers allowed one Power Play goal out of two chances. They have now killed off 196 out of 232 chances.

The Rangers have now won 52 games for the second time in franchise history. The only other time was in 1993-94.

The Rangers now have 111 points on the season, which ranks second highest in franchise history. The 1993-94 team finished with 112 points

With the victory against the Devils, the Rangers have won the President’s Trophy for the third time in franchise history. They won it in 1991-92 and 1993-94

They are also the only Prince of Wales/Eastern Conference team to win the President’s Trophy three times

The Broadway Blueshirts gained their league leading 26th victory

The Rangers have now outscored their opponents 82-54 in the first period this season. The lead the NHL in first period goals and first period goal differential (plus 28)

The Rangers are now 35-0-1 when leading after two periods

The Rangers have swept the four games against the Devils this season

Kevin Hayes had a goal, two assists, and posted a plus two rating in 14:42 of ice time

James Sheppard scored the game winning goal, had two shots on goal, one hit, one block and posted a plus one rating in 12:05 of ice time

Ryan McDonagh scored a power play goal and had five shots on goal in a game high 24:17 of ice time

Alain Vigneault won his third President’s Trophy (two with Vancouver and one with the Rangers), and only trails Scotty Bowman who won four. AV is also only the fourth head coach to win the President’s Trophy with two different teams. Scotty Bowman: Pittsburgh and Detroit, Mike Keenan: Chicago and the NY Rangers) and Joel Quenneville (St. Louis and Chicago).

Carl Hagelin had a goal and an assist, had seven shots on goal and posted a plus two rating in 13:28 of ice time

Marty St. Louis had an assist, two shot on goal and posted a plus two rating in 17:16 of ice time

Keith Yandle had a power play assist and three shots on goal in 21:37 of ice time

Dominic Moore had an assist on the game winning goal, two shots on goal and posted a plus one rating in 14:49 of ice time

Marc Staal had an assist on the game winning goal, had two shots on goal and posted a plus two rating in 19:03 of ice time. Marc is now just one assist away from notching his 100th NHL assist.

 

The Rangers have but two games left in the regular season. On Thursday April 9th, they play their last regular season home game and host the Ottawa Senators, who are engaged in a huge battle for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They will then finish the regular season at Washington against the Caps on Saturday April 11th.

The NHL Playoffs will begin on Wednesday April 15th and the road to the Cup will have to go through Madison Square Garden. Fans who are looking to see the Blueshirts on the road can reserve flights to Pittsburgh through Hipmunk.com. It’s expected that tickets at Madison Square Garden will be hard to come by and much more expensive than in Pittsburgh, so it could be an opportunity to see them in the playoffs at a discount. You can also review the Pittsburgh hotel guide from Hipmunk to book rooms for as little as $75 per night.

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