NEWARK, N.J. _ The Devils and Rangers playing in April should produce some form of fireworks, but without any playoff implications on the line, the feel was a little different.
At least until midway through the second period, when the fireworks came in the form of fists. A few well-timed fights resulted in a game-tying power play goal by the Rangers, setting up a tense third period at the Rock.
Trade-deadline acquisition Connor Carrick had the final punch for New Jersey in the metaphorical sense, scoring the game-winner with 4:10 left to give the Devils a 4-2 win over the Rangers on Monday night at Prudential Center.
Miles Wood and Travis Zajac also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 30 of 32 shots. Joey Anderson iced the game with an empty-net goal.
Brett Howden and Filip Chytil scored for the Rangers while Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves on 40 shots faced.
Carrick's goal was facilitated by veteran forward Drew Stafford, who stripped a Rangers player at the wall and fed Carrick for the score to cap off a wild one. It was Stafford's fourth point in six games.
At 9:21 in the second period a scrum broke out in the corner of the Devils' zone with Brendan Lemieux, the son of former NHL winger Claude Lemieux, being sent off for a roughing double-minor. A fight broke out between Devils' rookie Nathan Bastian and New York's Tony DeAngelo. When all the penalties were sorted out, the Devils ended up with a power play.
New Jersey failed to capitalize but it did little for Lemieux's emotions.
Less than 10 seconds after Chytil tied the game with a power play goal at 16:36, Lemieux tangled with Wood and received a five-minute fighting major.
Still, the extracurriculars weren't done. Blake Coleman and Lias Andersson tangled at 17:23 and Carrick and Vladislav Namestnikov had to be broken up following the expiration of the period.
The Rangers came in having outscored opponents 7-0 over their last five periods. Wood broke the streak at 3:54 of the first period when he sniped one past Lundqvist from the right circle. Zajac then put the Devils ahead 2-0 at 14:34 with a power play goal, tipping a point shot by Damon Severson past Lundqvist.
But at 18:40 of the same period Howden cut the lead in half. Just 18 seconds later Chris Kreider appeared to have tied it up when he banked a bouncing puck off the post and past Blackwood, but the goal was overturned on review. Severson was able to sweep the puck off the line before it crossed.
It was the final game of a disappointing season at Prudential Center but the show on the ice didn't disappoint. On a night that was supposed to be about fans from both sides of the river, the Devils and Rangers gave each of their fanbases something to get excited about.
