Devils' Experience The Difference

It was on display again for all to see in Game Three at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night. The first postseason game at MSG since the Rangers hosted the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals back on May 23, 1997 produced the same end result. A loss to a bitter rival which broke their collective backs.

Not even a Willis Reed cameo appearance by Jaromir Jagr- bad shoulder and all- could prevent them from falling victim to near perfection the Devils executed in a 3-0 blanking to take a commanding three games to none lead in the best-of-seven first round series.

Tried as he did despite being limited in 17:09 of ice-time, Jagr couldn't inspire his teammates to a much needed win to get back in the series.

"It's the playoffs. If I can play, I'm going to play," #68 said after his team was put on life support. "I knew it wasn't going to be any good. I tried my best."

His best wasn't good enough on this night. Instead, he watched hopelessly on the bench just 68 seconds in as Jamie Langenbrunner buried a Patrik Elias pass to give the Devils another lead they wouldn't relinquish. For those Ranger fans who lost count, defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh was again victimized by a more patient and experienced club that's produced three Stanley Cups in the last 11 years.

Elias, the six-point star of Game One was once again a big factor setting up the first goal and later rebounding home a Langenbrunner shot to give his team a two-goal lead that may as well have been five or six the way the Devils played in front of Martin Brodeur.

"We wanted to play real patient hockey," Elias said. "Obviously when you have the start like we had it helps. No question."

Brodeur, who made his 135th consecutive postseason start to pull within one of matching legend Patrick Roy, was the recipient of his 21st career playoff shutout. That btw means he's only two behind Roy for the NHL record.

While he was swatting aside 25 Ranger shots which had no chance of going in, the Devils were giving a clinic to their inexperienced opponents on how to play within all facets of the game at this time of year. By continuing to be patient and take advantage of glaring Ranger mistakes, the Devils have outscored their Hudson rivals 13-2 in taking the first three.

Don't expect that to change as they go for a clean sweep Saturday to finally get the Ranger playoff monkey off their back.

"I don't think our approach will change that much because we're up 3-nothing," Brodeur said. "We just don't want to give them life. We are definitely scared of that hockey club."

Aside from the fact that both clubs couldn't have entered this postseason any differently, that approach is why the Devils were the wrong opponent for the Rangers to meet in their first postseason in nine years.

The Devils have been through the playoff wars before. For some Rangers like Henrik Lundqvist, Petr Prucha, Jed Ortmeyer, Dominic Moore and Fedor Tyutin, this is a brand new experience. They're getting a valuable lesson from a team which knows what it takes to win it all.

To name a few Devils, Brodeur, Elias, Sergei Brylin, John Madden, Jagr's shadow Jay Pandolfo and Brian Rafalski all have won the Cup twice. During the playoffs, that wealth of experience can come in handy.

The Rangers can be sure that their opponents won't let up in trying to get that fourth win in Game Four. Some of them have been there before. In the '00 Eastern Conference Final, they cameback from 3-1 down to beat the Flyers and would ultimately wind up winning their second championship.

History is also on the Devils' side. Only the '42 Maple Leafs and '75 Islanders have comeback from 0-3 down.

"This is a big rivalry here and we're definitely excited about the situation that we're in but we haven't won anything yet," Brodeur said.

Don't expect any miracles.