NEW YORK (AP) The New Jersey Devils never could have imagined they would have a three-goal lead on the New York Rangers less than 10 minutes into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals at hostile Madison Square Garden.... Read More

New York's resiliency and goalie Henrik Lundqvist's play have been exemplary throughout the 2012 postseason, but the breaks and bounces went against the Rangers when they could least afford it.... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) The New York Rangers played their best game of the postseason against the New Jersey Devils. Unfortunately, it was a night Henrik Lundqvist played his worst... Read More

The Los Angeles Kings await. But the New Jersey Devils still have some work to do.... Read More

Sometimes it is just easier to take getting blown out by five goals than to lose the way the New York Rangers did Wednesday night.... Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New Jersey Devils let a three-goal lead slip away against the New York Rangers on Wednesday but scored twice late in the third period to claim a 5-3 win and move within touching distance of a place in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.... Read More

NEW YORK -- Seventeen seconds into the third period Wednesday night, the Madison Square Garden crowd was taunting New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur with its ubiquitous singsong chant after a rare miscue allowed the New York Rangers to tie a game they once trailed 3-0.... Read More

The New Jersey Devils, praying harder than John Tortorella. No. 1 Star: Stephen Gionta, New Jersey Devils Gionta led the way for the Devils in Game 5, opening the scoring just 2:43 into the game and then setting up Ryan Carter for the game-winning goal at 15:36 of the third period. And that, my friends, is how you make up for going 0-for-5 in the faceoff circle. No. 2 Star: Ryan Callahan, New York Rangers The Rangers' captain was a difference-maker Wednesday, playing 20 minutes, leading the way physically with a game-high 6 hits, hitting a post, and scoring early in the second period to cut the Devils' lead in half. But was his goal kicked in? No. 3 Star: Ryan Carter, New Jersey Devils Carter scored the winner and was a part of the Devils' fourth line that was the difference in Game 5. He, Gionta, and Steve Bernier all earned praise from Coach Peter DeBoer after the game. ... Read More

Full disclosure: This entire post is just an excuse to show you this unbelievable photo by Bruce Bennett. The New York Rangers controlled Game 5 for 40 minutes, limiting the New Jersey Devils to just 10 shots during that stretch and outscoring them, 3-0. Unfortunately, these 40 minutes were bookended on either side by 10 minutes that they did not control. During those 20 minutes, the Devils scored 5 times on 7 shots, and that was all the offence they'd need in a 5-3 win. It was a strange Game 5 -- "An adventure," according to Devils coach Peter DeBoer -- with all sorts of unexpected offense and strange bounces. The Devils came out flying, beating Henrik Lundqvist twice in the first five minutes. Stephen Gionta opened the scoring after finding himself alone with a rebound in front of Henrik Lundqvist. Then, just two minutes later, Patrik Elias doubled the lead when an Adam Henrique point shot pinballed around like it was teaching children how to count to 12 before deflecting off the back of his leg and in. Five minutes later, Travis Zajac stunned the Madison Square crowd when he extended the lead with a perfectly-placed wrister off the rush. This put the Rangers in a tough spot. They had only reached four goals in a game once this poststeason -- in the playoff opener versus the Ottawa Senators in April 12. But they were undeterred by the daunting task, and they put their game into overdrive. Also they got some luck. ... Read More

The Los Angeles Kings beat the Phoenix Coyotes in five games to earn the right to play for the Stanley Cup. The Philadelphia Flyers were convincingly pushed out of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the New Jersey Devils.... Read More

Ryan Carter's third goal of the playoffs held up as the game winner as the New Jersey Devils held on to beat the New York Rangers 5-3 in game five of their Eastern Conference championship series.... Read More

NEW YORK -- Seventeen seconds into the third period Wednesday night, the Madison Square Garden crowd was taunting New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur with its ubiquitous singsong chant, after a rare miscue allowed the New York Rangers to tie a game they once trailed 3-0.... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) Brandon Dubinsky is back in the New York Rangers' lineup after missing 11 playoff games because of an injury to his right foot.... Read More

• Feast your eyes on some screengrabs from NHL 13. [ Operation Sports ] Preview: New Jersey Devils at New York Rangers, 8 p.m. ET Except to see a different Rangers team Wednesday, and not just because they'll be plugging two Brandons into the lineup, with Brandon Dubinsky making his series debut and Brandon Prust returning from his one-game suspension. The Rangers have played fabulously at Madison Square Garden this postseason, and it's hardly possible for them to be as poor as they were in the 4-1 Game 4 loss that evened this series at two games apiece. The Rangers desperately need to get their forwards going, as Chris Krieder is the only one with two goals. Might we see a more open game than we've grown accustomed to? Evening Reading • Cool post on Sidney Crosby's comic book death. [ The Hockey Writers ] • An open letter to Shane Doan from a Kings fan. Incredibly, it's nice. [ Nebulous Verbosity ] • Kirk McLean's entire career is up for auction, if that's what you're into. [ PITB ] • If the Devils and Rangers go to a Game 7, it will be shown on NBC Sports, not NBC. Why? The Senior PGA tour's got dibs. [ Newsday ] • The Oilers don't need a stud defenceman just yet. [ Oilers Nation ] Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: Luke, on the screenshot of the woman behind the Coyotes' bench Wednesday night : If you stare hard enough thru the picture like one of those Magic Eye books you CAN see Dave Tippett..... Uncanny. Bold Prediction: Brandon Dubinsky scores in his first game back.... Read More

The Rangers rarely score more than a few goals, and that's not about to change. But with Lundqvist in net, they've always got a chance to win.... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) Practice for the New York Rangers went from optional to mandatory. Their attitude shifted from agitated to optimistic.... Read More

The Los Angeles Kings did some unpredictable things, statistically speaking, en route to making the Stanley Cup Final: Like going 8-0 on the road, nearly having as many shorthanded goals (5) as power-play goals (6) and beating the top three seeds in the conference. Dustin Penner's Western Conference Final-winning goal was no exception. Pancakes scored at 17:42 of the first and only overtime, and according to the history of Stanley Cup Playoff overtime, that's an exception to the expected. Chris Winchester, a Detroit Red Wings for 35 years and a PD reader, put together a spreadsheet that looked at when goals were scored in playoff overtimes going back to expansion in 1968. From Winchester: I always had the feeling that most overtimes ended in the first 5 minutes or so of overtime.  After compiling the data for every playoff overtime game it turns out that over 40 percent of overtime games ended in the first five minutes of the extra period. I did not calculate the fact that the game may have ended in the 2nd or 3rd overtime, just the time the goal was scored during the extra period. In other words, the following chart doesn't account for in which overtime the goal was scored, but rather when in that overtime it was scored. Via Winchester, the numbers; click here for the much larger, clearer image. Again, take a gander at the full chart here . A few thoughts on this chart … ... Read More

After a 19-year wait, the Los Angeles Kings have returned to a land last traversed by Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Kelly Hrudey and pals: the Stanley Cup Finals.... Read More

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) A great road playoff run has the Los Angeles Kings in a place they haven't been since the Great One was skating in Southern California.... Read More

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Kings booked their place in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in almost 20 years after wrapping up the NHL Western Conference title with a 4-3 overtime win over Phoenix in Game Five on Tuesday.... Read More

The Los Angeles Kings continued their road to success in the 2012 NHL postseason, punching their ticket to the Stanley Cup finals by eliminating the Phoenix Coyotes in five games.... Read More

No. 1 Star: Dustin Penner, Los Angeles Kings Penner's 2-point night gave him 10 points this postseason, a career best for him. His assist set up Mike Richards' goal in the second period, but it was his own goal that gave the Kings a 4-3 overtime victory to put them into the Stanley Cup Final: No. 2 Star: Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings Quick stood tall making 38 saves as the Kings won their eighth straight road game in the playoffs becoming the first team to reach the Final doing so, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He came up big early in the first period with this save on Radim Vrbata: No. 3 Star: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings Doughty's two points were involved in tying goals early in the game. His assist in the first period helped set up Anze Kopitar's shorthanded tally, while his goal midway through the second period tied the game 2-2. ... Read More

Back by popular demand, here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished. In which timelines collide and coaches from four different teams yell at each other about goonery. whilst Pierre McGuire — whom we suspect may be an exiled Time Lord — watches on. We'd love a velvet painting of this. [via reader Tony Vela] Game 5 Preview: Los Angeles Kings at Phoenix Coyotes, 9 p.m. EST. (Kings lead, 3-1) The Coyotes face elimination again, as the Kings take their undefeated (7-0) show on the road. The first goal looms mighty big in this game, as Shane Doan told LA Kings Insider: "I think it just calms (teams) down to a certain degree, so they know we're doing things right, things are going your way. I think confidence is everything in the playoffs, just because everyone is so, so close. With everyone being that close, feeling confident is big." Check out previews and updated scores for all of today's games on the Y! Sports NHL scores and scheds page . For tonight's starting goalies, check out Left Wing Lock. Evening Reading • Listen to today's Marek Vs. Wyshynski here. In which we discuss a Pete DeBoer/John Tortorella barn fight. ... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) Practice for the New York Rangers went from optional to mandatory. Their attitude shifted from agitated to optimistic.... Read More