Devils at Rangers
The New Jersey Devils attempt to keep alive their slim hopes for a postseason berth when they visit the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. New Jersey is 10th in the Eastern Conference, six points behind eighth-place New York with four games remaining. The Devils avoided elimination Saturday as they overcame an early two-goal deficit and posted a 6-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.
New York is looking to move up in the standings as it trails the seventh-place Ottawa Senators by two points. The Rangers also are trying to hold off the Winnipeg Jets, who are just one point out of eighth. New York has discovered its offensive touch as it has outscored its opponents 14-5 over its last two games - both victories.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, NBC, TSN2
ABOUT THE DEVILS (17-17-10): New Jersey welcomed back Ilya Kovalchuk, who had missed 11 games with a shoulder injury. The former Maurice Richard Trophy winner did not record a point in Saturday's rout of Florida, but 11 other Devils did - including Martin Brodeur, who notched his second assist of the season. The Devils might welcome back defenseman Anton Volchenkov, who completed serving his four-game suspension for elbowing Boston's Brad Marchand on April 10. New Jersey understands the situation it's in regarding the playoffs. "If we don't beat (the Rangers), we're done, so it's huge," Brodeur said. "It's big for us. Even if we win all our games, our chances (of making the playoffs) are low."
ABOUT THE RANGERS (23-17-4): New York is looking to make it two in a row as it trounced Buffalo on Friday 8-4, eliminating the Sabres from playoff contention. The Rangers used a five-goal outburst in a span of less than three minutes to take complete control. Captain Ryan Callahan won the Stephen McDonald Extra Effort Award for the fourth time in five years. Callahan joined Adam Graves (five) as the only player to capture the award at least four times. The Rangers host the Devils again in the season finale on April 27.
OVERTIME
1. Rangers C Brad Richards registered his first career hat trick in his 896th NHL game on Friday.
2. The Devils have won two straight following a 10-game winless streak (0-6-4).
3. New York's victory on March 19 ended New Jersey's four-game winning streak in the all-time series.
PREDICTION: Devils 4, Rangers 3