Devils 1, Rangers 0
Ilya Kovalchuk recorded his 21st goal and Johan Hedberg stopped 15 shots in his second shutout of the season as the New Jersey Devils blanked the visiting New York Rangers, 1-0, on Friday.
Anton Volchenkov picked up the lone assist for the Devils, who improved to 14-1-2 in their past 17 games and continue to make an improbable run back towards respectability. They had owned the lowest point total in the NHL after falling to 10-29-2 on Jan. 8.
Kovalchuk punched in the only goal at the 8:18 mark of the second period, taking a feed from Volchenkov and wristing it from the doorstep over Henrik Lundqvist’s left shoulder. The tally extended Kovalchuk’s point streak to nine games and his goal-scoring streak to four straight.
The Rangers failed to generate much offense against the New Jersey blue line, managing only five shots in each period.
Lundqvist finished with 27 saves for New York.