NEW YORK — Dougie Hamilton scored at 11:36 of overtime to give the Devils a 2-1 victory over the Rangers Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in Game 3 of the teams’ first-round playoff series. The victory got the Devils back in the series after they had lost the first two games in Newark, both by scores of 5-1.
New Jersey now trails the best-of-seven series, two games to one, with Game 4 scheduled for Monday night again at the Garden. In NHL history, teams winning Game 3 in a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games have won 50 of 193 such series (25.9%). However, teams that lost the first two games at home and won Game 3 on the road have won 19 of 50 series (38%). One of those teams was Tampa Bay, in the Eastern Conference final last season, against the Rangers.
Devils coach Lindy Ruff, with his team in a 2-0 hole after having lost both games in Prudential Center, changed goaltenders, starting 22-year-old rookie Akira Schmid instead of Vitek Vanecek. Ruff also made two lineup changes, inserting forward Curtis Lazar for his first action of the series, and returning defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, after sitting him out in favor of ex-Ranger Brendan Smith in Game 2.
