Devils Rip Rangers 6-3

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 7, 1998 / 12:00 AM EST / CBS Sportsline

The New Jersey Devils did more than spoil Wayne Gretzky's 1,000th NHL goal. They took another step in avoiding a first-round playoff matchup with the team that scares them: the New York Rangers.

Krzysztof Oliwa scored his first NHL goal to trigger a three-goal, third-period outburst and the Devils extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games with a 6-3 victory over the Rangers on Saturday.

The victory, coupled with Dallas' loss to St. Louis, tied the Devils and Stars for the best record overall in the NHL this season. It also left the Rangers dangling in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, two places out of playoff spot with 20 games left in the regular season.

That's a concern for the Devils. They will probably play the eighth-place team in the opening round, and they have never beaten New York in three playoff series, including a second-round loss last year.

"It's not hard to get ready to play against this team," Devils veteran Steve Thomas said. "We knew if we beat them we can put them further back in the pack and not have to worry about them later on. That's a really important thing for us. We don't want to meet them in the playoffs."

Based on what has happened in the regular season, it seems odd the Devils would be worried about New York. The Devils have not lost in five games (4-0-1) with their cross-river rivals and dominated the final period after Oliwa scored.

Bobby Holik and Petr Sykora also scored in the final period as the Devils extended their unbeaten streak to 8-0-2.

"Obviously the fourth goal was a big goal," said Gretzky, who tied the game at 3-3 in the second period with his 1,000th goal (878 regular season, 122 playoffs). "It seemed to break our back."

"Unfortunately we need to win at this point in time," he added. "Close is not good enough."

Oliwa got the game winner at 10:05 by poking a loose puck past Mike Richter after the goaltender mishandled a weak shot.

"I just went to the net and the puck was standing on the goal line," said Oliwa, who had one assist and 234 penalty minutes in 52 games starting play on Saturday. "The goalie tried to cover it up and I just put a stick on it, and it went through. I'm very happy. It wasn't pretty, but it was the game-winning goal, and that's what matters."

Holik scored on another scramble 68 seconds later and Sykora closed out the scoring on a great setup by Dave Andreychuk. The Devils' first three goals came on their first three shots on the power play with Thomas, Scott Niedermayer and Jason Arnott scoring.

P.J. Stock and Brian Leetch also scored for the Rangers, who had killed off 25 straight power plays until failing miserably against New Jersey.

In some ways this didn't seem like a typical Devils-Rangers gam. Neither Richter nor Martin Brodeur of the Devils was dazzling and the scoring didn't following its normal pattern. New Jersey got the power-play goals, the Rangers mostly at even strength.

Gretzky got his milestone goal with a minute left in a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Bobby Carpenter. Deep in the right corner, Gretzky sent a pass in front and it went into the net off Brodeur's skate after being tipped by Devils defenseman Scott Stevens.

"It's mind-boggling," Thomas said of Gretzky's total. "A thousand goals, I don't know if I have 1,000 goals playing bantam, pee-wee, minor, novice, midget anything. NHL, that's a lot of goals. He is the best that ever played the game."

New York rallied from a goal down three times.

Thomas scored six seconds into the Devils' first power play to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead in the first period. Stock tied the game early in the second with a baseball-type swing that knocked a loose puck into the net.

Niedermayer's goal came six seconds into the Devils' second power play, a shot that seemed to deflect off a Rangers player. Leetch tied the game 46 seconds later on a breakaway.

The Devils need 38 seconds to convert on their third power play with Arnott taking a great pass from Thomas. Gretzky then tied the game, setting the stage for Oliwa.

"You play this many games and you're bound to bang one in, get one off your shoulder pad or something," Thomas said. "We're all happy for him."

And they're even happier they probably won't play the Rangers in the opening round.