Q: Why is this seventh playoff Battle of the Hudson different from the six that preceded it?
A: Because it will be the first one without Martin Brodeur on the Devils roster.
Here’s a look back at the first six playoff series:
1992: Rangers in seven
The aforementioned goaltender made his NHL playoff debut at the age of 19 years and 357 days in Game 5 of this first-round series on April 27, 1992, at, of all places, the Garden.
Brodeur entered at the 7:56 mark of the second period, trailing 5-0 after starting netminder Chris Terreri had yielded five goals on 15 shots.
The Devils rallied to narrow the deficit to 5-4 and then 6-5, but Brodeur was credited with the 8-5 loss because he had allowed the ultimate winning goal (and three in 15 shots overall).
The Devils’ series-tying Game 6 victory ended with a wild bench-clearing brawl that started at the final buzzer, lasted for nearly five minutes, spilled into the New Jersey bench, featured bouts between Joey Kocur and Claude Lemieux and between Tie Domi and Scott Stevens and produced 118 minutes in penalties.
The first-place Blueshirts hammered the Devils 8-4 in Game 7 after taking a 6-1 lead at 13:34 of the second period only to lose the Ron-Francis-From-Center-Ice Series one round later.
1994: Rangers in seven
The epochal Eastern Conference Finals stands as arguably the greatest playoff series in NHL history.
“We’ll Win Tonight” and the Mark Messier third-period hat trick in Game 6 at the Meadowlands that turned a promise into reality and kept the Blueshirts alive in this series in which chaos had begun to reign a couple of contests prior with Mike Keenan’s Game 4 benching of Brian Leetch.
Game 7 produced perhaps the most well-played game of high-stakes hockey ever with Valeri Zelepukin tying it 1-1 with 7.7 seconds remaining in the third period before Stephane Matteau made a household name out of Howie Rose in double overtime.
1997: Rangers in five
These were the Rangers of Messier and Wayne Gretzky, who intimidated the division-champion Devils and the officials throughout this second round.
Blueshirts had been shut out in the opener at the Meadowlands, and were being outshot 16-1 deep into the first period of Game 2 before, a) taking a 1-0 lead on their second shot; and, b) Messier going upside Doug Gilmour’s head in front of the New Jersey bench that generated no response.
Mike Richter made a save on John MacLean’s breakaway while losing his glove with 10.5 seconds to go to preserve the 1-0 lead before an empty-netter.
The Blueshirts clinched the series on an OT goal by Adam Graves in Game 5 after MacLean had broken Niklas Sundstrom’s arm with a two-hand baseball bat swing at the end of the previous contest.
2006: Devils in four
The Rangers had crashed toward the end of their Cinderella season during which the projected lottery team ended the organization’s seven-year playoff drought and had led the division most of the season.
Rookie netminder Henrik Lundqvist had lower-body issues, and had been suffering migraines.
Jaromir Jagr, who established franchise records with 54 goals and 123 points, was worn down.
The Blueshirts lost their final five games of the season.
The Devils scored five PPGs in their 6-1 Game 1 victory in which Jagr suffered a serious shoulder injury in the final minutes by taking a wild punch at Scott Gomez.
Lundqvist was benched in favor of Kevin Weekes for Game 2, Jagr was essentially incapacitated the rest of the way and this one ended quietly and quickly.
2008: Rangers in five
The Sean Avery Rule, Fatso, Brodeur ignoring Avery in the post-series handshake line.
Yes, that encapsulates this series in which the Rangers, who had gone 7-0-1 in the season series, won all three games at the Rock while turning the Devils’ first-year home into MSG West.
The only game the Blueshirts did not win in this series against a rattled opponent was Game 3 at the Garden, the one in which Avery waved his stick and arms in Brodeur’s face, prompting the NHL to immediately adopt a rule banning that type of behavior.
2012: Devils in six
Eighteen years after 1994, a now-40-year-old Brodeur twisted history his way by outplaying Vezina-winning Lundqvist in this stunning upset that was over when Adam Henrique said it was in Game 6 overtime.
Marian Gaborik, who had scored 41 goals during the season, was benched for the first 11:00 of the third period of the Game 2, 3-2 defeat after his failure to clear the puck directly preceded New Jersey’s tying goal.
After splitting first four games, Rangers fell behind 3-0 within the first 10 minutes of Game 5 at the Garden when the Devils scored on three consecutive shots.
The Blueshirts came back to tie it at 0:17 of third on a Brodeur puck-handling gaffe, but surrendered the winner to fourth-liner Ryan Carter with 4:24 remaining in regulation.
They were ousted two nights later.
