Rangers rally past Devils, end six-game losing streak

NEW YORK --The New York Rangers ended a six-game losing streak with a 4-2 come-from-behind win against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Vladislav Namestnikov's goal with 6:35 remaining in the third period was the game-winner for the Rangers, who fell behind 2-0 in the first period. New York was 0-2-4 in its previous six games.
"There's been a lot of games this year I feel like we deserved to win and we didn't, but tonight there's no question we deserved the two points the way we played," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. "It's just unfortunate they were up 2-0, especially the late second goal in the first. Obviously it was a hill to climb for us and the biggest challenge was probably not to get frustrated."
WATCH: [All Devils vs. Rangers highlights]
Ryan Strome had two goals and an assist and Libor Hajek scored his first NHL goal before leaving with a separated shoulder with 8:25 remaining in the third period. The Rangers didn't have an update on the timeline for how long the rookie defenseman will be out.
Namestnikov and Mika Zibanejad each had two assists and Lundqvist made 22 saves for the Rangers (28-28-12), who hadn't won since defeating the Devils 5-2 at the Garden on Feb. 23.
New York is 11 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"There are 14 games to go and you can feel it in that locker room, winning feels way better than losing," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "Obviously, our situation is what it is, but we want to win hockey games. I thought that our intention over the last two games had slipped a little bit and I thought we got back to it tonight."

Damon Severson and Blake Coleman scored, and Cory Schneider made 37 saves for the Devils (25-35-9), who have lost six in a row (0-5-1). They are 20 points behind the Blue Jackets with 13 games to play.
"It's frustrating, especially being up 2-0 after one and having a lead going into the third," Schneider said. "To lose in regulation is tough."
The Devils took a 2-0 lead on goals by Severson and Coleman in the final 3:34 of the first period.
Severson made it 1-0 at 16:26, scoring on a one-timer through traffic from the right point off a pass from Kenny Agostino. Coleman extended the lead to 2-0 at 19:49 when he scored a power-play goal on a net-front deflection of Will Butcher's shot.
It was the Devils first power-play goal in 10 games, ending an 0-for-25 slump.
"That three-minute sequence left a very sour taste in our mouth going into the second period," Quinn said. "I give our guys a lot of credit because we kept playing. We shook it off."

Strome cut the lead to 2-1 at 18:22 of the second period when Kevin Shattenkirk's wrist shot deflected in off his leg.
"We were all over them, it was just a matter of time," Strome said. "It's nice to get one toward the end of the period like that."
Hajek, playing his fifth NHL game, tied it 2-2 at 1:29 of the third period. He beat Schneider into the top right corner with a shot from the top of the left circle.
Namestnikov made it 3-2 at 13:25 with his one-timer off a pass from Zibanejad. Strome scored into an empty net at 19:50 for the 4-2 final.
"We didn't get frustrated," Lundqvist said. "We just kept going and it paid off in the end. It's important for us just to get rewarded here."

They said it

"As the game wore on, the biggest issue wasn't a lack of battle, we just didn't manage some of the pressure well. You look at a couple of the goals against, we had some failed wall plays getting it out. They were bringing the pressure and those are learning experiences for our guys. But I think when you look at the game in general we were prepared to play, the effort was certainly there. I think there is some good experiences for the guys who made some of the mistakes when the pressure really came, but I don't think you can fault the team's compete battle." -- Devils coach John Hynes
"You've got to find reasons for why this game means something to us and it's important, and you've got to push yourself. You can't get stuck in what just happened. That was the key going into the second period. We didn't think about the first. We knew we could do a little bit better, and we did." -- Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist

Need to know

Travis Zajac's assist on Coleman's goal was his 500th NHL point in 909 games. Zajac is fourth on the Devils all-time points list behind Patrik Elias (1,025), John MacLean (701) and Kirk Muller (520). … Zibanejad's assist on Strome's empty-net goal was his 300th NHL point in 477 games. … Devils forward Brandon Gignac played 9:04 and was minus-2 in his NHL debut. … Devils forward Michael McLeod had an assist for his first NHL point in his eighth NHL game.

What's next

Devils: At the Calgary Flames on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Rangers: At the Edmonton Oilers on Monday (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, MSG, NHL.TV)