Schmid, Devils edge Rangers in OT in Game 3 of Eastern 1st Round

NEW YORK -- Dougie Hamilton scored at 11:36 of overtime, and rookie Akira Schmid made 35 saves in his first Stanley Cup Playoff start for the New Jersey Devils in a 2-1 win against the New York Rangers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Hamilton won it when he took a pass from Jesper Bratt in the right face-off circle and roofed a shot over Igor Shesterkin for his first career playoff overtime goal.
"It started out with a good flip out, and I tried to get up in the rush, and obviously it was a great play by Bratt] to find me," Hamilton said. "I kind of thought he was going to give it to me a little earlier, and then turned and ended up in a better spot.
"I think there were a couple of bodies in front, so I was just trying to be patient when I got the puck and saw a little spot to shoot at, and luckily I did.
"Today we had two good shots, and that's how you're going to have to score on [Shesterkin]. We know how good he is, and you're trying to figure out how to score on him ... like everybody in the world is trying to do."
New York leads the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 will be here Monday.
"It's never easy winning four games," Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. "They are obviously a good, skilled team. We had our looks. We'll come back and play Game 4."
[RELATED: [Complete Devils vs. Rangers series coverage]
Jack Hughes also scored, and Bratt had two assists for the Devils, who are the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan Division.
Schmid was starting in place of Vitek Vanecek, who allowed nine goals on 52 shots in Games 1 and 2, which New Jersey lost by identical 5-1 scores at Prudential Center.
"It's always tough coming into a situation like this, but you just treat it like any other game, I guess," Schmid said. "That's kind of how I am; that's just how I'm built. The guys did a great job helping me out, blocking shots, which makes my life easier."
The 22-year-old is the third rookie to start a playoff game in New Jersey history, joining Sean Burke (1988) and Hockey Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur (1994).
"It was a decision that we, as an organization, spent a lot of time talking about (Friday night)," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "[Brodeur] and [general manager Tom Fitzgerald] and our goalie coach (Dave Rogalski) and everybody else.
"So, we decided to go with him, and he played a heck of a game for us."
Chris Kreider scored, and Shesterkin made 26 saves for New York, which is the No. 3 seed from the Metropolitan.

Kreider gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 3:39 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle on a 2-on-1 with Mika Zibanejad. He beat Schmid over his blocker for his fifth goal of the series.
Hughes tied it 1-1 at 10:37 with a power-play goal after Shesterkin was penalized for roughing against Timo Meier in his crease. Hughes used a screen by Ondrej Palat and scored with a wrist shot for his second of the series.
"We're playing a really good goalie over there, you know?" Hughes said. "We had four lines going, we had six defensemen going, and our goalie played really good tonight, so that was a full team effort. We know what Akira is like ... he's stone cold. We had a lot of confidence in him coming in."

New Jersey went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and blocked 17 shots.
"We had a long meeting about the penalty kill the other day and we needed more communication," Devils defenseman John Marino said. "It's crazy to say, but they scored so many goals, we got to see so many looks (in Games 1 and 2), and I think that actually helped us tonight."
New York entered the game 4-for-10 on the power play in the series before going scoreless on the man-advantage on Saturday.
"They did a good job adjusting to our power play tonight and our execution wasn't good tonight, and that was the biggest difference," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "The Devils played really well. They skated well and played a hard game. I thought both teams played well. We tried to get a little cute at times. [Schmid] made some key saves. Both goalies were excellent."
NOTES: Hamilton is the second defenseman in Devils/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts history to score a playoff overtime goal, joining Brian Rafalski (2001). ... Schmid was 4-1-2 with a 2.02 GAA and .925 save percentage in his final nine games (seven starts) of the regular season. He finished 9-5-2 with a 2.13 GAA, .922 save percentage and one shutout in 18 games (14 starts). ... Kreider is the fastest Rangers player to score five goals in the postseason (three games). ... New Jersey is 18-29 in playoff overtime games (9-17 on the road). The Rangers are 42-54 (20-20 at home).