Newark, NJ (Best E Casino) - Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery scored third-period goals 23 seconds apart as the New York Rangers posted a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils in Game 2 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series from Prudential Center.

Henrik Lundqvist made 26 stops for the Rangers, who have never enjoyed a 2-0 series lead in any of their four prior playoff series against the Devils.

Scott Gomez picked up an assist in the victory, his fourth in two games in his first playoff series against his former club.

John Madden scored for the Devils, who face a two-games-to-none deficit for the first time since the 2006 Eastern semifinals, where they fell to eventual Cup champion Carolina in five games.

Martin Brodeur was solid in the loss, making 28 saves.

Game 3 is slated for Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.

"It is what it is and we feel that we're not far away," Brodeur said about the series deficit. "A bounce here and there could have gone our way today. We need to try and keep our heads up and do to them what they did to us in their building. They really raised their game."

Jagr broke a scoreless deadlock with a great individual effort at the 4:26 mark of the third. Skating with the puck from right to left behind the New Jersey net, he turned to the forehand along the goal line and slipped a wrister off Brodeur's shoulder.

"They played him double coverage around the net, but he turned and was able to get off the shot," noted Brodeur. "It hit my shoulder just off the post."

"I was thinking pass," Jagr added. "They were big guys (covering him) and it was tough to find space. When I turned I just wanted to shoot it on the net."

Avery doubled the Rangers' advantage at 4:49, when he buried a wrister from the slot off a rebound from Daniel Girardi's initial chance.

The Devils were denied a potential first goal with just under seven minutes left in regulation.

In a goalmouth scramble, Brian Gionta's poke of a loose puck got through a mass of bodies and could have crossed the line before hitting Lundqvist's right pad. After a lengthy review, there was no conclusive evidence that the puck fully crossed over before bouncing out.

Brodeur was called to the bench for an extra attacker with 1:55 left in the game, and New Jersey finally hit the net. Patrik Elias wound up from the right circle and his shot was redirected home by Madden with 1:23 remaining.

A hooking call on Jamie Langenbrunner with 54 seconds to go short-circuited any further Devils comeback attempt.

We played our game in the third period. The first two, we couldn't make any plays. It was like a tennis game, back and forth. Nobody made plays, nobody made progress. The third was better."

Brodeur and Lundqvist each made nine saves through a scoreless opening 20 minutes.

The middle stanza progressed without a goal and without much excitement until Rangers defenseman Christian Backman cross-checked Devils forward Zach Parise in the face and was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking with a little less than seven minutes played in the second.

New York controlled the puck for the majority of the penalty, and the Devils were unable to set up in the Rangers zone until time ticked away. The contest remained scoreless after 40 minutes of play.

Game Notes

Jagr improved to second on the list of active playoff-goal leaders with his 73rd postseason tally. Colorado's Joe Sakic leads with 83 goals...New Jersey governor Jon Corzine was in attendance...The game was halted early in the first period after a collision between a pair of Devils and Rangers defenseman Paul Mara damaged a penalty box door...Nine of the game's 17 penalties were committed by the Rangers.