Devils blow lead, win in OT

New Jersey to face Los Angeles in Stanley Cup finals

The Devils' Adam Henrique (14) scores on Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist just 63 seconds into overtime of Game 6.

NEWARK -- Adam Henrique scored off a wild scramble in front of the net 1:03 into overtime, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to their first Stanley Cup finals since 2003.

The Devils will face the Los Angeles Kings in a series that will start on Wednesday.

It's a remarkable comeback for a proud team, with three Stanley Cup titles, that missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1996.

Henrique's series winner came after Henrik Lundqvist stopped Ilya Kovalchuk twice and Alexei Ponikarovsky. The last shot lay in the crease and Henrique, a rookie, tapped it home.

Ryan Carter and Kovalchuk also scored for the Devils, who blew a 2-0 first period lead.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan tallied for top-seeded New York, which had a good flurry just before New Jersey scored.

Henrique, who is nominated for the Calder Trophy -- given to the NHL's top rookie -- skated away from the crease and jumped against the end boards in the corner as his teammates jumped off the bench and mobbed him.

The six Rangers on the ice just stayed down in disbelief and frustration. This was very much like Game 5, which the Devils won 5-3. New York carried the play after the first period and had a 35-29 edge in shots.

When it came time for a game-deciding play to be made, it was a Devil who made it.

Henrique, who scored the game winner in Game 7 of the Devils' opening-round series against Florida, overcame injury to score this one. He seemed to take a stick from Brian Boyle in the groin area late in the third and had to leave the ice.

He felt no pain after the game winner.

All the Rangers could do was bow their heads and then line up for the traditional handshake after losing to their cross-rival rivals in a series that was close.

Ageless Martin Brodeur, 40, kept the Devils alive in the third. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards, made a save on Artem Anisimov between the circles and used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute just before it got to Marian Gaborik on the edge of the crease.

Lundqvist's best stop in the third was on Dainius Zubrus on a shot from behind the circles.

Facing elimination and down 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Rangers found their game in the second period and tied the game at 2 on goals by Fedotenko and Callahan in a roughly four-minute span.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who assisted on both goals, made the big play to get New York back in the game. He collected the puck above the left circle, skated around the net and tried a wrap around. The shot didn't go on goal but it turned out to be a perfect pass to Fedotenko who a tap-in into an open net at 9:47.

Callahan tied the game at 13:41 when Dan Girardi's shot from the right point deflected off his leg into the open lower corner of the net.

Carter put New Jersey ahead again at 10:05 of the opening period.

Kovalchuk's seventh goal of the postseason and fifth on the power play was a thing of beauty.

All five Devils skaters touched the puck with tape to tape passes with Dainius Zubrus finding Kovalchuk alone low in the left circle for a shot that Lundqvist had little chance to stop.