NHL

Rangers can pile on rival Devils

Henrik Lundqvist, 18-4-5 lifetime against Martin Brodeur and 20-7-5 for his career against the Devils, is finding this a little hard to believe.

“At the start of the year, I thought they were going to be a top team like they always are, but I guess you can’t expect that to be forever,” said the Rangers’ goaltender, who tonight in New Jersey is expected to make his 28th straight start against the Devils dating back to Jan. 2, 2007. “I certainly didn’t expect this.

“They’ve been one of the best teams in the league for my whole career, and that’s always been one of the challenges when we play them, going up to their level and sometimes making adjustments in the way we play.

“My approach is the same no matter what, but as a team, I think we’re good enough to focus on what we do and should feel confident enough in our own game not to adjust to New Jersey . . . or any top team we play.”

Unless the apocalypse strikes, the Rangers will finish ahead of the Devils in the standings for the first time since 1995-96, the last time the Devils missed the playoffs. The Blueshirts enter tonight’s match with a 24-point lead over the 30th-overall Devils (44 to 20), the greatest margin for Manhattan’s side in the Battle of the Hudson since 1983-84 ended with the Rangers at 93 points and the Devils at 41.

“You know what, though?” Chris Drury asked. “You look at their lineup, at their talent, at their goaltender [Brodeur] who is the best of all time, and it would be a big mistake for us to go in there thinking that anything is going to come easy.

“We’re going to have to be ready. They are not going to keep losing forever. They are going to turn it around, and I’m sure there’s nothing they’d like more than to get it going against us.”

They’re certainly due, these Devils, who have lost five straight while being outscored 24-5, getting one goal per game. This latest stretch of abysmal hockey on this yearlong road to perdition includes two defeats by an aggregate 9-2 since Jacques Lemaire replaced John MacLean behind the bench two days before Christmas.

“I don’t care what their record is [9-24-2], we are certainly in no position to take any team or game lightly,” Drury said. “This is a chance for us to reset ourselves after a pretty lopsided win over [the Islanders on Monday] and make sure we’re focused on our game.

“I’m certainly not thinking that we’re going to just go in and roll over them. Knowing them like I do my whole career, I just think they have too much talent there and too much pride for this to keep going for much longer.

“We’re going to have to be ready.”

Coach John Tortorella said he would address the context of tonight’s matchup with the team, “But not so much because of Jersey, as because of us.

“I still think we’re climbing the hill in understanding how to be ready at all times, at beginnings of games, in the middle parts of the games, no matter who we play, it’s us still learning and taking steps,” Tortorella said. “I think we’re taking steps in the right direction, but it’s always being ready to play.

“The second half of the year, it’s always a grind no matter who you play.”

That’s true, even if it wasn’t in 1983-84.

larry.brooks@nypost.com