Power plays can be fickle things. Sometimes a team can do everything right and fail to score. Other times, a team can struggle to get its power play going, only to see the puck find its way into the back of the net.
The latter was the case last night, when the Rangers picked up both of their goals in their 3-2 loss to the Devils in Game 2 of this Eastern Conference Final with the man advantage.
The Rangers entered last night’s game having scored 10 power play goals so far in these playoffs, converting at a 16.4 percent clip. But they made the most of their opportunities last night, scoring twice in their first three chances to jump out to a 2-1 lead.
After they failed to convert on their first opportunity when Patrik Elias took a roughing penalty halfway through the opening period, the Rangers got on the board early in the second, following an Alexei Ponikarovsky interference penalty.
The Rangers got the puck in behind the Devils net, where it was moved back to Marc Staal at the right circle. The defenseman then blasted the puck towards the net and Martin Brodeur, who had Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador and Rangers forward Derek Stepan battling for position in front of him.
Staal’s shot deflected off of Salvador, then hit off of Brodeur and slipped past Brodeur to tie the game at a goal apiece.
It didn’t take long for the Rangers to get another chance, which they also took advantage of. Travis Zajac took an interference penalty midway through the second, which was accompanied by a lengthy delay because of a malfunction with the Devils’ penalty box door. But once Zajac was finally able to get into the box, the Rangers made sure he left it with his head down.
That’s because the Rangers soon took the lead when, after cycling the puck around the Devils’ zone, defenseman Anton Stralman threw the puck at Brodeur, who had to contend with rookie Chris Kreider screening his vision. Kreider managed to get a piece of the puck and send it past Brodeur into the Devils’ net.
tbontemps@nypost.com