NEWARK — They give Oscars for magnificent performances from such a mundane script. Golden statues are wonderful, but Henrik Lundqvist’s repeat masterpieces have the Rangers halfway towards a Prince of Wales Trophy, and perhaps, a trip to Hollywood to seek a silver bowl.
The Battle of the Hudson has distilled into a showdown between goaltending greats, with Lundqvist starring once as the night thief, and yesterday, the daylight robber. For the second time in three games, he turned in a perfect game to win the battle of wills with Martin Brodeur.
Riding Lundqvist’s 3-0 shutout of the Devils yesterday, the Rangers immediately recaptured home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference finals by taking a 2-1 series lead. They are two victories from the Stanley Cup finals, and Lundqvist has allowed three goals total in three games.
At one point yesterday, the Devils owned a 25-11 shot advantage, but since the game was scoreless, it was really a 25-11 save advantage in Lundqvist’s favor, leaving the Devils frustrated, and soon to buckle.
Someone would crack, and in this near-duplicate of Game 1 — a scoreless duel into the third and a 3-0 Ranger victory — it would not be Lundqvist.
“A lot of times, it’s the story of the playoffs, a team works hard but gives in,” Ranger defenseman Ryan McDonagh told The Post. “This could have been an example of that. It was frustrating because we weren’t getting anything done.
“The way Hank was playing, we had to stay with it. Our legs kept coming and in the end, we scored big goals.”
The Devils didn’t even score little goals, and now Lundqvist is in their heads. Two of New Jersey’s three goals in this series came off deflections, but since the Devils were so busy being stopped on breakaways and 2-on-1’s yesterday, there wasn’t much chance to set up tip-ins.
“We were much better being closest to them when they were shooting from the point and having guys come in for tips,” Lundqvist said of facing fewer deflections. “We were much closer and that made it a lot tougher for them to make the plays they made in the second game.”
He made miracles in the first, second and third, a total of 36 saves, after making 21 in Game 1.
“Their goalie was the difference,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. “We’re not the first team Lundqvist has done this to.”
Actually, they are. Lundqvist has two shutouts against them in three games, the first time he has blanked an opponent twice in one series.
Goalies collect accomplishments as they move towards greatness. The two shutouts are one cap-feather. A Stanley Cup is another, a requisite. Brodeur is the all-time great now being challenged by the league’s MVP candidate.
“When he’s playing well, it’s always a challenge,” said Brodeur, who holds the NHL record of 24 playoff shutouts. “I’m trying to do my job. I can’t do anything about the way he’s playing. Just keep my team in and give us a chance to win.”
Lundqvist suggested he enjoyed good fortune yesterday, halting Ilya Kovalchuk on a breakaway and his stick shaft denying Zach Parise.
“They say you earn your luck by working hard. This was a good day,” Lundqvist said after his third shutout of these playoffs, and sixth of his career. “I felt pretty sharp. I saw some action right away and felt comfortable playing this game.
“We didn’t panic, we kept our composure, kept playing the same way. As a goalie, you know sooner or later it’s going to turn. It’s going to turn in our favor. We’re going to get a chance. We’re going to get a break. And that’s the feeling I had.”
The Rangers finally broke Brodeur when Dan Girardi ended the scoreless deadlock 3:19 into the third off a power-play faceoff from Richards. Girardi was allowed to skate to the right circle and fire under Brodeur’s waffle.
With the spell broken on the Rangers’ 18th shot, the 45th of the game, Chris Kreider steered in an insurance goal 1:57 later, his fifth. Ryan Callahan added an empty-netter, and Game 3 duplicated Game 1.
mark.everson@nypost.com