NHL playoffs | Rangers advance to East semis

NEWARK, N.J. — It took only two years for the New York Rangers to turn a four-game sweep into a sweet five-game payback for the New Jersey Devils.

Ushered out of their first postseason appearance in nine years by their cross-river rivals in 2006, the Rangers finished off the Devils with a 5-3 victory Friday night.

"It is poetic justice to a degree," Rangers coach Tom Renney said.

The Rangers rolled into the Eastern Conference semifinals. They trailed for 18 seconds in the first period before scoring four consecutive times and holding on against the Devils.

New Jersey's John Madden was awarded a penalty shot with 7:08 left in the third period after Dan Girardi dragged him down with a sweeping dive with his stick. Madden couldn't net the tying goal, as his backhander was stopped by Henrik Lundqvist's pads.

"I missed it," Madden said. "I missed the opportunity between his legs. He stopped it. There isn't much to say."

Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr didn't even bother to watch, saying he was certain Lundqvist would keep New York in front.

"That's what makes him special," Jagr said. "In the key situations, he comes up big."

Brandon Dubinsky sealed New York's second consecutive 5-3 win with an empty-net goal.

Never had a team won three road games against New Jersey in a playoff series, but the Rangers did it in the first season at the Devils' new arena, Prudential Center.

When the game was over, Rangers agitator Sean Avery and Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur had one more confrontation, this time in the handshake line.

Avery, who crashed into Brodeur several times in the series and tried to distract him by waving his stick in the goalie's face in Game 3, was the only player Brodeur didn't greet with a handshake.

"I shook everybody's hand but one," Brodeur said.

Avery said he was prepared to shake.

"Everyone talks about how much class I don't have, well, it's the end of the series and men go to war against each other," Avery said. "I guess he forgot to shake my hand. I don't know if anyone saw that. Of course I was going to shake his hand."

Other games

At Ducks 5, Stars 2

Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf each had a goal and an assist to lead Anaheim, the defending Stanley Cup champion, to a victory over Dallas that reduced the Stars' lead in the first-round Western Conference series to 3-2.

Game 6 is Sunday in Dallas.

The Ducks, on the brink of elimination, scored three times in the third period to break open a tight, physical game.

After Mike Ribeiro scored to cut Anaheim's lead to 3-2 at 4:41 of the third, Sean O'Donnell scored at 12:05 to give the Ducks a two-goal lead. Todd Marchant added an empty-net goal with 1:24 remaining.

Before the game, Dallas forward Mike Modano told The Dallas Morning News, "It's nice that we have three chances [to close it out]. But I don't think we want to use them all."

At Red Wings 2,

Predators 1 (OT)

Johan Franzen scored 1:48 into overtime, beating Nashville goalie Dan Ellis with a backhander to lift Detroit over Nashville. The Red Wings lead the best-of-seven West first-round series 3-2, with Game 6 Sunday in Nashville.

Valtteri Filppula scored for Detroit in the first period. Radek Bonk scored the tying goal with 44 seconds left in regulation.

"One minute, you're on top of the world," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "The next minute, you feel real low."