EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Mike Richter stopped 33 shots, including 14 in the third period Saturday night, lifting the New York Rangers to a 3-0 triumph over the New Jersey Devils that tied the first- round Stanley Cup playoff series at 2-2.
Low-scoring forwards Jan Erixon and Paul Broten each scored third- period goals to break open a scoreless struggle. The best-of-seven Patrick Division semifinal shifts back to New York Monday night for Game 5.
Richter, outplayed badly by Devils goaltender Chris Terreri in Game 3 Thursday night, was the beneficiary of a solid defensive effort from his teammates in earning his second career playoff shutout.
After two scoreless, close-checking periods, Erixon finally broke through early in the third.
The defensive specialist snuck into the high slot, accepted a backhand pass from Mark Messier down the right wing, and snapped the puck past Terreri at 4:14.
The play was created by Messier, who picked up speed in the neutral zone.
The Rangers captain broke down the right wing, causing Devils defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov to back off the blue line before finding Erixon all alone in front.
Just 4:15 later, Broten slapped a shot past Terreri off a 3-on-1 with only Scott Stevens back on the play.
Broten cruised into the left-wing circle before firing an off-wing shot into the shortside at 8:59 for a 2-0 lead.
Mike Gartner added an empty-netter with 1:09 left to close out the scoring, his second goal of the playoffs.
Despite the victory, the Rangers power play continued to struggle, going 0-for-6 in the game and 1-for-22 in the series.
New York, which enjoyed a 5-on-3 in the middle stanza, again had trouble with Terreri, who made 25 stops.
The Devils goaltender, who faced only eight shots in the first period, was razor sharp after New Jersey was assessed consecutive penalties to Tom Chorske and Randy McKay at 7:09 and 8:26 of the second period.
With New York up two skaters for 43 seconds, Terreri sticked aside Brian Leetch's feed from the left point to Gartner at the left post. Seconds later, the Devils goaltender shot across the crease to beat Gartner's post-to-post setup for Messier, inducing the Rangers captain to fire wide from the right edge of the crease.
After Chorske's penalty expired, Terreri dropped to his knees to stop James Patrick from the deep slot, but left the rebound in front. Adam Graves picked it up and fired a high shot off Terreri's chest and over the net.
Not to be outdone, Richter turned away Zdeno Ciger's poke from the doorstep and, seconds later knocked away Peter Stastny's slap shot.
New Jersey, which received superb penalty killing from Scott Stevens, Pat Conacher and Bruce Driver during the 5-on-3, outshot New York for the first time in the series, 33-28.
