The fifth “Battle of the Hudson” got underway tonight in Newark, as the Rangers and Devils opened their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal match-up at the Prudential Center.  And, for the first 47 minutes, the Devils were clearly the better team.

 And then, the unthinkable happened:  The game turned on a crucial mistake by future Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur.  With the Rangers shorthanded, Scott Gomez carried the puck across the Devils’ blue line and left the puck along the right-wing boards for Ryan Callahan, who fired a sharp-angle shot on goal.  Brodeur made the save and controlled the puck in the crease.  As Brodeur hesitated for just a second looking to spring a teammate with a breakout pass, Callahan hustled around the net, darted out in front and jammed the loose puck through Brodeur’s pads to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

 The goal by Callahan came on the Rangers’ first shot of the third period, as the Devils opened the final stanza by recording the first nine shots and completely dominating the action.  After the Callahan goal, the game clearly belonged to the Rangers, who would tack on two goals in the final three minutes to take Game 1 by the misleading score of 4-1. 

Following another Rangers’ penalty kill, Gomez, who recorded three assists in his first playoff game as a Ranger, once again tormented his former mates.  Gaining the Devils’ zone with speed, the Rangers’ center cut left, drew three Devils toward him, and made a gorgeous centering feed to Sean Avery, who caught Brodeur out of position and buried the puck into the open net to provide the insurance goal with three minutes left. 

Nigel Dawes, who received an unselfish pass from Brendan Shanahan on a two-man breakaway toward an empty net, closed the scoring with his first career playoff goal at 19:55 of the third period.

Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant in goal for the Rangers, continuing his dominance of the Devils.  King Henrik made several spectacular saves, none bigger than moving to his left and robbing Patrick Elias of a sure goal with a pad save late in the second period.  Lundqvist also caught some breaks, as the Devils rattled a few shots off the iron.

Jaromir Jagr didn’t hit the scoresheet, but he did hit a post early in the game.  The captain played with jump and was strong on the puck all night, combining with linemates Brandon Dubinsky and Martin Straka for several dominant shifts.

The Rangers got strong, poised performances from Dubinsky and Defenseman Marc Staal, both playing in their first career playoff games.  And, while Chris Drury didn’t produce a clutch goal in his first playoff game as a Ranger, he played a terrific game, brilliantly killing penalties and winning 14 of 18 draws.

Shanahan opened the scoring for the Rangers 1:45 into the second period tallying his 59th career playoff goal on a wrister form the right-wing boards that beat Brodeur through a Gomez screen.

The Devils tied it 13 minutes later on a Paul Martin power play goal made possible by a terrific diving stick check by Zach Parise, preventing the Rangers from clearing the puck.  On the sequence, Straka was without a stick, and Parise’s hustle allowed the puck to work its way to Martin, who beat Lundqvist from the right slot.

The Rangers managed to leave New Jersey with a game 1 win and home ice advantage in this best-of-seven series.  They earned the win the same way they earned seven wins over the Devils in the regular season:  By taking advantage of virtually every opportunity they had.

But, if they continue to be outplayed for long stretches like they did tonight, they are going to find it difficult to escape with the four victories necessary to survive and advance in their quest for the cup.