NHL PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK — For the first time since their epic double-overtime thriller in the 1994 Conference Finals, the Hudson River rivals New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers will meet in a Game 7 to decide their Eastern Conference First Round series tonight at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The winner will advance to the Second Round and a matchup with their Metropolitan Division rival Carolina Hurricanes.

National rightsholders ESPN (U.S.), Sportsnet (Canada) and TVAS (Canada) will broadcast the game, beginning at 8 p.m., ET.

Facing off in a playoff series for the seventh time, this marks the third Devils-Rangers Game 7 and the first time it will be played on the New Jersey side of the Hudson.

The Rangers won both previous showdowns at Madison Square Garden, defeating the Devils 8-4 in the 1992 Patrick Division Semifinals and 2-1 in double overtime in the 1994 Eastern Conference Final.

The Devils, 7-7 all-time in Game 7s, will be appearing in their first since 2012, when they defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 in double overtime to win their Conference Quarterfinals series and kickstart their run to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Rangers (11-6 all-time) are 8-1 in their past nine Game 7s since 2012, including wins in all three road games in that span — the most recent being a 6-2 victory at Carolina in the 2022 Second Round.

The Devils player with the most Game 7 experience is forward Ondrej Palat, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who has played in six such contests (4-2).

The corresponding player for the Rangers is forward Chris Kreider, who will be skating in his ninth Game 7 (7-1).

Kreider’s total of seven Game 7 wins is one shy of the NHL record shared by Brad Richards (8-0), Ray Bourque (8-1), Justin Williams (8-1), Carl Hagelin (8-2), Ryan McDonagh (8-2) and Glenn Anderson (8-4).

Tonight’s Devils-Rangers game will be the 50th of the First Round, the fourth-highest single­round total in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. The only other rounds to feature 50-or-more contests: the 1992 Division Semifinals (54), 2022 First Round (51), and 1991 Division Semifinals (51). Other competitive hallmarks of an exciting past two weeks:

• all eight series have featured at least one overtime game
• seven of eight series will be decided in six games or more
• all 16 teams have registered a road victory
• all 16 teams posted a win in the first three games of a series
• teams with an opportunity to close out a series are 5-6 to date

Download the PDF for career individual Game 7 statistics for the Devils and Rangers

Source: nhl.com