Devils shuffled lines pay off

Having spent two days answering questions about the Rangers' shot-blocking prowess, the Devils abruptly changed the conversation Wednesday, shuffling their lines in an effort to generate some offense in the Eastern Conference finals.

Why not, after being shut out Monday night?

Thus the headliners in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden were the reassembled top line of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Kovalchuk scored in the first period, ending the Devils' drought, but that goal came on a power play.

In the end, it was two players with lower profiles who scored the Devils' only even-strength goals -- one that tied the game at 2 by fourth-liner Ryan Carter in the second period, the winner from David Clarkson of the third line in the third.

Final score: Devils 3, Rangers 2.

Teammates pointed to Carter's goal as the most important, given that the Devils were losing at the time and had not scored an even-strength goal nearly five periods into the series.

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But Carter scoffed at the notion it meant even more coming from the fourth line. "I think any goal is a big goal this time of year regardless of who it comes from,'' he said.

Carter had scored one goal previously in this year's playoffs and Clarkson two, both big ones against the Flyers.

"I can't explain the feeling when you get a goal like that to take the lead; it's pretty good," said Clarkson, who was third on the team with 30 goals in the regular season. "It's been a fun ride."

Both the tying and winning goals came on deflections of shots from the point, which the Devils had pointed to as a key to solving Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and the shot-blocking of his defense.

"We did a better job getting shots through," Carter said. "We also did a better job getting in front and found a way to get a couple of sticks on it . . . I think that's going to be the mandate going through the series."

Said defenseman Bryce Salvador, "If we keep getting shots on net, we feel that sooner or later, we're going to get the puck in the net."

Earlier in the day, after learning of the lineup changes, those involved downplayed the significance of reverting to the groups coach Peter DeBoer used in the first playoff round against the Panthers. Still, the shufflees said they did not see it coming.

"I don't know the reasons behind it," Parise said. "Maybe he was feeling something. Maybe he saw something different and he wanted to change.

"It can be a nice jump-start sometimes . . . I think everyone is pretty comfortable playing with whomever right now. I've played with Travis a long time, played with Kovy quite a bit this year."

Said Kovalchuk: "We've played a lot [together], with Zach especially. It's not going to be an adjustment at all."

The second line Wednesday night had Patrik Elias, Dainius Zubrus and Petr Sykora and the third line Alexei Ponikarovsky, Adam Henrique and Clarkson.

It was Henrique's shot that Clarkson tipped in to make it 3-2 early in the third.