The Rangers remained perfect against the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference leading New Jersey Devils with a 2-1 shootout victory last night at the Prudential Center. Nigel Dawes was the lone scorer in the shootout and Chris Drury netted the only goal (his 23rd late in the third period) in regulation for the Rangers.

Their domination over New Jersey is due mainly to the exceptional goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist, who extended his streak of allowing two or less goals in 15 consecutive games versus the Devils. With their sixth win in as many games against New Jersey, the Blueshirts moved to within four points of the conference lead and are tied with fifth place Ottawa, who has a game in hand.

In the methodically played first frame, Dainius Zubrus put the Devils on top at 6:05 (his 12th) with a power-play tally off a quick feed from Mike Rupp, who was behind the net. Zubrus’ one-timer was all that Lundqvist would surrender and he had absolutely no chance on that one.

The slim one goal lead (only the second time the Devils have had a lead over the Rangers in all six games his season) held up for a long time. Both teams were at their best defensively for the entire game. Not only were goals at a premium, but just shots on goal were hard to come by. In the first two periods, the Rangers took only 14 shots while the Devils managed just ten. With the way both netminders were playing, that insufficient attack wasn’t going to cut it. To make matters worse, both clubs are suffering with their power-plays, even though New Jersey did score their only goal with the man advantage.

In the third, it looked as if the Devils were on their way to another low scoring, one goal victory and another shutout for their all world goaltender, but Drury had other ideas. At 15:14, Ryan Callahan fed the puck to Drury, who then buried the puck past Brodeur (who was helpless on the play) from very close range. The Rangers had just wasted their fourth opportunity on the power-play seconds before the tying goal. Shots on goal in the final period favored the Devils 7-5.

Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie and the overtime provided little drama; there were just three shots on goal combined. In the shootout, the Rangers went first and Brendan Shanahan was stopped by Brodeur. After Jamie Langenbrunner was unsuccessful, Dawes skated in on Brodeur and froze him before shooting the puck between his pads right on the ice. It appeared that Dawes didn’t get everything that he wanted to on the shot, but that hesitation caused Brodeur to lift his stick off the ice.

Brian Gionta failed in his attempt to tie it and then Callahan couldn’t win it on his turn. Zach Parise was New Jersey’s last hope, but his attempt went wide and the Rangers had the extra point. Lundqvist finished with 17 saves and Brodeur made 20 stops; both were outstanding even though they weren’t called on very much.

The Rangers are off to Philadelphia for a match with the Flyers (who are barely clinging to the last playoff spot) on Friday night.