NEWARK, N.J. – Adam Henrique scored off a wild scramble in front at 1:03 into overtime and the New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to advance to their first Stanley Cup finals since 2003.

The Devils will host the Los Angeles Kings in a series that starts Wednesday.

It’s a remarkable comeback for a proud team with three Stanley Cup titles that missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1996.

Henrique’s series winner came after Henrik Lundqvist stopped Ilya Kovalchuk twice and Alexei Ponikarovsky. The last shot lay in the crease and Henrique, a rookie, tapped it home.

Ryan Carter and Kovalchuk also scored for the Devils, who blew a 2-0 first-period lead.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan scored for top-seeded New York, which had a good flurry just before New Jersey won it.

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Henrique, who is nominated for the Calder Trophy — given to the NHL’s top rookie — skated away from the crease and jumped against the end boards in the corner as his teammates jumped off the bench and mobbed him.

The six Rangers on the ice just stayed down in disbelief and frustration. New York carried the play after the first period and had a 35-29 edge in shots.

But when it came time for a game-deciding play to be made, it was a Devil who made it.

Ageless Martin Brodeur, 40, kept the Devils alive in the third. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards, made a save on Artem Anisimov between the circles and used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute just before it got to Marian Gaborik on the edge of the crease.

NOTE

KINGS: Simon Gagne returned to practice with the Kings as they went through their first full workout since clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup finals. The high-scoring veteran left wing hasn’t played for the Kings since Dec. 26, when he suffered his latest concussion in a win over Phoenix.

Although he is cleared for contact and says he’s 100 percent symptom-free, even Gagne isn’t sure he should be added back to the Kings’ lineup for the final round.

“I’m available, but at the same time you have to look at what this team has done,” Gagne said. “They’ve played a lot of good hockey. They’re the reason why we’re here now. I’m just going to work hard in practice like I did the last month and we’ll see.”

 


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