Schedule and 2011-12 Results
Regular Season Records: New York Rangers 51-24-7=109pts, New Jersey 48-28-6=102pts
Game 1 on Monday, 14 May: New Jersey loses at New York Rangers, 3-goals-nil
Game 2 on Wednesday, 16 May: New Jersey wins at New York Rangers, 3-goals-2
Game 3 on Saturday, 19 May: New York Rangers win at New Jersey, 3-goals-nil
Game 4 on Monday, 21 May: New York Rangers lose at New Jersey, 4-goals-1
Game 5 on Wednesday, 23 May: New Jersey wins at New York Rangers, 5-goals-3
Game 6 on Friday, 25 May: New York Rangers lose at New Jersey, 3-goals-2 (OT)

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 6: Scoring 1:03 into the first overtime period, the New Jersey Devils hosted and defeated the New York Rangers 3-goals-2 for a 4-games-2 win of MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1167. The series 1167 win improves the New Jersey Devils’ best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 25-17 overall and 5-2 in the Semifinals round (with an active five-series winning streak). The series 1167 loss drops the New York Rangers’ best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 26-36 overall and 5-15 in the Semifinals round. The win order for the victorious New Jersey Devils in series 1167 was LWLWWW: Series 1167 thus becomes the fourth NHL Semifinals series, the 17th NHL series (all rounds), and the 32nd MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow that win order to completion. Given that the decisive game in series 1168 (between the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes in the 2012 NHL Western Conference Finals) also ended in overtime, the 2012 NHL Semifinals become the first since the 1994 NHL Semifinals in which both Semifinals-round series ended in overtime. New Jersey thus advances to series 1169, in which the Devils will host the Los Angeles Kings in the 2012 NHL Finals.

After Game 5: The New Jersey Devils visited and defeated the New York Rangers 5-goals-3 to take a 3-games-2 lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1167. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the New Jersey Devils have an 11-5 series record and a 7-9 Game 6 record. When trailing a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the New York Rangers have a 2-16 series record and a 5-13 Game 6 record. The two Ranger series wins in this situation occurred in series 663 (in the 1994 NHL Semifinals against the New Jersey Devils) and series 1155 (in the 2012 NHL Preliminary round against the Ottawa Senators).

After Game 4: The New Jersey Devils hosted and defeated the New York Rangers 4-goals-1 to tie MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1167 at 2-games-all. When tied 2-games-all in a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the New York Rangers have a series record of 11-13 and a Game 5 record of 10-14, while the New Jersey Devils have a series record of 10-9 and a Game 5 record of 13-6. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through the 2012 NHL Quarterfinals round, teams such as New Jersey which win Game 4 by three goals to tie a series 2-games-all have a 20-23 (.465) series record; New Jersey itself lost series 578 in this situation (to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1991 NHL Preliminary round). Series 1167 is the third consecutive 2012 NHL playoff series in which the Rangers have posted a WLWL @ HHVV win/site order through the first four games.

After Game 3: With MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1167 in the Garden State for Games 3-4, the New York Rangers visited and defeated the Devils 3-goals-nil to take a 2-games-1 series 1167 lead. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the New York Rangers have a 15-5 series record and an 11-9 Game 4 record. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the New Jersey Devils have a 4-12 series record and a 9-7 Game 4 record. Series 1167 marks the seventh NHL Semifinals series and the 27th NHL series (all rounds) in which two of the first three games were shutouts. With only three goals in three games, both the New Jersey Devils in series 1167 and the Phoenix Coyotes in series 1168 (in the other 2012 NHL Semifinals series, as of this writing) have the fewest goals through the first three games of an NHL Semifinals series since 2003, in which the Minnesota Wild had tallied no goals in their first three games of series 886.

After Game 2: Tying MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1167 at 1-game-all, the New Jersey Devils visited and defeated the New York Rangers 3-goals-2. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the New York Rangers have a 15-14 series record and a 13-16 Game 3 record, while the New Jersey Devils have a 13-12 series record and a 13-12 Game 3 record. With a win/site order of WL @ HH through the first two games of series 1167, the New York Rangers are at the same state at which they found themselves after two games of both series 1155 (against the Ottawa Senators in the 2012 NHL Preliminary round, which the Rangers won) and series 1163 (against the Washington Capitals in the 2012 NHL Quarterfinals round, which the Rangers won); the Rangers are the first team to post a WL @ HH win/site order in the NHL Preliminary, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals rounds of the same playoff season since the NHL adopted the best-of-7 format for its Preliminary round in 1987. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Rangers have a 4-3 (.571) series record upon having posted a win/site order of WL @ HH through the first two series games, while the Devils have a 6-3 (.667) series record upon having posted a win/site order of LW @ VV through the first two games.

After Game 1: The New York Rangers hosted and shut out the New Jersey Devils 3-goals-nil to take a 1-game-nil lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1167. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the N.Y. Rangers have an 18-10 series record and a 12-16 Game 2 record. When trailing a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the N.J. Devils have a 9-12 series record and a 15-6 Game 2 record. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through the 2012 Quarterfinals round, teams such as the Rangers which pitch a shutout in Game 1 have a 43-14 (.754) series record.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2011-12 NHL regular season, the New York Rangers finished seven points ahead of New Jersey. From 1939 through the 2012 NHL Quarterfinals round, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by seven regular-season points, they have posted a 16-7 (.696) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1167 is the 42nd best-of-7 playoff series for New Jersey, and the 62nd for the New York Rangers. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series, New Jersey has a 24-17 series record, a 4-2 Semifinals-round series record (with an active four-series winning streak), and a 20-21 Game 1 record, while the New York Rangers have a 26-35 series record, a 5-14 Semifinals-round series record, and a 28-33 Game 1 record. Series 1167 is the sixth best-of-7 NHL playoff series meeting between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers; New York won four of the five previous meetings.