For the first time in the series, Akira Schmid looked human when he surrendered five goals in a 5-2 Game 6 loss against the New York Rangers. However, the New Jersey Devils goaltender was tremendous when his team needed him the most in Game 7 as the Devils defeated the Rangers, 4-0.
Schmid stopped all 31 shots that he faced and recorded just his second career shutout. When the dust settled in the series, Schmid recorded an impressive 1.72 goals-against-average after replacing Vitek Vanecek in Game 3.
With Monday's victory, the Devils won their first playoff series since defeating -- you guessed it -- the Rangers in Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Final. It also marked New Jersey's sixth win in their last eight Game 7s, including winning four of their last five.
After a scoreless first period, forward Michael McLeod opened the scoring at the 9:53 mark of the second period. The Rangers were attempting to milk the clock during a four-on-four scenario, but veteran forward Ondrej Palat stole the puck. He then got it over to McLeod, who tucked the puck around Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin for the shorthanded tally.
Nearly six minutes later, Devils defenseman John Marino completely missed the net as he had a scoring chance in front. Still, Marino managed to come up with the loose puck and found Tomas Tatar, who happened to be at the right place at the right time. Tatar tapped the puck into the back of the net and extended the Devils' lead to 2-0.
The Devils added third period goals from Eric Haula and Jesper Bratt to put the game on ice. New Jersey ended up outscoring New York 13-2 in their four wins throughout the series.
Following their triumph over the Rangers, the Devils will face their Metropolitan Division rivals in the Carolina Hurricanes. That series will begin on Wednesday night.