Rangers beat Devils, clinch Presidents’ Trophy

New York Rangers players celebrate a goal by their left wing James Sheppard (second from left) during their NHL game in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday.  (USA TODAY Sports)

By Andrew Gross/The Record (TNS)The only suspense left now for the Rangers is whether they’ll have the same success in the playoffs.They have now clinched everything there is to clinch in the regular season.Tuesday night’s 4-2 win over the Devils at Prudential Center — the final home game as the Devils will miss the playoffs for the third straight year — assured the Rangers of home-ice advantage throughout the postseason as they earned the Presidents’ Trophy for most points in the league for the third time in team history.The Rangers (52-21-7) also matched the franchise record for most wins in a season, set in 1993-94 when they last won the Stanley Cup. In what the team can only hope is an omen, that’s also the last time the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy.The Blackhawks, in 2013, were the last Presidents’ Trophy winner to lift the Cup.Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, who led the Rangers to a five-game loss to the Kings in last season’s Cup Final in his first season with the team, also guided the Canucks to the Presidents’ Trophy in 2011. Vigneault’s Canucks lost a seven-game Cup Final to the Bruins that season. His Canucks also won the Presidents’ Trophy the following season.The Rangers outshot the Devils, 40-21, and might have had an easier time of it rather than scrapping to the end for the two points needed to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy had they fared better on the power play.They went 1-for-7 with 10 shots.Yet the Rangers could put away the Devils (32-35-13), who they beat 6-1 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, until Carl Hagelin’s empty-netter with 1:48 remaining, seconds after Cory Schneider left for an extra skater.James Sheppard, in the lineup with Mats Zuccarello too sore to play, tipped Dominic Moore’s shot through Schneider’s pads at 10:41 of the third period to make it 3-1.But Steve Bernier, off a scramble in front of Cam Talbot, made it 3-2 just 51 seconds later.There was some poetic justice in Talbot being in net for the ultimate clincher. He went 16-4-3 while Henrik Lundqvist missed 25 games because of a damaged blood vessel in his neck, helping the Rangers first rise to the top of the NHL standings.“He came in this year and played some very big games for us, a lot more games than what we had planned originally because of Hank’s injury,” Vigneault said. “He did a real good job for us.”Lundqvist is likely to start both of the Rangers’ remaining games, Thursday against the visiting Senators and Saturday afternoon at Washington.The Rangers outshot the Devils, 19-4, in the first period yet could only manage a 2-1 lead despite an early five-on-three that lasted one minute, 27 seconds and produced just one shot.Ryan McDonagh did connect just seven seconds into the Rangers’ third power play with Jacob Josefson off for hooking James Sheppard. McDonagh’s shot through traffic beat Schneider for a 2-0 lead at 14:32 of the first, thanks to Rick Nash using his big body to block the goalie’s view.Kevin Hayes, scooping up the loose puck near the crease, had given the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 13:45 after Carl Hagelin pressured defenseman Eric Gelinas off the puck.Patrik Elias, however, halved the lead on the Devils’ third shot with a power-play goal from the low slot at 17:44 with Tanner Glass off for holding Andy Greene.The power-play parade continued in the second period with the Devils taking four more minors, including two more by Josefson, for delay of game and then for roughing Moore with 55.7 seconds left in the second period.But Schneider kept the Devils in the game, including robbing McDonagh of a second power-play goal with an acrobatic save at 13:59.