Given the angst the first two games of this Stanley Cup playoff opening-round series represented for the Devils, the moment was one of pure, unadulterated liberation.
When wing Jesper Bratt broke free and fed the puck to Dougie Hamilton and the defenseman beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin for the game-winner 11:36 into overtime of Game 3 on Saturday night at the Garden, it lifted the heavy cloud that had been hovering over the Devils in this series.
The goal gave the Devils a 2-1 overtime victory that cut the Rangers’ lead in the series to 2-1.
“It was a great play by Bratt to find me,’’ Hamilton said. “I thought he was going to get it to me a little bit earlier. But I ended up in a better spot, so there were a couple bodies in front and I was trying to be patient when I got the puck and saw a little spot to shoot at and luckily I hit it.’’
It was a liberating moment for a Devils team that entered the game having scored just two goals, one of which came on a garbage-time penalty shot in Game 1.
“It’s huge,’’ Hamilton said. “Today, we had two good shots. That’s how you’re going to have to score on that guy [Shesterkin]. We know how good he is. We’re trying to figure out how to score on him like everybody in the world is trying to do.
“We did a good job today and we’re going to have keep getting better.’’
Devils coach Lindy Ruff, who knows how small the margins are with Shesterkin, praised Bratt for making that play happen.
In Game 2, Patrick Kane had pickpocketed Bratt for the puck in a pivotal goal-scoring moment.
“I thought Jesper had a heck of a night tonight with the puck,’’ Ruff said. “He skated well and made a lot of good plays. When you break it down, Shesterkin still had great position on that shot. Dougie hit a perfect shot under the bar.
“We know when we’re shooting on him if he’s not screened he’s quick to recover. He had to fight through some traffic on the east-west play, but when you look at the goal at the end he’s there and it’s probably a matter of an inch that it gets by his glove.
“So, a perfect shot by Dougie.’’
Ruff spoke of the “great accomplishment’’ for his team.
“I believe in our group,’’ he said. “This is the first big dance for a lot of these players and I didn’t know how they’d react. When we’ve been challenged and we’ve been down, we’ve always answered the call this year.’’