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Newcastle United have been attracting the plaudits in the North East, and rightly so with their creditable and unexpected fifth placed finish.

Sunderland had a mixed bag of a season, terrible under Steve Bruce, excellent for the first three months under Martin O’Neill, and lethargic over the past month and a half of the season.

That final month and a half will have taught O’Neill just as much as he learned when they were winning.

He will have seen his players weaknesses, where his squad needs strengthening, and learned plenty about the character of his players.

He chose not to make any signings in January, giving the players a chance, and now will be the time for him to put his own stamp on the squad.

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Sunderland under the ownership of Ellis Short have been big spenders in recent seasons, and the American will surely back his new manager again this time around.

However after a season of standing still, he will want a return on his investment, and O’Neill’s challenge will be to push for a European place, while fans will want to finish ahead of rivals Newcastle, who also have Europa League football to balance.

Since 2008, Sunderland have spent heavily; £24.6 million in 08/09, £31 million in 09/10, £22 million in 10/11, and £24 million last season.

They have made sales too, most notably the £24 million departure of Darren Bent to Aston Villa and the £20 million sale of Jordan Henderson, but sit fourth in the Premier League net spend table over the past five seasons.

This season, they will again no doubt be busy, but will have to do their fair share of selling too.

In the departure lounge will be goalkeeper Craig Gordon, now third choice, possibly a reportedly unsettled Craig Gardner, and off-loading record signing Asamoah Gyan from their books, who has let the club down badly with his sojourn in the Middle East. One key point is to retain Stephane Sessegnon, and fend off interest from London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham.

As for targets, the club will be after strikers, for sure. Nicklas Bendtner is unlikely to return, while Connor Wickham is yet to show the potential which convinced Steve Bruce to spend £8 million on him.

Jordan Rhodes is a name linked, but after Wickham, the club may be wary of signing a free scoring prospect from the football league to lead the attack.

O’Neill has already been linked with Chelsea left-back Ryan Bertrand, on loan, and a surprise swoop for Tottenham midfielder Steven Pienaar.

Not so excitingly, Karl Henry has been touted, and fellow Wolves player Steven Fletcher has said he has turned down a move to the Black Cats.

Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha has been linked too, as has free agent Carlos Cuellar, who recently left Aston Villa.

Intriguingly, the season has not even been over a week, and the transfer window has not even officially opened. The transfer targets and speculation will increase, and arrive in waves. Sunderland will make their moves, and once again be one of the league’s busiest teams.

It promises to be an exciting summer in the North East.

What changes do you foresee at Sunderland next season?

image: © Ronnie Macdonald

Will Sunderland be the transfer window’s big movers?

GREENLAND — The late Police Chief Michael Maloney, members of the town’s police force, and officers assigned to the N.H. Attorney General’s Drug Task Force were honored during a Boston Celtics game Monday night with a Heroes Among us Award.

Maloney was shot and killed April 12 by Post Road resident Cullen Mutrie during a drug raid initiated by the DTF. Four members of the task force were also shot and wounded by Mutrie, while Greenland officers Wayne Young, Ted Hartmann and David LoConte assisted at the scene.

The team of officers was nominated for the honor by Greenland School Board Chairman Len Couture, who said their actions that evening define heroism.

“Mike gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep the streets safe,” Couture said Tuesday.

Accepting the award on behalf of Maloney were his son, Mike Jr., and daughter, Sabrina, said Couture, who attended the ceremony at Monday’s game. Couture said the tragedy was summarized to a full house of fans in attendance for the Celtics’ playoff game with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Also in attendance were the three Greenland officers, Maloney’s successor, Chief Tara Laurent, and the DTF officers assigned to the drug bust, Couture said. All took center court, Maloney’s children were presented with the award “and the place went nuts,” Couture said.

“It was great,” he said.

The Heroes Among us award program was established in 1997 by the Boston Celtics to honor people “who have made an overwhelming impact on the lives of others,” according to the Celtics organization. It’s presented to a person or group of people who, “through their unique commitment and humanitarian spirit, have made exceptional and lasting contributions to our community.”

The awards are presented during Celtics home games, during in-game presentations on the legendary parquet floor.

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Celtics honor Greenland officers, chief

By CHEVEL JOHNSON

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – the next generation moves to the forefront at this year's Essence Music Festival, which expands to four days of concerts and sets aside a day of activities geared toward emerging talent.

The up-and-comers will perform on the festival's opening day, July 5. Rising stars Diggy Simmons, the OMG Girlz and New Orleans' own Roots of Music will play on the New & Next Stage next to the Superdome.

Simmons is the son of run DMC star Joseph Simmons. his uncle is record producer Russell Simmons.

The festival, which ends July 8, has been held every Independence Day weekend since its inception in 1995, when it marked the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine.

Essence Communications President Michelle Ebanks told the associated Press the addition of a young-people-focused fourth day underscores the festival's goal of giving new talent a springboard.

“The youth empowerment experience was part of the festival's original design,” she said.

Focusing on pushing up youth had before now been the “unofficial” start of the festival's free daily “empowerment experience,” which seeks to tackle issues affecting minority communities and underscored its goal of moving the community and its people forward, she said.

“We felt it was important now to formally expand the festival to four days and formally move that youth experience into the spotlight,” Ebanks said.

“Diggy Simmons, the OMG Girlz and the Roots of Music are of the moment and speak to the new and next generation,” she said. “The Essence Music Festival is all about featuring performances from artists who are very experienced and beloved who have long track records. this stage allows us to look at who might be the next Mary J. Blige or D'Angelo and we want to celebrate that.”

Simmons and members of the OMG Girlz said they hadn't attended the festival but were in awe of the opportunity to entertain in a venue that's seen acts such as Beyonce, Usher, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Prince and Janet Jackson.

“It's definitely a big deal,” Simmons said. “I'm excited about playing at such a big event.”

Simmons and the OMG Girlz have shared the same stage before – during 2011's Scream Tour.

Bahja “Miss Beauty” Rodriguez, 15, said performing on the Essence festival's “brand new stage” set up to showcase them was huge.

“We're just so honored,” she said. “It gives us a chance to appeal to a bigger audience and to perform before people who haven't heard of us.”

Zonnique “Miss Star” Pullins, 16, agreed, adding that the event “will give people a chance to see what we're about.”

“Hopefully, we can build our fan base,” she said.

The Atlanta-based girl group, which also includes 17-year-old Breaunna “Miss Baby Doll” Womak, was created in 2009 by Kiesha Miles and Tameka “Tiny” Harris, who is also Star's mother and whose stint with the 1990s group Xscape helped guide the trio to a deal with Interscope Records.

The girls also are scheduled to perform July 6 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Simmons, 17, of Queens, N.Y., recently dropped his debut album, “Unexpected Arrival,” which features rapper Jadakiss, and R&B singers Jeremih and Tank. Simmons said he purposely kept the collaborations on this project at a minimum.

“I loved working with them,” he said of the guest artists, “but I just wanted to showcase myself and showcase what I do.”

The Girlz and Simmons each push a positive energy that Essence felt was conducive for the “New & Next” stage, Ebanks said.

“We sought groups who we could look to move youth forward as examples through their own experiences that might help point them in a better direction,” she said.

“We try to bring a lot of positivity through our group,” said Baby Doll. “We love what we're doing and we get along. we try to leave the drama on TV. It's an honor and a blessing to be in this kind of spotlight and we want to use (the fame) wisely.”

“It's just how our parents raised us to be,” Beauty said. “We like being a role model.”

“A lot of girls look up to us,” added Star. “We're able to talk to them about things we've been through or are going through.”

Simmons said he's thankful for being able to positively inspire his fans.

“My message is always that it doesn't matter where you come from, go for whatever it is you want to do,” he said. “Don't let life or distractions get in your way. Don't fall for peer pressure. be yourself, be the person you want to be. the best thing you can ever do is bring what you want to the table.”

Ebanks said young people from throughout the New Orleans area and beyond will participate in a program that will include presentations from community leaders including Mayor Mitch Landrieu and his wife, Cheryl.

Landrieu has started a mentoring project called “Saving Our Sons,” to help curb crime and violence in the city while Cheryl Landrieu's “Girl Up NOLA” seeks to inspire and motivate young girls.

“The mayor and first lady are calling upon the community to invest in the lives of our young men and woman and these projects are the centerpiece of the program,” she said.

The Roots Crusader Marching Band, which will appear in the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade, also will be featured at Essence.

The band is an offshoot of the Roots of Music, a non-profit group that provides free music education, tutoring and mentorship for children ages 9-14. the group was founded in 2007 by Derrick Tabb, drummer for the Grammy-winning Rebirth Brass Band, and has notable supporters such as Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Raphael Saddiq, Ani DiFranco, actor Tim Robbins and producer David Simon.

Copyright 2012 the associated Press. All rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerGiovanni Jackson, son of Marine Lance Cpl. Francisco Jackson, salutes as the flag that covered his father’s coffin is presented to the family in Rosehill Cemetery in Linden in 2010. The 24-year-old from Elizabeth died while serving in Afghanistan. The letter writer urges everyone to honor the troops, and their sacrifices.

In James W. Harris Sr.’s May 12 letter (“It’s the troops”), he writes that, on Memorial Day, we honor veterans of past and present wars, and those on active duty working for their country. But Memorial Day is the day on which we honor those who have fallen in service to the nation.

Honoring all who have served and serve today is what we do on Veterans Day. Some will think this is splitting hairs, but there is a very specific purpose in events associated with Memorial Day: to distinguish those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation.

Thank a veteran on Veterans Day, and every other day for that matter, but keep Memorial Day focused on those who won’t be at the parades, social gatherings, baseball games and other life events.

You can be sure every man and woman who has or is serving now will do just that.

S. Wilder, South Orange

Memorial Day for honoring the fallen, not all service members

Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesJeff Carter ,the Kings’ king of social media.

The Kings have a tough job getting attention in a Los Angeles market dominated by the N.B.A. Lakers and an up-and-coming Clippers Several years ago, the team began using its Web site more aggressively, hiring the longtime Kings beat writer Rich Hammond to write articles about the team and it has now added a vigorous social media effort.

What’s a plus is, the Kings’ Twitter feed is hilarious.

Bucking a hockey culture that dictates standing out from the rest of the boys is a bad thing, the Kings’ director of digital media Dewayne Hankins decided to connect to Kings fans with good-natured humor. This got noticed on a wider scale when the Kings defeated the top-seeded Canucks in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs and posted this on Twitter:

To everyone in Canada outside of BC, you’re welcome.

— LA Kings (@LAKings) 12 Apr 12

As Hankins explained to Yahoo.com’s Greg Wyshysnki, that post offended a swath of prickly Canadians and got people talking about the Kings’ Twitter efforts, and their followers jumped to more than 112,000 from 70,000 in short order. but that wasn’t their first post to have a little fun in the staid world of hockey and there has been much more to follow.

From just the past day:

Other Fun Series Stats: Jeff Carter has three goals in the series, ‘Yotes have two.

— LA Kings (@LAKings) 16 may 12

The fans here look pretty bummed they haven’t been able to wave their pom poms.

— LA Kings (@LAKings) 16 may 12

HAT TRICK! Jeff Carter with the nice rebound find on the 5-on-3. You guys remember him, right?

— LA Kings (@LAKings) 16 may 12

Dear Coyotes, Dustin Brown might be a cyborg.

— LA Kings (@LAKings) 16 may 12

The Kings are likely to keep offending prickly fans everywhere, but luckily have decided that’s half the fun.

N.H.L.’s Twitter Champ: The Kings

NCIS won its time period in viewers and key demographics while NCIS: LOS ANGELES topped its reality competition in viewers at 9:00 PM, leading CBS to a Tuesday win in viewers, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for may 8.

NCIS was first in households (11.5/19), viewers (17.82m), adults 25-54 (4.6/12) and adults 18-49 (3.0/09).  Compared to last week, NCIS was even in adults 25-54 and added +240,000 viewers (from 17.58m, +1%).  NCIS was Tuesday’s #1 program in viewers, the top scripted program in adults 25-54 and tied as the top scripted program in adults 18-49 with NCIS: LOS ANGELES.

NCIS: LOS ANGELES was first in households (9.1/14) and viewers (14.50m) and second behind “The Voice Results Show” season finale in both adults 25-54 (4.1/09) and adults 18-49 (3.0/08).  Compared to last week (the crossover with HAWAII FIVE-0), NCIS: LOS ANGELES was even in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49.

UNFORGETTABLE’s season finale was second in households (7.0/11), viewers (10.73m), adults 25-54 (2.7/07) and adults 18-49 (2.0/05), all behind “The Voice Results Show” season finale. UNFORGETTABLE posted its largest audience since March 20, 2012, and its best deliveries in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 since March 27, 2012.

For the night, CBS was first in households (9.2/15) and viewers (14.35m) and second in both adults 25-54 (3.8/09, -0.1 behind NBC) and adults 18-49 (2.7/07).

NCIS scores win for Tuesday

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN ANTONIO — so much for getting rusty: The San Antonio Spurs didn’t miss a beat after a weeklong break, extending a winning streak that few NBA teams have ever sustained in the playoffs.

The weary Los Angeles Clippers looked just beaten — and making matters worse, they’re even a little more beat-up than when they got here.

Tim Duncan had 26 points and 10 rebounds following an eight-day layoff for the top-seeded Spurs, who wore down Los Angeles in the Clippers’ sixth game in 11 days and won Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series, 108-92 on Tuesday night.

"It’s hard to tell if they were tired or not. If we were rusty or not," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. "The game just developed that way it did."

By that, he meant the latest Spurs blowout.

The Spurs have won 15 in a row, haven’t lost in more than a month and are winning by an average margin of nearly 17 points during that span. It’s the longest winning streak sustained in the NBA playoffs since the 2004 Spurs carried 17 straight wins into the second round that season.

that Spurs team, however, wound up dropping four straight to the Lakers and lost that series. The Clippers have a lot of work to do if they’re going to stage a similar stunner, and a good start would be getting healthy.

Blake Griffin scored 15 points in 28 minutes a day after estimating his sprained left knee had him feeling "80 per cent" at best. The All-Star said he became tired quicker than usual, and also turned his left ankle early in the game.

"but I’ll get back in the training room, get treatment and hope to be better the next game," Griffin said.

The marquee matchup of the series — All-Star point guards Tony Parker and Chris Paul — began with a fizzle.

Paul, who ended the first round with an aching hip, scored just six points and didn’t make a single basket in the second half. Parker was barely any batter, putting together seven points and 11 assists, and didn’t talk to reporters after the game.

Paul did face the media after his worst playoff game since scoring four points in a loss to Denver in 2009. but not until after a quick chat with his young son.

"Good game, Daddy," Paul’s son said in the locker room.

"no, bad game," Paul told him. "Daddy had a bad game. Daddy couldn’t make a shot."

Paul, who was 3 of 13 from the floor, gave a more elaborate explanation to reporters.

"I felt I got all the shots that I wanted. I just didn’t make them," Paul said. "That’s the most frustrating part. Getting to where I wanted to and not seeing them go down. Can’t do that in the playoffs."

Game 2 is Thursday night.

that gives the beat-up and banged-up Clippers one full day of rest — which is all the time they’ve had to recover between games for the past week and a half. Los Angeles couldn’t even fly home first after knocking out the Grizzlies on Sunday in Game 7 of a grueling series that had the Clippers hobbling next to Texas.

Rookie Kawhi Leonard added 16 points, hitting all three of his 3s, and Danny Green added 15 points for the Spurs.

Caron Butler scored 15 points and Nick Young had 13 for the Clippers. Los Angeles cut the deficit to single digits with a 10-burst in the fourth quarter before San Antonio ran away with its 11th double-digit victory during this dominating winning streak.

The Clippers didn’t even need San Antonio’s help getting more bumps and bruises: Mo Williams, already playing with his sore right fingers taped, took a lump on the head when teammate Reggie Evans kicked him with an errant foot after Williams fell on his back in the lane.

Williams wobbled when he tried standing, sat back down, and the Clippers burned a timeout. he never left the game, but the Clippers weren’t getting any fresher.

Parker, meanwhile, finally felt the hard knocks and slow-him-down shoves that Utah repeatedly promised but never delivered in the first round. Sometimes, the All-Star looked in vain to officials when the whistle didn’t blow. when that didn’t work once in the first quarter, he kept jabbering about a no-call on the last possession while lining up to shoot free throws on the current one.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, pacing and sensing an impending technical foul, silenced his leading scorer.

"Tony!" Popovich snapped from the sideline. "Shoot!"

Parker waved off the NBA Coach of the Year — he was under control. but his frustrations didn’t end there. he was 1 for 9 despite playing 38 minutes, scoring all but two of his points at the foul line.

"he didn’t score, but he got 11 assists," Ginobili said. "That’s who we are. Sometimes it’s not going to be him."

Notes: The Spurs tied a franchise playoff record with 13 3-pointers.before this became the deepest Spurs team yet under Popovich, Butler said he came so close to signing with the Spurs after the lockout that he cancelled a flight to San Antonio when the Clippers counteroffered. "They made a great pitch," Butler said. …Leonard finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, the highest finish for a Spurs player since Ginobili finished fourth in 2003. Said Popovich: "He’s done a good enough job to make me trust him to be in the starting lineup. I’m happy for him."

Duncan, Spurs take Game 1 vs. Clippers

It’s hard to cull affect from Minimalism. Only those most prone to the pathetic fallacy—the same set who claim dogs smile or birds seem sad—will see ready emotion in the often deadpan, quotidian objects (wooden boxes, piles of bricks) that make up the oeuvres of artists like Robert Morris and Carl Andre. yet the first exhibition solely devoted to the preparatory studies and sketches of Dan Flavin, master of the fluorescent light tube, provides a glimpse of another, more personal side to the practice of one of the most reticent and iconic Minimalists.

The two sculptures that open the show are there to remind you of the Flavin you know. Untitled (to the Real Dan Hill), 1978, is a single neon fixture leaning in the corner. As the glows from pink and yellow lights on parallel vertical tracks radiate outward, they combine with green and blue tones bouncing off the wall from two hidden bulbs. The net effect is an understated white light that illuminates the gallery. in the museum’s courtyard is Untitled (in Honor of Harold Joachim) 3, 1977, in which pink, yellow, blue and green fluorescents are cross hatched to make an eight-foot grid of cool and warm tones. These pieces exemplify what Minimalist Donald Judd called “specific objects,” works that fall somewhere between painting and sculpture.

But the rest of this show, the drawings, answer questions these mute objects raise, such as, who were the men to whom they were dedicated? And could the artist who created them draw? The hundred or so drawings here—which include a generous display of notebook pages and juvenilia—lend themselves to a new understanding of Flavin’s project, both by banishing its ostensible hermeticism, and by establishing more clearly his relationship to contemporary culture and his interest in line.

Born in Queens in 1933, Flavin was a Korean War veteran who worked in the mailroom of the Guggenheim and as a guard at the Museum of Modern Art before making it as an artist. His early work reveals a weakness for the messy, dynamic painting of Vincent Van Gogh and Abstract Expressionism—pretty much the opposite of Minimalism’s hands-off coolness. he started getting his first ideas for three-dimensional constructions around 1959, inspired by the Marcel Duchamp readymades at the Philadelphia Museum, and incorporated a crushed tin can covered in paint in Apollinaire wounded (to Ward Jackson), 1959-60. Monochrome paintings festooned with little light bulbs followed soon after (see his drawings for the “Icons,” 1962-3). It was a dramatic moment for painting—the illusion of perspective, diminished and flattened to the limit, had popped out into the viewer’s physical space.

This exhibition’s theatrical peak is the diagonal of May 25, 1963, a bright-gold crayon diagonal drawn as a slash on black paper. Rarely is inspiration so clear: the diagonal declares that Flavin has found the fluorescents that would become the basis for his practice over the next 30 years. Limited to a set number of sizes and colors because they were produced industrially, fluorescents restricted Flavin’s work to conceptual arrangements of pre-existing things.

Meanwhile, his drawings were neither shown nor sold until after his death in 1996. yet an early series of quirky sketches of visitors at the Museum of Natural History show that he drew for pleasure while working as a guard there. Later, he made spot-on ballpoint pen portraits of artist friends like Claes Oldenburg and Judd, and when he moved to Westhampton in 1972 he filled notebook pages with elegant charcoal sketches of sailboats in Sagaponack. he did these for himself, and you can see the genuine glee in their execution. It was an obsessive practice separate from, yet intimately related to, his sculptures.

The show also features preparatory drawings for his fluorescent works. These are not expressive drawings but rather technical studies in light bulb engineering and exhibition planning; many of them were made on graph paper. Still, they yield insights: untitled study for gold, pink, and red, red, 3 September 64 is a group of cryptic hatch marks. to look at it is to realize that, for Flavin, florescent tubes were the material equivalent of pen lines. two ballpoint pen sketches of 16 monuments for V. Tatlin and 8 monuments for V. Tatlin, from the late 1960s, show the swooping, inverted tower-like sculptures rendered as ikat-like patterns of diamond warp and weft. Flavin comes across as a spontaneous draftsman—not at all the rigorously logical approach you might expect from someone who dedicated works to the mathematician William of Ockham.

Flavin also collected drawings. he bought his first one, a sketch by Rodin, while stationed in Korea with the Air Force. other drawings from his collection on display here include a Sol Lewitt, a Robert Morris, two great Jean Arps from 1917, three Piet Mondrian sketches (one on a cigarette package, another on a milk carton, the third a gorgeous piece entitled Pier and Ocean: Starry Night, 1914) and a Toulouse Lautrec. he was attracted to artists who rendered space and volume with an efficient line, and this taste encompassed rare, lively flowing ink drawings by Japanese 18th and 19th century artists Hokusai and Hiroshige, and an assortment of Hudson River School landscape drawings by more obscure figures, such as Aaron Draper Shattuck and Jasper Francis Cropsey. Flavin’s collection of Hudson River School work is so deep that, combined with his Long Island seascape sailboats, his work might be reimagined as having a previously undivined relationship to the American horizon.

Flavin’s dedications also tell us much about his world. From predecessors like Vladimir Tatlin or Jasper Johns, to friends like Judd and Frank Stella’s first wife, the critic Barbara Rose, his titles let us in on his social and intellectual context. There’s legendary dealer Leo Castelli, but there are also works named for the presidential candidate George McGovern, and even an unrealized piece dedicated to Marilyn Monroe. Minimalism is often seen as being the aesthetic opposite of Pop, but here Flavin nods at the popular culture of his time. For much of his career, he lived at 17 Broadway in Brooklyn, just off the Williamsburg Bridge at the corner of Kent Avenue. For a moment his conceptual light pieces seem less remote, less removed from the flux of everyday life. A notebook even hints at his humor. he wrote to a curator, “Raise the damned ceiling, Richard, or else you are cramping my style. Love, Flav.”

The show’s curator, Isabelle Dervaux, has raised the conceptual ceiling on Flavin, providing a clean installation that gives new insight into an artist whose range is broader than previously imagined, funnier, and more human. she resists the canonical understanding of Flavin to reveal a quirkier project. The connections made here between the official and the unofficial Flavin are never obvious, but they are for that reason more intriguing, and indelible.

editorial@observer.com

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Out of the Fluorescent’s Glare: ‘Dan Flavin: Drawing,’ at the Morgan Library, Shows Another Side of the Minimalist

NEW YORK — After 14 games and two nail-biting playoff series wins, the New York Rangers insist they have plenty left to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

If any proof was needed, Henrik Lundqvist provided it with a shutout victory over the well-rested New Jersey Devils in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night.

Lundqvist made 21 saves in his fifth career playoff shutout. Rookie Chris Kreider, defenseman Dan Girardi, and Artem Anisimov all had a goal and an assist in the third period as the Rangers turned a scoreless game into a 3-0 win. It came two days after New York outlasted the pesky Washington Capitals in Game 7 of the second-round series.

“I don’t know where you guys get all this stuff about being tired,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “If we’re tired this time of the year, there’s something the matter. We still have a month to play. you might as well not even ask me questions about being tired.”

The Rangers said during their one day off before facing the Devils that they liked the rhythm of playing every other day, and didn’t think the quick turnaround would affect them. The Devils, however, had been off for five days since they knocked out the Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

“It’s always tough to come from a Game 7. so emotional, and everything around it, and then start over,” Lundqvist said. “(Sunday) was all about regrouping, and move your focus to a new team and just a different type of game.

“I didn’t really know what to expect from this game, honestly.”

No team forced to play seven-game series in each of the first two rounds has gone on to win the Stanley Cup, but the Rangers are determined to be the first. The Rangers slogged through two scoreless periods and pulled out a win with a dominating third period.

The Rangers are in the conference finals for the first time since 1997, and they haven’t reached the Stanley Cup finals since 1994, when they beat 22-year-old goalie Martin Brodeur and the Devils in a classic seven-game series that backed up captain Mark Messier‘s guarantee.

Brodeur and the Devils are making their first conference finals appearance since 2003, the year they won the Cup for the third time.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in New York.

Girardi, who struggled at times with his defensive duties, got a perfect setup from Kreider and scored 53 seconds into the third period. Playing in just his 13th NHL game, all in these playoffs, Kreider sent a pass back from the right circle in the Devils’ zone to the point. Girardi took long strides as he charged up ice and stepped into a shot that ripped through a screen in front by teammate Derek Stepan.

“I saw (Kreider) coming up the wall, and I was delaying to see what he was going to do,” Girardi said. “I saw no one go to the point, and I kind of stepped into it and got it through.”

The shot beat Brodeur for Girardi’s second playoff goal this season and second in 47 career postseason games. It was a drive Brodeur said he never saw.

“We didn’t finish Kreider down the board,” Brodeur said. “We didn’t close him out and get him off of the puck. Nobody went to him, probably a miscommunication, and he was able to lay a puck to Girardi and for a bomb.”

The other assist went to 21-year-old defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who along with Kreider was only 3 when these teams last met in the conference finals in `94.

Girardi also earned a secondary assist on Kreider’s power-play goal with 8 minutes remaining that made it 2-0. New York’s slumping power play connected after Girardi was drilled hard from behind into the boards by Devils forward Steve Bernier.

Anisimov, who also assisted on Kreider’s goal, scored into an empty net to make it 3-0 with 1:27 left.

Brodeur heard sing-song chants of “Mar-ty, Mar-ty” before the game started. Those got much louder after Girardi’s goal, and even more taunting after Kreider scored as the blue-shirt wearing, towel-waving fans’ excitement grew. Brodeur finished with 25 saves.

Lundqvist showed no signs of fatigue and was solid throughout in posting his second shutout of these playoffs — helped by 26 blocked shots by his teammates.

“Hank is huge for us back there,” Girardi said. “We were struggling a little bit in our defensive zone and he was there to bail us out. That’s what happened. he made some big saves, and in the third period we came out hard and got a couple of goals for him.”

To no one’s surprise, the teams were still tied heading into the final frame, but not because of a lack of chances.

Lundqvist was sharp in turning aside pucks that sneaked through the wall of teammates that blocked so many shots. he was at his best while the Rangers were on a power play late in the second period.

Zach Parise had the puck to the left of the net and snapped off a forehand that Lundqvist blocked. Parise got another whack at the rebound, and was again denied. Given one more chance with a backhander, Parise failed to break the deadlock with a short-handed goal.

“I tried to go 5-hole on the first one and it just kept popping back to me,” Parise said. “I tried to go up, and he made the save. It came back, and I tried to go high, and he made another save. It was unfortunate. It was a few of those opportunities we had. We just didn’t capitalize.”

It wasn’t the first bit of frustration in the series opener for the Devils captain. Parise was caught from behind by hard-charging defenseman Ryan McDonagh to thwart a first-period breakaway before Parise could get a shot on Lundqvist

McDonagh made the most of his 22-year-old legs, and showed no signs of fatigue from 14 previous playoff games this season, when he also chased down Ilya Kovalchuk in the first period. Lundqvist made a stop at the end of the charge.

The Devils also peppered Lundqvist in the opening minutes of the second period. Lundqvist fought to see between a maze of players and even gave a shove to the back of teammate Anton Stralman, trying to move the defenseman out of his line of sight.

Brodeur also was sharp at the other end, even shaking off a collision with teammate Marek Zidlicky, who got tangled with Rangers forward Brandon Prust. Brodeur’s mask was knocked off after the whistle.

Game notes: The Rangers held an 18-17 edge in shots through 40 minutes, but New York also blocked 18 other Devils attempts. … Brodeur, who has 24 postseason shutouts, made his 183rd consecutive playoff start for the Devils. he is the only player from the 1994 series still in the NHL. … Kreider, who made his debut on April 16 at Ottawa after winning the NCAA championship with Boston College, has three goals in the playoffs.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The associated Press

New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers – Recap – May 14, 2012 – ESPN

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