The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers 4-3 in overtime in Game Three on Sunday to claw their way back into the NHL's Eastern Conference playoff series.

After losing the first two games at home, the Devils could not afford a defeat in New York and their victory narrowed the deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven quarter-final series.

John Madden was credited with the winning goal six minutes into the extra period, his shot deflecting into the net off the skate of Rangers defenseman Marc Staal.

"I'm not going to lie. It was a lot of luck," Madden said. "I thought Sergei [Brylin] might be there, but their guy was standing there. It hit him in the foot and went in.

"It was real lucky, but we need to get those breaks to get back into the series."

In other playoff games, Boston's Marc Savard scored in overtime to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1, giving the Bruins their first win in the series after two road losses.

The Philadelphia Flyers shut out the Washington Capitals 2-0 to even their series at 1-1, and the Calgary Flames rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 and take a 2-1 series lead.

At Madison Square Garden, the Devils took an early lead with another deflected goal when Arron Ashram's shot hit Brylin's skate and flew past goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Rookie forward Brandon Dubinsky tied it for the Rangers and the home team went ahead in the second period through Sean Avery on a 5-on-3 powerplay.

Powerplay goals from Patrik Elias and Zach Parise put the visitors ahead 3-2 but Dubinsky levelled with his second goal of the game early in the third period, also on the powerplay.

The Rangers have beaten the Devils three times out of four in playoff series, but New Jersey has won the Stanley Cup three times since New York last won it in 1994.

After losing twice last week to their big city rivals, the Devils came across the Hudson River looking to get to the Rangers early.

Just three minutes and one second into the game, the puck was past New York's Swedish goalie Lundqvist but it took a five-minute TV review before the goal was given.

The first period lacked the free-flowing hockey of previous games and became a dour affair full of mistakes.

But after Dubinsky tied the score with a turnaround shot, the intensity increased, led by the Rangers' Avery who twice hit Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, once legitimately and once for which he was penalised.

Avery put the Rangers ahead in the second period, poking in Martin Straka's pass.

Elias tied it when he was allowed to skate untouched into the crease to slot home during a powerplay when the Rangers' Fedor Tyutin was in the box for the rarely-called penalty - closing his hand on the puck.

Parise's shot on another powerplay slithered under Lundqvist to give the Devils the lead, but the Rangers started the third period on the powerplay after Elias was called for roughing and Dubinsky levelled just 55 seconds into the period.

The Devils pressed hard in overtime and Lundqvist saved sharp shots from Brian Gionta and Dainius Zubrus but he had no chance when Madden's shot deflected into the net.

Game Four is on Wednesday.

Reuters