STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS / EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS : Devils’ Nicholls Makes Good Use of Enforced Rest

Bernie Nicholls’ one-game suspension didn’t help the New York Rangers.

Actually, it might have hurt them.

Nicholls scored two goals for the New Jersey Devils, who moved within a game of the Stanley Cup finals with a 4-1 victory over the Rangers on Monday night in New York.

He had missed Saturday night’s game after NHL officials ruled his shot at the Rangers’ Alexei Kovalev had been a premeditated cross-check. The Devils won anyway, 4-1.

The suspension actually helped him.

“It was my first rest in a couple of months, and I had a lot of jump in my legs,” Nicholls said Monday. “Regardless of whether I deserved it or not, I did get suspended. I felt I let my team down and was excited to get out and play.”

The Devils, with a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final, can finish off the series with a victory in Game 6 Wednesday night at the Meadowlands.

The Rangers, whose longest losing streak during the regular season was three games en route to the best record in the NHL, lost for the second consecutive time in the playoffs.

New Jersey, which lost all six regular-season games to the Rangers, took control of this one with tough defense and opportunistic offense.

Nicholls’ first goal came in a short-handed situation and his other on a power play.

It was pretty much the Devils’ game from start to finish. They held the Rangers to 26 shots and not many quality scoring chances.

“The key is our positional play,” New Jersey’s Scott Stevens said. “They’re a team that thrives on other teams running around.

“We did that in the first few games, but as the series has gone on, we’ve gotten better and better.”

Mike Peluso and Tom Chorske scored the other goals for New Jersey. Goaltender Martin Brodeur was within 3:27 of his second playoff shutout before giving up a goal to Esa Tikkanen.

New York’s confidence “has taken a hit, no question,” Ranger Coach Mike Keenan said. “Atthe same time, the Devils have boosted theirs. They’ve earned that.”