Rangers Going to Cup Finals : NHL playoffs: Matteau’s goal in second overtime gives New York a 2-1 victory.

When he saw the puck slide into the net, when the red light glowed to light the New York Rangers’ passage to the Stanley Cup finals, Stephane Matteau grabbed onto one thought among the many that flooded his mind.

“I just thought, the dreams keep going on and we have a chance to win the Stanley Cup,” he said. “I was kind of tired to think about anything, but I was thinking the dream is going on and we are one step closer.”

Matteau, acquired from Chicago the day of the trading deadline, moved the Rangers a step closer to something they haven’t achieved since 1940. His shot at New Jersey Devil goaltender Martin Brodeur glanced off the goalie’s stick and into the net, 4:24 into the second overtime Friday night, giving the Rangers a 2-1 victory.

The Rangers won the Eastern Conference final series, 4-3.

For the Rangers, who had been stung when Valeri Zelepukin tied the score with 7.7 seconds to play in the third period, it was exhilarating. For the 18,200 at Madison Square Garden, who held their collective breath when the Rangers dominated the first overtime but were thwarted nine times by Brodeur, it provided a release of decades of tension. The Rangers have not been as close as the finals since 1979. The Devils have never been.

New York’s pursuit resumes Tuesday at the Garden, against the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers had the NHL’s best regular-season record, and the Canucks were 14th.

“All those goblins and ghosts that are coming out of our closet, this puts to rest a lot of them and a lot of those omens,” Ranger General Manager Neil Smith said. “Nothing shocks me when it goes the wrong way. I’ve been through this so many times.”

This was one of the rare times things went right for the Rangers because of Matteau’s doggedness in completing a play started by Esa Tikkanen.

Things went right because of the splendid individual effort Leetch made to score the Rangers’ first goal, at 9:31 of the second period.

After Mark Messier won a faceoff in the Devils’ zone, Adam Graves tipped the puck back to Leetch, who carried it toward the net. Cutting as if he were going to skate behind the net, he instead headed to the slot and lost defender Bill Guerin. Leetch then sliced a back-hander past Brodeur, through the crowd that gathered in front of the net.

But all that was nearly lost when Zelepukin, with Brodeur on the bench in favor of an extra skater, twice whacked at the rebound of a Claude Lemieux shot and dislodged it from its haven beneath Mike Richter’s left leg. Seven point seven seconds left. Seventh game. Not lucky for the Rangers, and potentially devastating.

“We didn’t say much (after the third period) because there’s a lot of experience in there,” Ranger Coach Mike Keenan said. “We were very positive and we said, ‘As bad as we feel, we’re going to feel that much better when we win. Let’s stay with our assertive approach and stay composed and go after it.’ ”

Keenan will be making his fourth appearance in the finals. He was the losing coach in his three previous visits, two with the Flyers and one with the Blackhawks. Added Keenan: “Our resolve and character and experience showed itself.”