EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Devils are on a different level than the rival New York Rangers. Even the Rangers know that.
Jay Pandolfo scored 70 seconds into the first period to set the tone as the Devils pounded the Rangers, 5-0, to extend their unbeaten streak to nine games.
Pandolfo swept a rebound around goaltender Mike Dunham off Scott Stevens' soft shot from the left point to give the Devils the early lead. They never looked back, adding three goals in an 8:25 span of the second period.
"I don't really remember a game like that against them," Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. "It seems no matter where a team is in the standings, they always seem to be exciting, close, hard-fought games, so we definitely didn't expect it."
The Devils have lost just two of the last 35 regular-season meetings with New York (21-1-12-1).
Niedermayer scored a goal and set up two others and Martin Brodeur posted yet another shutout for New Jersey, which matched its longest unbeaten run from last season, stretching its mark to 7-0-2 since a 5-2 home loss to Boston on October 25.
"We're not giving up a lot of goals, not giving up a lot of scoring chances and Marty's doing a good job in net for us," said Stevens, the Devils' captain.
While the Devils are defending their third Stanley Cup title in nine years, the Rangers are trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1997. They'll need to recover from one of their worst games of the season after managing just 18 shots.
"Yeah, we were God-awful, but also they were probably at their best," said Rangers center Bobby Holik, who won two Cups with New Jersey. "They have the ability to make teams look very, very bad, and we helped them with that."
The Rangers seemed to have turned the corner with a 5-1-0-1 run from October 20-November 4, but they have lost four of their last five games (1-3-0-1), allowing five goals or more three times in that span.
Asked if the Devils are a measuring stick, Holik said, "They're on a different level than we are. They are contenders, we're just trying to get into the top eight teams in our conference, so measuring stick it is not."
Part of the reason is Brodeur. While Dunham was pulled after allowing four goals on 24 shots through two periods, Brodeur recorded his 67th career shutout, one more than Toronto's Ed Belfour for the most among active goalies.
"It's a little overwhelming when people talk to you about it," Brodeur said. "It's kind of hard to put it into perspective. I just roll with it and get ready for the next game, next one."
Brodeur stopped six shots in the first period, four in the second and eight in the third for his fifth career shutout against the Rangers.
Niedermayer set up goals by Jamie Langenbrunner, who made it 2-0 midway through the second period, and Christian Berglund, who increased the lead to 4-0 just 66 seconds before intermission. Defenseman Brian Rafalski scored in between.
With the game already decided, Niedermayer finished the scoring on the power play with 11:13 remaining in the third.
"It was a good old-fashioned beating that they gave us," Rangers coach Glen Sather said. "We didn't have a lot of guys show up tonight."
