Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 21 shots by the New Jersey Devils that got through to him. The other 26 attempts blocked in front by his teammates were every bit as important in the New York Rangers' Eastern Conference finals opening win. "We know that's happening," Devils captain Zach Parise said after the Rangers' 3-0 win on Monday night. We know that's coming. That's the way they play. They block a lot of shots, and we expect that for the rest of the series. So did the Ottawa Senators and the Washington Capitals, the Rangers' first two postseason opponents, who pushed the East's top-seeded team to seven games, but couldn't knock them out. Lundqvist earned his fifth career playoff shutout across the ice from New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, who owns the NHL postseason record with 24. The game was in a scoreless deadlock until the third period when the Rangers broke it open. "It felt like it was important for me to get a good start," Lundqvist said. So emotional, and everything around it, and then start over. New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, right, of Sweden, makes a save as New Jersey Devils' Dainius Zubrus (8), of Lithuania, attacks and Rangers' Dan Girardi (5) defends during the second period of Game 1 of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference final playoff series, Monday, May 14, 2012, at New York's Madison Square Garden. It pretty much turned out the way I hoped. Rookie Chris Kreider, defenseman Dan Girardi, and Artem Anisimov all had a goal and an assist for New York, which rebounded well two days after outlasting the pesky Capitals. Just as they did in the first two rounds, the Rangers jumped out to a 1-0 series lead. They hope to avoid losing Game 2 at home for the third straight series. "We want for the first time to get a 2-0 lead," forward Brad Richards said. After 14 games and two nail-biting playoff series wins, the Rangers insisted they have plenty left to make a run at the Stanley Cup. If any proof was needed, Lundqvist provided it. No team forced to play seven-game series in each of the first two rounds has gone on to win the Stanley Cup. The Rangers are determined to be the first. They slogged through two scoreless periods before dominating the third. 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 a then 22-year-old Brodeur and the Devils in a classic seven-game series that backed up captain Mark Messier's guarantee.