They were the first words out of Pete DeBoer's mouth. The Devils coach, without pause, said that Monday night's game was a simple case of the first to score being the one that wins. He had that thought before the Rangers' first goal 53 seconds into the third period to break a scoreless deadlock, and he was correct.

"I think whoever was going to score first tonight was going to win," DeBoer said. "And they threw a point shot at the net that found a way through. We threw a lot of those at the net, too, and didn't find one through. So that was the story of the game. And we've been in this spot before. We were down 1-0 to Philly and we know how to handle this."

It's true, the Devils found themselves down a game to start the last round but some circumstances have changed. Against the Flyers, the Devils said they had a resolve if they fell behind. This round, against the Eastern Conference's top seed in the conference final, the Devils' margin of error is slimmer.

The Rangers will try to replicate Game 1's recipe for victory -- perfect goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist and a slew of Rangers willing to jump in front of the Devils' shots -- throughout the series.

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"I think that’s how it’s going to be all series," Zach Parise said. "Not saying that the first goal is going to win it but the goals are going to be tough to come by in this series, both ways. So we just have to do a better job and bear down."

Not helping the Devils was their non-existent power play. They went 0-for-4 with a man advantage.

"Not as good as it needs to be," Parise said. "We had some OK looks and some other times we didn’t set up. We have to be a little better about that. They pressure really well. We just have to make better passes, better plays. Our power play is going to have to be a lot better."

Despite the task ahead -- winning four of six remaining games in the series against a stingy Rangers club -- the Devils expect adjustments within their own locker room can tilt the series.

"It’s one game," Parise said. "We know what we have to do better. Their goalie played very well. We just have to be a lot better."

Mike Vorkunov: mvorkunov@starledger.com; twitter.com/Mike_Vorkunov