New York Rangers coach John Tortorella was defiant in defeat Friday night. After the New Jersey Devils advanced to the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Finals by defeating Tortorella’s Rangers 3-2 in overtime in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Tortorella said “I thought we were the better team.”
The Rangers fell behind 2-0 after one period then fought back to tie the game before losing in overtime.
“I thought we played ‑‑ after getting through the first period, I thought we played a really good hockey game,” Tortorella said. “After a little bit of a struggle, we gathered ourselves and I thought we played two really good periods. I thought it was going to end in overtime. I thought it was going to be us.”
It wasn’t, though, as the sixth-seeded Devils ousted the top-seeded Rangers to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Los Angeles Kings.
“Give them some credit,” Tortorella said of the Devils. "They did it through the whole playoffs. And they’re a pretty good hockey club. They’re a balanced team. And they were a pretty good team.
“So we talk about it. We try to get our footing. We struggled a little bit there. But as we go into overtime, I think we’re the better team. But they make the big play.”