updated 9:41 p.m. ET Nov. 12, 2008

NEWARK, N.J. - Kevin Weekes had little to do in the first period, then was overwhelmed in the second.

He didn’t make it off the bench for the third.

Michal Rozsival and Nikolai Zherdev scored during two-man advantages in New York’s four-goal second period, and the Rangers routed Weekes and the Martin Brodeur-less New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Wednesday night.

For only the third time in 101 meetings with the Devils over 15 years, the Rangers faced a goalie other than Brodeur and made the most of the opportunity.

“He is such a mainstay and you don’t think of the Devils without him,” Rangers captain Chris Drury said. “We’re just trying to beat the whole team, not worrying about the goalie.”

The Rangers have done that lately in a rivalry that has shifted dramatically in their favor. New York is 9-0-1 against New Jersey since Feb. 22, 2007.

That trend seemed off when the Devils outshot the Rangers 13-5 in the first period and led 1-0. New Jersey started the second with a full power play, but Henrik Lundqvist was strong in goal and kept the Rangers in it.

Rozsival, Chris Drury, and Lauri Korpikoski — with his first NHL regular-season goal — scored in a span of 2:08 to turn a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 lead before 10 minutes elapsed in the second. Zherdev added New York’s second 5-on-3 goal with 4:10 left to make it 4-1.

“You could kind of tell the game turned,” Lundqvist said. “We started skating more, we got more confidence. One goal can change everything, one save can change everything.”

Zherdev added his second of the night 9:51 into the third against backup goalie Scott Clemmensen.

“At times he looked shaky,” Devils coach Brent Sutter said of Weekes. “I know he had lots of shots in the second, but I thought he was fighting it. I also felt the team needed a shake-up.”

The Rangers, playing without injured top-line center Scott Gomez, took over by firing 20 shots at Weekes in the second period. New York also had 20 shots in the second of its previous game, a 3-2 shootout loss to Edmonton on Monday night.

“I don’t know what it is. We’ve been slow starters this year,” Lundqvist said. “We did a lot of good things in the first period ... but then we really stepped up in the second.”

Weekes has the unenviable task of replacing Brodeur, the four-time Vezina Trophy-winning goalie, expected to be out about four months due to a torn biceps muscle in his left arm. Weekes, the winning goalie for the Rangers on Nov. 5, 2005 — the last time New York played the Devils without Brodeur — had allowed only nine goals in four games since Brodeur’s injury on Nov. 1.

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