NEW YORK — The Devils turned a stellar first nine minutes and an opportunistic final five into a stirring victory over the Rangers that moved New Jersey within one win of a trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

Suddenly, No. 1 seed New York is on the brink — again.

No one would have guessed when Travis Zajac scored 9:49 in to give the Devils a three-goal lead that they would be desperately looking for one more late in the third to hold off the favored Rangers, who had fought back to tie and appeared to have every bit of the momentum.

But the game, and perhaps the entire Eastern Conference finals, changed in the blink of an eye when Ryan Carter put the Devils in front to stay.

Carter snapped a tie with 4:24 left, and New Jersey survived en route to a 5-3 victory over New York after blowing a three-goal lead in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The rugged fourth-line forward, who had only four goals and four assists in 72 games, already has three goals in the playoffs, including two this round.

The Devils, who led 3-0 before the first period was half over, have a 3-2 edge in the series and can advance to face the Los Angeles Kings with a win at home Friday. If the Rangers can stay alive, Game 7 would be at Madison Square Garden Sunday.

“It’s a good feeling,” Martin Brodeur said.