Rangers-Devils: A Simmering Rivalry Gets Some Playoff Heat

Adam Fox of the Rangers, right, breaking up a shot by Tomas Tatar of the Devils in front of Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin in a regular-season game last month in Newark.Credit...Frank Franklin Ii/Associated PressMark Messier and Ken Daneyko were good friends while growing up in Edmonton, Alberta. Messier was a few years older, but always supportive of his younger skating pal. He eventually wound up in Daneyko’s wedding party, and their close friendship continued after they made it to the N.H.L.

That is, until 1991, when Messier was traded to the Rangers.

“When he came to New York, everything changed,” said Daneyko, a three-time Stanley Cup-winning defenseman who spent his entire 20-year…