Ryan Callahan surprised Devils goalie Martin Brodeur with a goal-scoring swoop around the net in the third period, and the Rangers wrested away home-ice advantage from New Jersey.
Callahan's shot off a drop pass from Gomez, trickled tantalizingly in the crease as Brodeur moved slowly to corral it. Callahan followed his short-handed shot and flew in front near the left post to bang the puck in at 7:23, with one second left in a Devils power play.
Gomez earned his third assist when his pass hit the skate of New Jersey forward Sergei Brylin and came right to Sean Avery for a goal with 2:53 left.
With that, the Rangers, who went 7-0-1 against New Jersey in the regular season, grabbed the home-ice advantage the Devils earned with a shootout win over the Rangers on Sunday.
Gomez, who had 21 goals and 44 assists in 97 playoff games with New Jersey before signing with the Rangers last summer, heard boss every time he touched the puck. The only goal he didn't have a hand in was Nigel Dawes' empty-netter in the final seconds.
Brendan Shanahan staked New York to a 1-0 lead early in the second period.
Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves, including point-blank stops against Patrik Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner.
Paul Martin scored a power-play goal and Brodeur stopped 24 shots for the Devils, who'll host Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Friday night.
The Rangers had lost 11 of 12 series openers, dating to the 1994 conference finals against the Devils.
After surviving a scoreless first period in which they were as erratic with their puck-handling as their passing, the Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead 1:45 into the middle period.
Avery, who drew two of New Jersey's first three penalties, split two Devils defenders at the blue line and passed the puck to Shanahan above the right circle. With Gomez crossing in front of Brodeur, Shanahan let go a shot that sailed right in for his 59th career playoff goal. It came 2 seconds after Jay Pandolfo's tripping penalty expired.
New Jersey used its second man-advantage to get even. With Gomez off for hooking, Martin scored his first NHL playoff goal in his 26th game.
The Devils pressured the Rangers throughout the power play and worked to take advantage of Rangers forward Martin Straka, who spun and tried to defend without a stick. As the mangled piece of wood lay useless in the zone, Patrik Elias got to a loose puck and sent it to Martin in the right circle for a shot that beat Lundqvist at 14:14.
The defenseman scored five goals in the regular season, but had none since tallying two against Carolina on Feb. 9.
Although the opening 20 minutes failed to produce a goal, there was plenty of action and a few near-misses to excite the crowd dominated by Devils red with a healthy amount of Rangers blue.
Alternating cheers and chants supporting and disparaging the cross-river rivals filled the Prudential Center as the less-than-year-old building hosted its first playoff game.
Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr nearly broke the scoreless tie when his drive during a 3-on-2 rush clanged off the right post about 8 minutes in. Brylin answered 3 minutes later with a drive off the crossbar.
New Jersey's Arron Asham threw his hands up in the air in the second period, only to find out that his drive hit the left post moments after Martin's goal.
