AP Photo/Julio Cortez
The Rangers’ first game back from the break was a real back and forth matchup against near their near rivals the New Jersey Devils. J.T. Miller continued with the strong play he demonstrated before the recess, gaining the zone with ease, driving to the net, and scoring two nice goals. Despite this and other solid efforts from players like Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, and Viktor Stalberg, it wasn’t enough to power past the Devils, with a bad goal given up by Dan Girardi taking away the Rangers’ lead just after Miller’s second put them up a goal.
Special teams proved to be the difference in this game with the Rangers going 0 for 4 on the power play, with the Devils’ game winner coming on their man-advantage. This Rangers loss now puts them only two points ahead of the Devils, and the blueshirts will have to be better if they expect that gap to widen as opposed to shrink, with the two teams meeting twice more this month.
No gifs in the post today, but you can view them all at Ryan Ohanesian’s timeline here.
Rangers 1 Devils 0
A beautiful goal on a 2 on 1 gives the Rangers an early lead and JT Miller his 6th goal in 7 games. Jesper Fast makes a smart play in the defensive zone, beating a Devil to the puck and then springing Derick Brassard as both him and Miller are breaking through the neutral zone. Brassard then hits Miller with a perfect saucer pass, which the young winger then puts in the back of the net to give the Rangers a one-goal lead.
Rangers 1 Devils 1
Exactly what you like to see on the power play, just not the team you like to see do it. An outside shot gets to Lundqvist who makes the save, but Lee Stempniak hammers home the rebound and the game is tied.
Rangers 2 Devils 1
Yandle sets up Miller for his second of the night. The play starts with an outside shot by Yandle, the rebound of which is kicked out and knocked back by Dan Boyle. The puck then finds its way back to Yandle, who sets up Miller waiting for the one-timer.
Rangers 2 Devils 2
The Devils get it right back on a bad goal for the Rangers. Blandisi picks the puck up moving through the neutral zone and just smokes Dan Girardi coming down the wing, then moves in and takes the shot. You’ve got to imagine that both Girardi and Hank wanted this one back.
Rangers 2 Devils 3
The Devils get the lead for the first time in the game with a goal in a waning power play. Following a faceoff win the Devils work the puck down from the half boards to behind the net, where it’s then passed to Schlemko, who puts it home to give the Devils the eventual game winner.
Score Adjusted Shot Attempts
Scoring Chances
The Rangers led the Devils in shot attempts and scoring chances for most of the game but aside from JT Miller just couldn’t seem to finish. We can also see that at times things were close, with the Devils picking up momentum in spurts. Overall not bad on ice process but a lack of finishing, especially on the power play, is what cost them this game.
Shot Location
While both teams’ shot attempts were relatively scattered it’s worth noting that the Rangers had a slight edge in terms of shots from the home plate area of the ice.
Individual Shot Attempts
Here we can see that despite giving up an awful goal Dan Girardi actually had a positive game in terms of possession, as well as some of the players mentioned earlier, such as JT Miller, Chris Kreider, and Kevin Hayes. We can also see that Keith Yandle, Dan Boyle, and the entire fourth line struggled this evening, indicating that perhaps player usage or personnel (or both) could use some looking at in some regards.
It was a frustrating one for sure, and it definitely doesn’t help to drop two points to a divisional rival like the Devils, but if the Rangers continue playing this way they won’t be in too terrible shape. While there certainly was room for improvement, the eventual return of Rick Nash will certainly give them a boost and help stabilize the lineup. It definitely does feel like we’ve seen this before with the Rangers however, but there’s not much we can do other than hope they continue to improve their play and pick up points in the future.
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