Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Despite a strong start the Rangers dropped their Tuesday night matchup against divisional rivals the Devils 5 to 2. It was an exciting game at first, featuring some nice passing plays, back and forth odd-man rushes, and some nice saves but quickly turned one-sided as the Devils began to badly out possess and out shoot the Rangers starting in the second and continued to do so though the third.
On the plus side, recent call ups Marek Hrivik and Brady Skjei played decently, making prudent decisions on and off the puck and generally looking composed. This was a crucial win for the Devils, who are currently in the chase for a wild card spot, but it would’ve been just as nice for the Rangers to pick up two points and maintain their place in the standings further.
Devils 1 Rangers 0
Kalinin collects the puck and skates along the boards, moving the puck from the half boards to Severson at the point. Severson then takes a slap shot, which ends up deflecting into the net off of Tyler Kennedy.
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Devils 1 Rangers 1
Great forechecking by the third line gives Kevin Hayes his fourth goal in seven games. Viktor Stalberg enters the zone with speed and takes a shot right at the faceoff dot, and Hayes cashes in on the substantial rebound to tie up the game.
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Devils 1 Rangers 2
A sensational deflection off Dominic Moore’s stick by Keith Yandle gives the Rangers their second goal in the span of 45 seconds. Marek Hrivik (who picked up his first NHL point on the play) skates along the boards and works it to Yandle at the point, who then puts the puck right to the tape of Dom Moore’s stick for an outrageous goal, giving the Rangers the lead.
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Devils 2 Rangers 2
The Devils get a power play goal right in front to tie up the game at 2. The puck moves down the boards to Joseph Blandisi along the goal line, who then puts it right to Kyle Palmieri coming down the slot from the point. Palmieri finishes his chance with ease and notches his 23rd goal of the season.
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Devils 3 Rangers 2
The Rangers struggle to get the puck out of the zone leads to the Devils third goal of the evening as they retake the lead late in the second period. Sustained puck possession leads to a chance in the slot that doesn’t get through to Lundqvist,, but the puck is collected quickly by the Devils and passed across the slot to a wide open Lee Stempniak.
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Devils 4 Rangers 2
Not too much to see here: Boyle pinches in a risky situation as the puck is being chipped out of the zone, Kalinin breaks out with speed to collect the puck and scores as he goes to the net.
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Devils 5 Rangers 2
Rangers pull Lundqvist late in the game, Larsson blocks an outside shot, collects the puck, and then shoots it from his own end for the empty netter.
Score Adjusted Shot Attempts and Scoring Chances
These two charts show what was pretty much obvious by halfway through the second period – the Rangers came out strong early the game but then the Devils completely took things over.
Shot Locations
This one shows two things which were also readily apparent to anyone watching the game. First, the Devils had a lot of shots on the Rangers down low and second, the Rangers didn’t get a lot of shots period, let alone shots in the crucial “home plate” area.
Individual Shot Attempts
As one would expect in a game like this, most Rangers were negative in possession and most Devils were in the positive territory.
In the end it was a tough game to watch. The Rangers spent long portions of the game shorthanded or out possessed and generally had a hard time setting up any kind of offense. To end on a positive note however it should be said that Brady Skjei and Marek Hrivik both had nice games, and there were flashes of the kind of play that fans expect from the Rangers. Obviously the trick is sustaining it, and obviously every game counts at this point in the season, but the best thing for the Rangers to do would just forget about this one and move on.
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