After what felt like months of expecting the Battle of the Hudson to return, the Rangers and the Devils have Game 1 of their series tonight in Newark. The Rangers went 1-2-1 against the Devils this season, with all of the games being close and none being with the current iteration of the Rangers lineup. That bodes well for the Rangers, even if the Devils are a very good team.

Both teams are known entities at this point, with the Rangers relying on elite skill up front and in net to balance out decent enough 5v5 possession metrics. The Devils are a top tier xG team, but lack consistent goaltending and defensive zone play. They rely on rush chances and a top offense to keep the opposition pinned. Naturally, the Rangers will look to weather the storm early and hit the counter attack after the initial burst.

Devils Lines

Tomas Tatar-Nico Hischier-Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat-Jack Hughes–Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier-Erik Haula-Jesper Boqvist
Miles Wood-Michael McLeod-Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler-Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves-John Marino
Kevin Bahl-Damon Severson

Vitek Vanacek gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Patrick Kane
Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Vladimir Tarasenko
Alexis Lafreniere-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko
Tyler Motte-Barclay Goodrow-Jimmy Vesey

Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Niko Mikkola-Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin gets the start.

Crazy Prediction: Rangers win by 4.

Game time is 7pm.

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