Overview
The New Jersey Devils look to tie the best-of-seven series against rival New York Rangers Monday. After two games at home in which the Rangers controlled the play, winning both games by a score of 5-1, the Devils came into Madison Square Garden, and defeated the Rangers 2-1.
Akira Schmid, who one would expect to start again, was excellent in the win, and will most likely need to be excellent again for a Devils squad with one even strength goal the entire series.
The Devils held a record in the regular season of 52-22-8 and finished second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers were 47-22-13 in the regular season and finished third in the Metro. The Rangers lead 2-1 in the series.
Lines and Pairings
Devils
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Rangers
Forwards
Kreider-Zibanejad-Kane
Panarin-Trochek-Tarasenko
Lafreniere-Chytil-Kakko
Vesey-Goodrow-Motte
Defense
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Mikkola-Schneider
Goalies
Shesterkin
Halak
Keys to the Game
Creating, But Not Scoring
In this series, the Devils have controlled a majority of the chances on the ice at five on five, but have been unable to finish. The reason for this is pretty clear, being Igor Shesterkin.
The Rangers’ netminder has been one of the best goalies in the NHL since entering the league in the 2019-20 season. Shesterkin has 4.73 goals saved above expected (GSAx) in this series which ranks first among goalies.
Timo Time In The Playoffs?
The Devils gave up a ton to get the big fish on the market at this year’s trade deadline in Timo Meier. While many believe that Meier has been a disappointment in the three playoff games thus far, that is anything but true.
Timo is currently fourth on the team in corsi-for percentage (CF%) and fifth on the team in expected goals percentage (xG%). While the puck hasn’t been going in for him and any of his linemates, expect it to potentially turn around for Meier sometime very soon.
Where To Watch
Tonight’s Game 4 at Madison Square Garden is scheduled for a 7:00 pm ET puck drop. The game can be seen on either MSG SportsNet locally or ESPN nationally.