The New Jersey Devils (31-30-4) fell 3-1 to the New York Rangers (42-18-4) on Monday night. This is the second-straight regulation loss for New Jersey, which now sits six points out of a playoff spot with 17 games remaining. The Rangers have won all three head-to-head matchups this season.
Game Summary
First Period
Just like the last matchup between the Hudson River Rivals, this game was a physical encounter from puck drop with both teams finishing checks all over the ice.
The Rangers got the first power play of the night after Erik Haula was called for tripping. New Jersey killed it off thanks to some nice saves from Kaapo Kahkonen and a handful of key blocks.
Artemi Panarin appeared to open the scoring eight minutes in after a Brendan Smith misplay led to a two-on-one for New York, but head coach Travis Green successfully challenged for offsides.
The Devils then had a power play of their own, but could not generate much. Shortly after the return to five-on-five, Mika Zibanejad was denied on a breakaway by Kahkonen, but drew a slash from Alex Holtz.
The Rangers created some great looks on the man advantage, but Kahkonen made several high-danger saves to keep it scoreless. On the other end, Erik Haula was denied by Jonathan Quick on a shorthanded breakaway.
As the period wound down, both teams created a couple of high-danger chances, but the netminders were equal to all of them.
It remained scoreless after one with shots 12-6 in favor of the Rangers. At five-on-five, the Devils posted just a 39.13 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 32.47 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%).
Second Period
The second period began very open just like the first with odd-man rushes aplenty. However, neither team could find a breakthrough.
The Rangers had another chance on the power play after Brendan Smith tripped Erik Gustafsson. The man advantage was quickly nullified, though, when Adam Fox was called for interference on a zone entry.
After returning to even strength, the Rangers nearly opened the scoring as a loose puck skittered through the crease, but the Devils cleared it away.
However, New York did open the scoring moments later. After a Jonas Siegenthaler and Curtis Lazar turnover in the corner, Mika Zibanejad stickhandled around John Marino, backhanding one past Kahkonen, giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead with 7:30 left in the middle frame.
Jesper Bratt had a pair of great chances but couldn’t finish a breakaway before fanning on a one-timer, keeping it 1-0.
New Jersey had one more chance to tie it on the man advantage after Lafreniere was called for boarding, but could not capitalize.
After the empty power play, the Rangers doubled the lead after an Erik Gustafsson point shot beat a screened Kahkonen in the final minute.
Then, things really kicked off when Matt Rempe was assessed his second game misconduct in as many games against New Jersey. Rempe came across and elbowed Jonas Siegenthaler directly in the head on an attempted dump-in. Siegenthaler would not return to the game.
New Jersey got a five minute power play out of the hit, but Kurtis MacDermid got a 10 minute misconduct for trying to fight Rempe in response.
The horn sounded for the second intermission with the Rangers leading 2-0. Shots in the middle frame were 8-7 Rangers with the Devils managing just a 43.33 CF% and a 43.09 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
The Devils began the third with 4:30 of carryover power play time, but could not generate anything of note. The major penalty expired without a hint of a New Jersey goal and just one shot on net.
Erik Haula and Chris Tierney had a two-on-one chance midway through the frame, but summing up the night, Tierney couldn’t hit the net.
The Devils pulled Kahkonen with three minutes to go, and Simon Nemec immediately clawed one back with a seeing-eye shot. The deficit was halved with just the Devils’ third shot on net of the period.
Kahkonen returned to the bench for an extra skater with two minutes left, but Vincent Trocheck buried the empty net goal to seal it with 1:13 to go.
In the third, shots were 7-6 New Jersey. The Devils posted a 60.00 CF% and a 67.02 xGF% at five-on-five.
Wrap-Up
For the game, shots were 26-20 in favor of New York. At five-on-five, the Devils managed just a 46.58 CF% and a 46.81 xGF%.
Kaapo Kahkonen played well in goal despite the loss. In his Devils’ debut, the Finnish goaltender stopped 23 of 25 shots faced, turning aside 0.68 goals above expected.
As for the Rangers, Jonathan Quick picked up the win, stopping 19 of 20 shots against. He saved 1.21 goals above expected in the win.
Game Notes
Simon Nemec
One of the few bright spots for New Jersey was the play of rookie defenseman Simon Nemec. The Slovakian blue-liner finished with a 53.93 xGF% at five-on-five, one of only two Devils’ defensemen to finish north of 50% alongside Kevin Bahl.
On top of that, Nemec had the best high-dange chances-for metrics on the team. The Devils had a 5-1 edge in high-danger chances with Nemec on the ice.
Dawson Mercer
It was certainly a night to forget for Dawson Mercer. The 2020 first round pick registered a team-worst 0.00 xGF% at five-on-five. With Mercer on the ice, expected goals were 0.38 to 0.00 in favor of New York. Scoring chances were also 4-0 in the Rangers’ favor.
Timo Meier
Timo Meier’s five-game goal streak came to an end in the loss, but he did have a decent game in terms of underlying metrics. Meier posted a 62.96 CF% and a 62.02 xGF% at five-on-five and had a 4-1 edge in high-danger chances.
It was far from a positive night for New Jersey, but at least Meier’s encouraging run of play continued.
What’s Next
The Devils continue their road trip on Thursday against the Dallas Stars. Puck drop is set for 8:00 p.m. ET from Dallas on MSGSN2.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.