Game Recap
First Period
New Jersey Devils’ fans did not have to wait long for something to cheer about. Less than a minute in, the longest-tenured Devil Travis Zajac scored against New York Rangers goaltender Alexander Georgiev. That goal came off a rebound from a shot courtesy of Miles Wood. Wood surprisingly has scored three goals in the season’s first three games. P.K. Subban set up the play and earned his first point of the season on the secondary assist.
Head coach Lindy Ruff built a system around a four-man rush and emphasized puck possession. That was on full display in the first period. Every time the Rangers entered the Devils zone the Devils were quick to regain possession and skate up the ice. Even though they spent a lot of time in Georgiev’s neighborhood, few scoring chances came of it. New Jersey’s best scoring chance of the period that didn’t result in a goal was a shot by Nathan Bastian off a pass from Janne Kuokkanen. As Ken Danyeko was eager to point out on the broadcast, Bastian wasn’t shooting from his strong side.
After 15 minutes had passed the Rangers finally found a way to spend more than a few seconds in their opposing zone. Although it took longer than they would have liked, the Devils were able to escape unscathed. That didn’t stop New York from finding a way to make themselves comfortable in New Jersey’s zone over the period’s final five minutes.
The first period saw its only power play go to the Devils. The Ranger that New Jersey fans love to hate, Chris Kreider, took a tripping penalty. New Jersey couldn’t capitalize once again.
The first 15 minutes were all New Jersey. The last five minutes were all New York. Thankfully New Jersey struck first. The Devils also held a 10-7 shot advantage.
Second Period
Penalties were plentiful during the second period. Goals were plentiful as well, as we saw five. Two of those five were courtesy of Jack Hughes.
Although the Devils weren’t sent to the penalty box in the game’s opening frame, they got two invitations to watch New York have the man advantage in the first ten minutes of the second period. First, Michael McLeod takes a roughing penalty against Jacob Trouba. Rangers were able to equal the score off a deflected shot. The goal was credited to Kreider, who committed a penalty for New Jersey’s unsuccessful power play in the first.
New Jersey didn’t wait to strike again as Hughes got his first of the season by ripping in a rebound that was sitting at the goal line. Ty Smith got another assist in as many games. After his overtime winner last game, Yegor Sharangovich picked up the secondary assist.
The second penalty of the night saw P.K. Subban sent away for holding. New Jersey was able to kill the penalty. After the Devils had a chance to breathe and return to heavy strength, Jack Hughes scored his second goal of the night, a breakaway that saw the puck go five whole on Georgiev.
That second goal came in handy as Damon Severson took a tripping penalty to put the Rangers back on the power play. Although the Devils began the kill with a huge face-off win, Mika Zibanejad scored from the sharp angle for the Ranger’s second power-play goal of the game. Just like Kreider’s earlier goal, Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin get the assists.
As the period started to go towards its final minutes, the Devils finally got their chance on the power play as Trouba took a high sticking penalty. The victim of the high stick was Jack Hughes, so could that have been some blue-shirted retribution for the young kid’s two goals? Devils would get their first power-play goal of the year as Miles Wood extends his goal-scoring streak to three games. The replay showed it could have been a kick but we didn’t see anything, did you? Either way, the Rangers chose not to challenge the giants and the Devils took a 4-2 lead.
Hockey’s fast, but hockey karma is faster. Seconds later it looks like P.K. Subban scored to extend the Devils lead. Unlike Wood’s soccer impersonation, the Rangers challenged the goal for being offsides. The challenge was successful as Subban still is waiting on his first of the season.
As for the penalties, Bryce Salvador said it best. Offensive zone penalties became a problem for the Devils. However the two power-play goals were unlucky bounces. First off Ryan Murray, and then Mackenzie Blackwood shoulder, so you can’t fault the penalty kill too much.
Third Period
To begin the third period Georgiev was pulled in favor of Igor Shesterkin.
The Devils were strong in the period’s first four minutes before taking a too many men on the ice penalty. New Jersey was only able to clear a handful of times, yet still killed the penalty. As the team returned to even strength Bastian and McLeod had a great scoring chance courtesy of Jack Hughes as he came out of the box. Hughes had been serving the bench minor.
On one of the Ranger’s few visits to the Devils’ zone in the first half of the third, Filip Chytil scored to make it 4-3. That was also the first goal the Devils allowed during five-on-five play. They were the last team in the NHL with that distinction entering play on Tuesday.
Brendan Lemieux got close in a scoring chance on Blackwood. Immediately after, Lemieux draws a holding penalty against Ty Smith to send New Jersey back to the penalty kill. The Devils once again had trouble clearing the puck out of their zone, but Zajac was able to kill valuable time with some slow possession time in the neutral zone.
The puck possession that seemed to be in the Devil’s favor all night began to change tides towards the Rangers as the third period dragged on. Long possession time by New York and New Jersey players needing a change was a common sight. If you couldn’t count the players on the ice you’d think the Devils were on the penalty kill.
As if the sudden resurgence of the Rangers wasn’t enough, Brendan Lemieux drew yet another penalty to send New Jersey back to the penalty box. The penalty kill started better than their previous attempts, with a few good clears. However, as the two minutes kept going on the Devils were unable to make a change, and the Rangers were able to hold the zone. New Jersey was able to limit the offensive zone rebounds, but that puck never got past their blue line.
As New Jersey returned to even strength the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker. New Jersey had some good chances at scoring an empty netter to put it away but just couldn’t bury it in the unmanned net. Unfortunately, for New York, Zibanejad to get hurt in the game’s final minute and didn’t return to the ice. The Devils were able to hold off the Ranger’s exciting third-period push to win this game 4-3.
Final Thoughts
Never in our wildest dreams did we think Miles Wood would have three goals through the season’s first three games. The story of the game was Jack Hughes two goal and overall three point night. Giving up two power-play goals isn’t as much as a concern as an almost third-period breakdown that wasted a lead.
Checking the final stat lines was surprising seeing the Rangers outshot the Devils 50-28. That’s another testament to how huge Mackenzie Blackwood has been to this team so far. Although the Devils put in most of their offensive work in the beginning of the game. In the second and the third periods the Devils were outshot by a more than two to one margin.