Devils Look To Tie Series Before Heading Home After Game 4

Akira Schmid. (Image via. AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

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

Check our social media pages later today for updates.

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 Meier. (Photo via ESPN)

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.

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.