With a chance to close out the series in Game 6, the New Jersey Devils lost a 5-2 blowout to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden last night. It was a rough loss for a Devils team that had dominated the previous three games. Despite looking strong for much of the night, they fell apart during the second half of the game.
Summary
First Period
The Devils got a strong start to the first period, pinning the Rangers in their own zone for minutes on end. They got numerous chances, but couldn’t put one past Igor Shesterkin, which would be a major theme of the night.
Minutes later, Kevin Bahl shot the puck from far out, giving Curtis Lazar the chance to bury the rebound and make it 1-0. Michael McLeod made a great effort to start the play, motoring behind the Ranger net and dishing it out to Damon Severson at the blue line.
Unfortunately, the lead wouldn’t last long. Dawson Mercer took a tripping penalty at 19:06 in a desperate attempt to stave off a Patrick Kane breakaway. New York finally capitalized on the man advantage with yet another Chris Kreider tip-in goal, this time off a shot from Adam Fox.
The score would be 1-1 going into the intermission. Ondrej Palat took a tripping penalty to end the period, so New York would have a power play to start the second.
Second Period
Mika Zibanejad scored his first goal of the series at the 10:10 mark to make it 2-1 Rangers. Chris Kreider notched the assist, sending a backhand pass from behind the net to a waiting Zibanejad in the slot.
Vincent Trocheck took a roughing penalty at 10:58, but the Devils couldn’t beat Shesterkin and the Rangers’ penalty kill. New York extended their lead at 18:25 with a goal from Vladamir Tarasenko at the circle.
The Rangers controlled the pace of play in the second, expanding their lead to 3-1 going into the third period.
Third Period
The Devils would need to up their attack to come back on the Rangers in the third period, but New York wasn’t having any of it. New Jersey went on a run of offensive chances, but much like the first two games of the series, the Rangers sat in their zone and blocked shots. This put control back in their hands, finally stopping the Devils’ speed.
Barclay Goodrow gave the Rangers a three-goal lead at the 7:23 mark, capitalizing on a two-on-one rush with Jimmy Vesey. They added a fifth goal at 12:28, this one coming from Braden Schneider. Head coach Lindy Ruff swapped Akira Schmid for Vitek Vanecek after this goal.
After a power play was awarded, head coach Lindy Ruff elected to pull the goalie, giving the Devils a six-on-four advantage.
Dawson Mercer seized the opportunity, scoring New Jersey’s second goal of the night off a Nico Hischier rebound. This wouldn’t be enough to overcome the deficit, and the Devils fell to the Rangers 5-2.
Game Notes
Penalties Need To Stop
During the three games prior to last night, the Rangers had gone 0-for-9 on the man advantage, but that wasn’t going to last forever. They finally broke through with a power play goal from Chris Kreider in the first period. That was the only one they scored last night, but it wasn’t for a lack of chances.
Once again, the Devils took a lot of unnecessary offensive zone penalties, costing them time on attack and goal-scoring opportunities. Ondrej Palat had a particularly rough night, taking two silly penalties in rapid succession between the first and second periods. They’ll need to tighten things up in game seven to regain the momentum.
Who Gets The Net?
Akira Schmid is one of the main reasons the Devils are where they are right now, no doubt about it. He dazzled in Game 3, 4, and 5, but faltered last night, allowing five goals.
Now, he’s in a similar situation as Vitek Vanecek was after the first two games. He didn’t play poorly but had to be pulled after getting ambushed by goals. Schmid has been the breakout goalie of this postseason, but now head coach Lindy Ruff has a decision to make. Does he go with the goalie who got him here in Schmid? Or does he go with the backbone of the regular season in Vanecek?
Up Next
The Devils will return to Newark for a Game 7 duel with the Rangers tomorrow at 7:00 pm EST.