Jonas Siegenthaler and Jack Hughes scored goals for the Devils and Akira Schmid authored another sharp performance in goal as New Jersey beat the lackluster Rangers, 3-1, Monday night in Game 4 of their First Round Series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Devs’ win knotted the best-of-7 series at two games apiece with Game 5 looming Thursday in Newark. The Devils have wrested back home-ice advantage after dropping the first two games of the series at home. Of course, who knows if that is a good thing, considering the road team has won every game so far.
With the score tied at 1 in the third period, Siegenthaler snapped a wrist shot past Igor Shesterkin’s stick side with 11:38, giving the Devils the lead. With 25.1 seconds remaining in the game, Ondrej Palat scored an empty-net goal for New Jersey.
Here are the key takeaways…
– Until Vincent Trocheck swatted in a rebound just 1:42 in the third period, the crowd at Madison Square Garden was mostly tepid all night. But with the score tied at 1, the Garden became playoff-loud again as the sellout crowd of 18,006 was howling. It was Trocheck’s first goal of the playoffs and the play percolated off a Patrick Kane shot into traffic, Chris Kreider backhanding a loose puck at Akira Schmid, who blocked it. But Trocheck fired the puck past Schmid’s glove for the equalizer.
– The Rangers’ power play, a huge factor in the first two games when it tallied twice each night, again fizzled. The Rangers’ PP is a combined 0-for-8 over the last two losses, including 0-for-3 Monday night. During the regular season, the Rangers were successful on 24.1 percent of their power plays, seventh-best in the NHL. Overall in this series, the Rangers are 4-for-18 (22 percent) on the power play.
– Whatever ultimately happens in this series, it seems Hughes, the Devils’ superstar, will get his goals, even if Ranger fans boo every time he touches the puck. Hughes scored on a breakaway just 2:50 into the game, beating Shesterkin on the goalie’s right side after he got free following a pass from Siegenthaler. (That’s the same Jonas Siegenthaler who was, weirdly, a scratch in Game 2). The score came immediately following two solid chances for the Rangers, including Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko on a two-on-one. It was Hughes’ third goal of the series and it gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
– The Rangers looked sluggish through large chunks of the first period, even if they had a 10-8 advantage in shots. They failed on two consecutive power plays late in the period and even had one man advantage cut short when Vladimir Tarasenko was whistled for tripping. The Garden crowd, normally quite raucous during the playoffs, was quiet during several stoppages.
– The Rangers had a third power-play chance with 9:21 left in the second period, but couldn’t convert. There were several fans booing when the time on the PP ran out. The Devils outshot the Rangers, 8-6, in the period. The Rangers best chance during the second was probably when Shesterkin passed to Kakko on a rush and Kakko passed to Alexis Lafreniere, who spun around and had a good look but fired wide of the net.
Other second period news: There was a delay with 3:50 left because a pane of the glass near the Ranger bench had a crack in it. It was replaced.
Highlights
What’s next
The Rangers will head to the Prudential Center in Newark for Game 5 against the Devils on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
