The Rangers ’powerful play seemed to be the most competitive component of their Tuesday night offense.
But when they were offered two late lead opportunities in the third period of a one-goal game, the Rangers were unable to capitalize. As a result, they lost the first of eight games this season against the Devils, 4-3, at Madison Square Garden.
“We look like we’ve spent a lot of time in their area,” Chris Kreider said of the Rangers ’third-period power plays. “I thought we were doing a pretty good job of executing what we wanted to do, we just didn’t get the rebounds. We kept jumping and spinning loose. What was the final count of shots? 50 shots? We weren’t just working. the perimeter in the game of force, but we carried the rubber in the net.
“[Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood] he’s a big guy, he probably saw a few records too. I have to do a better projection job. But at the same time, there was a lot of traffic, a lot of movement. After all, you will have to tilt his cap, he made some significant savings. I think if we continue with this approach, there would be a pace. Pass, pass, throw, pass, pass, throw. Recovery, pass, pass, shot. This is how the slaughter is broken. If we continue with this approach, we will be fine.
Two of the Rangers’ three goals got the man’s lead in the second period. His first equalized goal didn’t come until Filip Chytil left a rebound seven minutes into the third period to put the Rangers at one.
The Devils were called up too many men on the ice just over four minutes into the final period and the Rangers tied two penalties later in the third. Still, the Blueshirts couldn’t get one more to play in power, as Blackwood got high to end the night with 47 stops on 50 shots.
“We looked fantastic, listen, his goalkeeper played well,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said of the Rangers ’2-6 game.
Alexandar Georgiev deflected 16 of the 20 shots he faced before Quinn opted to put Igor Shesterkin in the net to start the third. Shesterkin finished with eight stops.
Devils head coach Lindy Ruff, who left her position as assistant coach to the Rangers in July after three seasons, took the win in her first training session against her former team.
Travis Zajac opened the scoring for the Devils 32 seconds after the record fell. The Rangers had a single shot on goal during the first 11 minutes of the game, while the Devils blocked all lanes and gathered the center in front of Blackwood.
After a burst in front of the Devils ’net early in the second period, Michael McLeod was penalized for slashing when he put Jacob Trouba in a head lock. With the man’s lead, Kreider sought to tip the puck toward Mika Zibanejad, but rejected Devils defender Ryan Murray’s scooter and beat Blackwood to tie the game 1-1 at 2:50 of the second.
Less than two minutes later, Georgiev got a piece from Ty Smith, but lost sight of the disc behind and Jack Hughes rushed to turn it into a two-goal game. Hughes also started the next play, blocking a shot from Trouba and taking it all on his own with a 3-1 lead at 8:38 of the second.
The Rangers reduced their deficit to one in their third power play of the night, when Adam Fox sent a faceless pass to Zibanejad to get a quick time. But Trouba sanctioned hard at 15:38 of the second and Hughes set up Miles Wood to make it 4-2 with four minutes to go.
A shot from PK Subban in the back of the center almost made it 5-2, but Quinn deflected offside and took the goal.
“We will continue to learn and grow and I am sure there will be moments of adversity,” Kreider said. “But we have to find a way to get points, especially in a game like that.”