The Devils crossed the Hudson seeking to tie the NHL record for most consecutive road wins. Coming off a tough loss to the Islanders on Friday the Devils showed no hang over as they scored twice in the first five minutes of the game on goals by Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer. The Devils held the Rangers without a shot for more than half of the first period. Unfortunately for the Devils, they were unable to maintain the lead to the end of the period and gave up a 2 on 1 goal to Chris Kreider at the 18:35 mark of the period.
Coach Lindy Ruff expressed his displeasure with the performance of his fourth line (Sharangovich, Boqvist, and Holtz) focusing on the failed forecheck that directly led to the 2 on 1 opportunity for the Rangers.
When asked what the fourth line needed to do to earn more playing time Ruff was direct, "Don't get scored against. We went through that (forecheck) exactly and one of our forwards didn't get above, our defense half gambled but didn't make a gamble and it was probably the only play we gave up an opportunity in the first period. We didn't play the 2 on 1 very well after that either."
The discomfort with the play of the fourth line in that sequence led to Ruff shortening his bench and only rolling three lines primarily for the rest of the game, something he admitted he was reluctant to do with a back to back game looming tonight.
Jack Hughes almost single handedly put the game out of reach in the second period. Hughes went end to end then stickhandled and lifted a backhand into the roof of the net over Igor Shesterkin's outstretched arm to extend the Devils lead to 3-1.
What a goal from Jack Hughes pic.twitter.com/acG3tNjfgp
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) December 13, 2022
This was Jack's 8th goal in as many games as he extended his career-high point scoring streak also to eight games. Minutes later, in on another breakaway Hughes was swept down by a diving Braden Schneider leading to a penalty shot that would have given the Devils a likely insurmountable three goal lead. This time though Hughes was bested by Shesterkin as a last second poke check from the goalie denied what would have been a sure goal into the open net for Hughes.
Ig🚫r. pic.twitter.com/YGOwyQvzNl
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 13, 2022
Not long afterwards the momentum would shift back towards the Rangers after a questionable interference call on Jonas Siegenthaler. The lethal Rangers power play scored when Vincent Trocheck deflected an Adam Fox wrister out of the air down under the pads of a screened Vitek Vanececk to pull the Rangers within one. Just seven seconds later, after a costly defensive error by the Devils after the faceoff, Kappo Kakko, after a cross-ice feed from KeAndre Miller fired the puck into an empty net above a sprawling Vanecek to tie the game at three.
Two goals in seven seconds for the Rangers to knot this game 3-3. It's Kakko set up by a royal road pass from Miller pic.twitter.com/kP05bq7RM5
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) December 13, 2022
Vanecek didn't have a chance to stop either goal as he was let down by his defenders for allowing a persistent screen and not tracking back.
Vanecek completely screened by Kreider on the Trocheck goal; never saw it.
Had no chance on the Kakko finish.
NYR scores 2 in :07, tie game
— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) December 13, 2022
From this point on until the shot from Chytil hit the back of the net in overtime the Devils controlled the rest of the game. They out-chanced and outshot the Rangers and controlled the puck for almost two minutes in overtime. Frustratingly for them they were unable to find the winner. The Devils doubled the Rangers shots in that time. While not the desired outcome for New Jersey there was still much to build on. The Devils escaped MSG with a point, taking three of a possible four points from their two trips to MSG this season.
The Devils stars continue to play well as goals from Hischier, Hughes, and Mercer, all in the run of play showed the Devils dominance in 5v5. The Rangers had a difficult time keeping up with the Devils speed in transition. The Devils created over 80 percent of the high danger chances in the game and scored above their expected goal calculation.
Offense is not the problem and neither has been the goaltending. The Devils have conceded that their defensive zone play has been lacking the last few games as they have failed to properly match up and have had lapses in coverage. Unfortunately for them, these lapses have not led to the opponents hitting the post or shooting wide but have instead ended up in the back of the net. Should the Devils be able to clean this up, and there is no reason to believe they can't, a return to the level of play from a few weeks ago is likely.
The Devils were unable to bounce back in their next game against the Dallas Stars 4-1 at the Prudential Center. The three-game losing streak is the longest of the season as the defense has failed to keep pucks out of the net, being outscored 14-8.
The Devils will look to regroup at home against the Flyers on Thursday as they look to snap their losing streak. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
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