Tonight, the Rangers dropped a preseason match 5-2 at the Devils in Newark. They lost both games to their Hudson rival in the exhibition part of the schedule. The final tuneup is on Thursday at home against the Bruins.

There isn’t much to say about the game. It was more of the same. The Rangers chased the play in a lethargic first period. They aren’t as fast as the Devils. That much is obvious. It would’ve been nice if the more experienced roster had played more disciplined tonight.

Instead, they took ill-advised penalties and got burned. The Devils took full advantage by scoring three times on the power play. An area that looks like it’ll be a team strength due to the personnel they have. Luke and Jack Hughes scored power play goals in the first two periods. Dawson Mercer also tallied one in the second.

The Rangers got a goal from rookie Will Cuylle. He was able to steer in a rebound by being in the right place at the right time. That gives him three goals during the preseason. Cuylle has had a great training camp. He deserves to make the roster. But is there a place for him in the top nine? We’ll soon find out.

Tyler Pitlick left the game with an upper-body injury during the second period. His status is uncertain. He was a lock to play on the checking line at the beginning of the regular season. If the injury causes him to miss time, perhaps Cuylle will be in the lineup for the season opener next week at Buffalo.

If they did it on merit, Cuylle would play along with Brennan Othmann, who was buried on the fourth line for some reason. Why even have him stay with the big club? He may as well pack his bags for Hartford. That’s where he’ll start his pro career.

Given how lackluster Alexis Lafreniere has been, it’s hard to know where Peter Laviolette will stick him for next week’s game at the Sabres. He hasn’t looked good in any of the three games he played in. He practiced the other day on the left wing. But Laviolette was still keeping his options open when pressed by reporters.

Kaapo Kakko played with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider on the top line. His skating has improved. The decision-making still needs to be better. He had one open look during the second period. Instead of taking the shot from the circle, he threw the puck away for a turnover. On such plays, Kakko must be more instinctive. Take the shot. Don’t force the play.

Despite that, Kakko also nearly had a clean steal and walk-in. He also was in on the Cuylle goal during the second. That might’ve come during a line change. But it was good to see. At this point, Kakko looks like he should start on the first line. He had some chemistry with Zibanejad and Kreider last season. There’s an opportunity for him to claim that spot.

As for the first period, it was one to skip over. The Rangers had one shot over the first 14 minutes. The Devils were only credited with four at one point. But they scored twice over a 36-second span. The first coming when Jesper Bratt fired a rocket by Jonathan Quick on the power play.

Chris Kreider made a coverage mistake when he vacated the slot. That allowed Bratt to bury a Jack Hughes feed for another goal. He’s been hot in the early going. It was a poor read.

On the next shift, the Devils struck again at even strength. On some forecheck pressure from Ondrej Palat and Dawson Mercer, they got the puck over to Luke Hughes for a wrist shot. It beat a screened Quick to the far side. Erik Haula was allowed to park himself in front of Quick, who couldn’t pick it up. That was an issue last year.

Mika Zibanejad took a lazy slashing penalty to hand the Devils another power play. But Quick made two good saves to prevent them from taking a three-goal lead.

The second was more evenly played. Each side had eight shots on goal. Both scored twice during a bit of a sloppy period. Following a play by Braden Schneider, Kakko was involved when Cuylle scored on a rebound to make it 2-1. He’s done enough to make the roster. It’s up to the coaching staff.

But before they got momentum, Fox was forced to hook Nico Hischier from behind to stop a near breakaway. That was due to a puzzling decision from Artemi Panarin. He made a soft back pass into Fox’s skates that trapped both. To his credit, Fox hustled back to take the penalty.

On the second half of the power play, Hughes made a good stretch pass up for Timo Meier. He dusted Jacob Trouba and forced Quick into a tough stop. With the rebound sitting there, Mercer easily beat a slow Miller for a power play goal. Two glaring mistakes from the defensive pair that really shouldn’t play together anymore.

After Brendan Smith took a penalty, Tomas Nosek did to give the Blueshirts a five-on-three power play. Laviolette channeled predecessor Gerard Gallant by using his timeout to rest the top unit. Following it, they averted disaster when John Marino actually came in on a three on five to get a good shorthanded bid on Quick that he handled.

Once they got set up, Panarin fed Fox at the side. His centering pass banked in off a Devil to make it 3-2. Kreider picked up the other assist. It was the first power play goal of the preseason. Hopefully, the Rangers will improve that key area.

Rather than build on another goal, instead they took another bad penalty. On a battle in front of the Devils bench, Barclay Goodrow responded to a Tyler Toffoli check by giving him a cross-check. It was unnecessary.

Palat and Toffoli easily combined to set up Jack Hughes for a blast in the slot that restored their two-goal lead. Goodrow likes to mix it up occasionally. That wasn’t the right time to do so. If it were the regular season, he deserved to be glued to the bench for the rest of the game.

The third period was rather boring. The Rangers out-shot the Devils 10-4. But Vanecek made a few good saves. He stopped 19 in total. Quick finished with 14.

With 2:25 left, Hischier took an Alexander Holtz lead pass for an empty netter. That sealed it.

If there was one takeaway, the Rangers have to play much faster. They’re not on the Devils’ level when it comes to speed and tempo. However, they showed last week that they’re capable of playing better. They carried the play during the second part of last week’s game. That’s the level they have to play at under Laviolette.

The lack of discipline must change. So should the structure, which hasn’t been that good so far. The excuse about still adapting to Laviolette’s system will grow old fast. Getting off to a good start would help.

There was some hitting at least from both sides. Meier threw some artillery for the Devils. So did Trouba on the Rangers. It’s a rivalry for a reason.

The Rangers and Bruins can be seen on TNT tomorrow night at 7:30 EST. That’ll do it for tonight.

Derek