There was a hockey game at the World’s Most Famous Arena on a cold Monday night in December. It was supposed to be one anyway. You wouldn’t have known it. One team showed up ready to do whatever it took to win. The other looked like they’d rather be elsewhere.

The end result was a predictable 5-1 Devils victory over the Rangers. They owned the ice and the scoreboard. They even had some of their fans who took the Path train and enjoyed seeing their team humiliate the close Hudson rival at Madison Square Garden. The Ric Flair, “Woo” chants in the third period summed up how far away the Rangers are from last year. In fact, 2023-24 feels like a long time ago.

If you needed an early reminder of how fundamentally flawed this team is, it came in the first 90 seconds. Jesper Bratt beat Igor Shesterkin on a breakaway to give the Devils the early lead. The culprit on the goal was Artemi Panarin. With Braden Schneider caught deep, Panarin got victimized on a bad pinch. Ondrej Palat sent Bratt flying into the Rangers’ zone on a two-on-one. Bratt beat Shesterkin through the five-hole for his 12th goal.

As great an offensive player as Panarin is, he’s been lousy defensively. When he put together his 49-goal, 120-point season, he showed more interest in backchecking. Despite leading the Blueshirts again in scoring with 13 goals and 28 points, he’s reverted back to the lazy habits that have plagued the team this season. The same habits that got Gerard Gallant fired following a seven-game first round exit to the Devils in 2023. Peter Laviolette took over and the same nucleus delivered a Presidents’ Trophy, advancing to the Conference Finals.

If you’ve watched this team play, you know how dysfunctional they are. At any moment, they can break down. The much faster and supremely skilled Devils used their transition to hurt the Rangers. They got a few breakaways, including a Jack Hughes one-on-one with Shesterkin when he slowed down as if it were a shootout before having his one-handed backhand easily turned away with the score 2-0. Whether or not it was “Instagram hockey” as Rangers studio analyst Steve Valiquette asserted on MSG Network can be debated on social media. Either way, Hughes got the last laugh by later scoring twice in the second period.

Before Hughes got his two pair in a three-goal Devils’ second, yet another defensive breakdown allowed Dawson Mercer to score his first goal in eight games. Mercer roamed free in the high slot and beat Shesterkin through the wickets for another bad goal. For a goalie who wants to be paid top dollar, he isn’t playing like it. Neither goal in the first period was good. Especially when following the Shesterkin stop on Hughes, the Rangers controlled the remainder of the period outshooting the Devils 12-7.

Buoyed by a Dougie Hamilton interference minor, the Rangers went to work on the power play. The reunited top unit had the puck for most of the two minutes. It was during it that Devils defenseman Brett Pesce put together an inspired shift on the penalty kill. He blocked three shots. Two came on Mika Zibanejad attempts including a one-timer. He would also get in the path of a Panarin wrist shot to help kill off the remainder. In total, the Devils blocked five shots. The four-man unit showed so much will to prevent the Rangers from scoring.

Jacob Markstrom was strong in net. He made some key stops to keep the Devils ahead by two. That included denying Adam Edstrom and later Chris Kreider. Despite falling behind, the Blueshirts established themselves on the forecheck. The Devils were a bit sloppy defensively. Markstrom was sharper than Shesterkin.

After a good start for the Devils to the second period, with Shesterkin making a good save on Hughes, Edstrom continued his solid work by drawing a penalty on Joonas Siegenthaler. Once again, the Rangers did everything they could on the man-advantage. But they were a little unlucky. Panarin rang a shot off the goalpost. Then, Markstrom made two clutch stops on Vincent Trocheck. That included a very tricky deflection that he gloved. He’d later deny Will Cuylle.

The second was a bit perplexing. Both teams were undisciplined. That resulted in a lot of special teams. With the Rangers having some momentum, Reilly Smith was nabbed for taking down Hughes. It was Kreider who was dangerous shorthanded, getting thwarted by Markstrom. When they were down a man, it looked like they would make it a game. Instead, Adam Fox took an unnecessary penalty when he hooked Mercer from behind to hand the Devils a two-man advantage for 21 seconds. Fox was another star that had a bad night. His penalty proved costly.

Just as the first power play was about to expire, Hughes had a pass that was intended for Stefan Noesen go right to Hamilton, who drove a shot past Shesterkin to make it 3-0. The Devils remained on the power play. Even though they didn’t do much, it hurt any chance of a Rangers’ comeback. At even strength, they played better than in previous games. All the special teams hurt the ice times for players that don’t play on the top unit or penalty kill. Alexis Lafreniere only received 12:34 for the game. He nearly scored on a good shift and almost set a goal up.

On another defensive breakdown, Hughes was allowed to pounce on the rebound of brother Luke’s shot and score. He easily outmaneuvered Sam Carrick to make it 4-0. Carrick had no business being out there. The Devils took advantage of the favorable matchup.

Kreider would get one back on the power play to cut the deficit to three less than a minute later. With Jonathan Kovacevic off for delay of game, Kreider had a deflection go back to Zibanejad. He then passed the puck in front for Kreider to bury for his 10th of the season. In a game when some key Blueshirts disappeared, Kreider was noticeable. He forced Markstrom into some difficult saves. While he hasn’t been as consistent offensively, he remains a player opponents must gameplan for. If he can heat up, it’ll help turn things around. That is if there aren’t big changes coming between now and Friday’s game against the Penguins.

With Zac Jones off for delay of game, Zibanejad got the best chance on the penalty kill. He moved in and went to the backhand. But Markstrom got just enough of it to keep it out. Zibanejad continues to look a step behind at five-on-five. But he was more aggressive shooting the puck. The Rangers need more of that from him.’

Although the Devils led by three, it wasn’t a comfortable lead. They gave the Rangers chances to get back in it. A dubious embellishment call on Cuylle really finished it off. On a play where Justin Dowling got his stick between Cuylle to trip him up, the refs felt that he went down easily to sell the call. If a stick is in that spot on a player, they’re going to fall down. It was a brutal even up call that negated a power play.

During the four-on-four, Kreider was called for interference on Hughes. That gave the Devils a four-on-three. On it, Hughes took a Bratt feed up top and patiently waited for Nico Hischier to set a screen before firing his second past Shesterkin to make it 5-1 with 64 seconds left in the period.

At the conclusion, Erik Haula took down Jones to put the Rangers on another power play to start the third. But there was nothing doing. They failed to capitalize on the bad penalty.

Even though they continued to attack a more defensive minded Devils, they never created the kind of chances that would’ve made it interesting. They held a 9-3 edge in shots. The Devils did a good job boxing out. They continued to block shots, finishing with 27.

Laviolette put together the old lines. They forechecked more and played better. Cuylle was back with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko. Lafreniere and Panarin were back with Trocheck.

The biggest disappointment was the lack of passion they showed. There wasn’t enough pushback. Aside from Jacob Trouba delivering a clean check to knock a Devil down, there wasn’t enough physicality. This is a team that lacks grit and character. They aren’t competing hard enough.

Following over a 30-minute delay, Laviolette told reporters that the answers are in the locker room. Are they? Or is he desperate? It looks like they’ve given up.