Sometimes, hard work pays off. It did for the Rangers in a well-deserved 3-2 overtime win over the Devils at 33rd and 7th on Thursday night. It was their second victory over the last three in what’s a more optimistic mini stretch that’s seen them go 2-0-1. Considering how challenging the first half’s been, they’ll take it.

By winning over the Devils for the first time this season, the Rangers stayed within four points of both the Blue Jackets and Penguins. Each were winners with the Jackets holding onto the second wildcard due to more regulation wins and one less game played.

At exactly the halfway mark, the Rangers have 40 points with 41 games remaining on the schedule. They will have to jump over a lot of teams to seriously challenge for the playoffs. If they intend to, that means faring better against even tougher opponents than the Devils. When they hit the road for a three-game trip, they’ll face the Golden Knights and Avalanche before concluding with the Utah Hockey Club next Thursday. We’ll see if they’re up to the challenge on Saturday when they face the league-leading Golden Knights in Vegas.

For now, they can enjoy a hard-fought victory over their close Hudson rivals. Special teams and a stronger commitment defensively helped them get a much-needed win to bounce back from a disappointing 5-4 loss in overtime to the Stars. The Rangers went 2-for-3 on the power play and successfully killed off four Devils’ power plays in regulation. They also outplayed the Devils in a more aggressive third period by outshooting them 12-6.

After Jacob Markstrom thwarted both Artemi Panarin (glove save) and Mika Zibanejad (pad save) on breakaways, an unlikely overtime hero emerged. Without Filip Chytil and Chris Kreider, Peter Laviolette rolled the dice and sent out Sam Carrick with Reilly Smith against Jack Hughes. Carrick’s takeaway on Hughes led to a two-on-one rush with Smith setting up Carrick for the overtime winner at 2:48. It was a nice reward for a gritty player who saw some extended ice time from Laviolette. Carrick’s third goal from Smith in overtime isn’t what you’d expect at this time of year. But that’s exactly what the Rangers needed to earn the valuable extra point.

Igor Shesterkin returned from the injured reserve to make his first start since Dec. 30. He was sharp early on making 11 saves in a busy first period. Unlike a previous outing on Dec. 2, he wasn’t peppered throughout with the defense holding the Devils to 23 shots. When they needed the timely stop, Shesterkin provided it to finish with 21 saves to pick up his first win since Dec. 20. It must’ve felt like a vacation compared to how most of the season’s gone.

Playing without two regulars, the Rangers had Jonny Brodzinski center newcomer Arthur Kaliyev and Brett Berard on the third line. After serving the final game of his eight-game suspension, Matt Rempe returned to the lineup and played on the fourth line with Carrick and Adam Edstrom. Laviolette made Jimmy Vesey a healthy scratch. Zac Jones sat out again. He’s expected to get moved soon after his agent requested a trade. I’m not going to get into that now.

In the first period, the Rangers had to kill off two straight Devils’ power plays. After taking care of an Adam Fox high-sticking minor, they got caught with too many men on the ice 28 seconds later back at full strength. Down a man for the second time, they allowed the Devils to generate a couple of chances, with Shesterkin denying Nico Hischier before Timo Meier went off the crossbar.

When Kurtis MacDermid interfered with Ryan Lindgren, it was the Rangers’ turn to go on the five-on-four. They made it count quickly by using only five seconds to grab the lead. On a faceoff win from Vincent Trocheck, the puck came back to Fox, who skated over to the middle of the ice before winding up with a slapshot that deflected off Devils defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic past Markstrom for a 1-0 lead with 7:55 left.

The Devils’ best chance came when Kovacevic was set up in the slot for a wide open shot that Shesterkin made a big save on. Despite getting outshot 11-6, the Rangers took the one-goal lead to the locker room.

Most of the second period was controlled by the Devils. Able to get their transition game going, they used their superior speed to keep the puck in the Rangers’ zone for long stretches. Following a near miss from Meier on a prior shift, some forecheck pressure led to Hughes tipping in a Brett Pesce shot for his fifth goal in three games this season against the Rangers. In a bit of a miscommunication with Zibanejad, Shesterkin went behind his net to play a puck. Ondrej Palat stole it and fed Pesce for an open shot while Hughes was left alone to redirect his 16th at 4:04 to tie the score.

Outside of a couple of deflections, the Rangers continued to turn over pucks in the neutral zone. Eventually, they got burned. Will Cuylle absorbed a clean check from Dougie Hamilton that allowed the Devils to counterattack. Hughes retrieved the loose puck and sent a good outlet for Jesper Bratt, who gained the Rangers’ zone and beat Shesterkin from a tough angle to make it 2-1 with 11:32 left. It was a bad goal from Shesterkin. He was culpable on both of their goals with his giveaway leading to Hughes’ tying marker.

Despite not much happening, the Rangers hung around in an eerie period that saw the Devils only register five shots. With less than five minutes left, Trocheck drew a slashing minor on Hischier. Unlike the first power play, the second one took some time for the Rangers to set up. Eventually, Fox got the puck over to Zibanejad for a wrist shot with Trocheck in front that rebounded off Markstrom right to Panarin for a power-play goal that tied it with 2:47 remaining. The assist extended Zibanejad’s point streak to five straight (2-3-5). He’s been skating with more purpose and thinking shot more.

In the third, Zibanejad was the Rangers’ best forward. It was his line that had the Devils pinned in their end, leading to cheers from the home crowd. After he missed wide, Smith was stopped twice by Markstrom, who was his team’s best player. Without him, they don’t even get a point. Markstrom was on top of his game by stopping all 12 shots he faced in the third.

At one point, the Rangers led in shots 8-0. They were all over the Devils who didn’t resemble the team they were last month. Defensively, they’ve struggled lately. Even in the 3-2 win over the Kraken on Jan. 6, they relied heavily on Markstrom to end a four-game losing streak. As dangerous as the Devils are offensively due to Hughes, Hischier, and Bratt, they turn the puck over a lot. On Thursday night, they had 25 giveaways, including a game worst seven from Hughes. As a team, the Rangers had 10 by comparison.

If there’s an area that still must be fixed, it’s their penchant for allowing game-breakers like Hughes too much time and space to create chances. They were far too passive as Hughes coasted up the ice and got in for a tough shot that Shesterkin kicked out. It was the first shot of the period for the Devils.

With the game still tied, Nathan Bastian took down Trocheck to put the Rangers back on the man-advantage. This time, it was the Devils who threatened to take the lead shorthanded. Dawson Mercer anticipated a pass and broke in for a shorthanded bid that Shesterkin calmly padded away. He then shut down Bratt to get a stoppage. Zibanejad was sent off for a slash on Palat to make it four-on-four.

As good as the Devils are at that, a pair of giveaways allowed the Rangers to get a couple of chances. After Markstrom stopped Cuylle in tight, he had to deal with a crashing Carrick after he was shoved from behind. With Cuylle in fishing for a rebound, Pesce went after him during a heated scrum while Markstrom got in Carrick’s face. There was nothing Carrick could’ve done to prevent the collision. Pesce had words with Cuylle in the corner. Cooler heads prevailed. No penalties were called. It was just hardnosed hockey between bitter rivals.

On an abbreviated power play, the Devils were unable to take advantage. They kept trying to get the puck in front to Stefan Noesen, who was stopped once by Shesterkin. The Rangers did a better job against the pesky Noesen, who likes to camp out in front.

When the teams were back at full strength, Lafreniere was out with Zibanejad for a shift. He let go of two shots that whizzed wide. After Trocheck came on with Panarin, the Rangers top line nearly set up the go-ahead goal. However, Braden Schneider rang a shot off the goalpost. Lafreniere was then shut down by Markstrom on a wrap-around.

On the opposite end, Shesterkin came up big to deny Bratt and then had some help from the goalpost on a Kovacevic opportunity. For a veteran, who beat out Simon Nemec out of camp, Kovacevic’s been a big surprise for the Devils. He was easily their best defenseman in this one.

With the game still hanging in the balance, Trocheck broke around the Devils’ defense to get a good low shot right on Markstrom that he handled to get a stoppage. On a big defensive shift with less than a minute remaining, Laviolette had Carrick out with Adam Edstrom and Brodzinski, who replaced Rempe due to the score. The Devils applied some offensive pressure, but Edstrom had a couple of key blocks to keep it tied.

The game went to overtime. In it, Laviolette started with Trocheck, Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller, who had a stronger night while paired with Will Borgen. After playing the Devils’ trio of Hughes, Hischer, and Luke Hughes a standstill, Fox sent Panarin in on a breakaway. But Markstrom made a great glove save to deny the bid and then kept play moving.

Hamilton got the best chance for the Devils but had his trick wrist shot denied by Shesterkin. Following a Mercer miss wide, Panarin found Zibanejad open at the Devils’ blue line for another break-in. He tried to go backhand, forehand but Markstrom stayed with him to kick it out. At that point, it didn’t look like anything would get by Markstrom.

On a play inside the Rangers’ blue line, Hughes tried to dance around into the slot, but Carrick got his stick on it to send him and Smith on a two-on-one. Earlier in the game, Smith blew a two-on-none shorthanded chance by getting too cute. This time, he made the right play by sending a pass across for a Carrick one-timer past Markstrom for the game-winner. That sent the bench onto the ice to celebrate Carrick’s goal.

There hasn’t been a whole lot to smile about in the first half. But for the Rangers to get a win over a quality opponent without both Chytil and Kreider, it showed plenty of character. They played the right way for a change and got the desired result. Whether or not it’s a steppingstone depends on what happens next.

Rempe Quiet in Return

As far as Rempe, his return was uneventful. He took 11 shifts and had four hits and avoided any undisciplined penalties in 7:47 of ice time. The Devils countered with MacDermid, who had one shot and took an ill-advised penalty that led to Fox’s power-play goal in just eight shifts (3:45).

What was even the point of either playing?