Devils win a track meet on ice and let Canes know they have a series

Posted on May 7, 2023 by hasan4978

Sometimes when seeing all the strange things that have already happened this postseason with the Devils in general, I wonder is it just me who thinks our whole postseason is weird? It has been a while since the Devils have had even this long of a playoff run and as much as I like I hockey, I can’t bring myself to watch random other teams in postseasons where the Devils aren’t in it (or even most of the time when they are). Even before today’s pond hockey game, you just can’t explain all the things that have gone on – getting obliterated the first two at home by the Rangers followed by winning four of the next five including two shutouts at home, then getting obliterated in Carolina before coming home and turning the tables this afternoon in a wild Game 3.

Make no mistake, the 8-4 scoreline actually flattered Carolina. Today’s game was about fifty minutes of domination by the Devils, a few tenative minutes early, and a few minutes where our power play skated around the ice drunk – more on that later. We absolutely lit up goalies Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov to the tune of four goals apiece, the way Carolina lit up everyone we put in net the first two games. To be fair, it’s not like Vitek Vanecek (this afternoon’s starter after Akira Schmid was pulled in the first two) was much better, but he didn’t have to be. Not when you put up eight, including four by the early moments of the second period.

I haven’t heard the term ‘positive regression’ until recently but it fit today as there was a lot of positive regression by our top scorers – with Nico Hischier, Timo Meier and defenseman Damon Severson all getting their first goals of the playoffs in our tenth postseason game. Timo’s goal in particular was well-timed, being the first one after a nervous first six minutes where we created little.

Timo’s goal seemingly took some of the nervousness out of both the building and the skaters on ice, setting up a first period that was a long time coming. Before we get to that though, I almost forgot to comment about the lineup changes – Derek covered the insertion of Luke Hughes into the lineup and I alluded to the change in goal as well, but Lindy Ruff also decided to go 11-7 and put in Brendan Smith as an extra defenseman for forward Jesper Boqvist. I was originally worried Smith was put in as a caddy for Hughes, but it turned out he was more of a caddy for Kevin Bahl, who only played six minutes and probably will be an odd man out in Game 4 – if we decide to make any lineup changes coming off a big win.

I admit, I wasn’t exactly on board with all the lineup changes the way I was after Game 2 of the Ranger series, to me it felt like making all the wrong changes other than finally giving the younger Hughes a chance in a series that needed his skillset. To his credit, he made the most of it with two assists in his 14:28 of icetime. To me it felt like he played more, since he was involved when he was on the ice. Mostly for good, with one exception. Admittedly, I winced when my friend in 104 told me that Vanecek led the team on the ice in pregame warmups, signaling he was going to start. Even if as I said in my last blog, I can’t exactly make too compelling of an argument for or against either guy at the moment, though I’d have given Schmid the call considering his last two home starts were shutouts. Of course, coaching 101 states that usually when a guy gets pulled in back-to-back games, the other guy gets to start the next game.

I can’t exactly say it was the right decision given that Vanecek gave up four goals, though as Ruff alluded to later, a couple of them were in third period junktime at 7-2. It sure didn’t feel like junktime to me though, given the way goals have been flying in from left, right and center this series – especially with the memory of the Colorado shootout from a few months ago fresh in mind. He did make a couple of solid saves early when it was a game at least, and thankfully had the crowd support throughout. Mostly I winced when I heard he was starting because I really just didn’t want him to get blown up again, and have his entire season ruined by getting lit in a third straight home playoff game.

I wasn’t too thrilled over bringing Smith back either, but I kind of expected it once they said Luke would play for the injured Ryan Graves. It’s not like Luke was going to replace Graves’ penalty minutes, and today showed Bahl hasn’t gotten the staff’s trust enough yet to assume those minutes either. At least Smith didn’t commit one of his typical stupid penalties today, although imo he got away with an obvious high stick in the first period. At least it looked like one, though with the Canes’ penchant for diving and embellishing you can’t really be sure. In any case, nothing was called and at least the officials didn’t get in the way today – again, with one exception.

Back to the game itself…putting in Luke did more than improve our breakouts on the defensive end and add more offense, it also fired up older brother Jack who had by far his best game of the postseason, executing a nice give-and-go with (cough) Smith for the Devils’ second goal of the first period – but even that wasn’t as amazing as our third goal, a shorthanded tally by Mike McLeod where he made a nice one-on-one move to beat Seth Jarvis, then…willed the puck past Andersen for an electrifying goal.

McLeod astutely noted in the postgame that he was more aggressive, noticing he had a forward (Jarvis) as the man back on the Canes’ PP. That might be the best moment of skill I’ve seen in his entire career and it couldn’t have come at a much better time, solidifying a three-goal lead and our best period of the playoffs. New Jersey kept the pressure on early in the second, with captain Hischier finally getting his first of the postseason, a typically gritty goal in front of the net after a diving feed in front by Jesper Bratt. I called out the captain for his scoring slump after Game 2, he responded in Game 3 and Andersen’s night was done.

That’s when things turned from great to just plain weird. Sebastian Aho answered Nico’s goal with one of his own barely a minute later off a double deflection that Vitek couldn’t do much about. I’m not going to lie though…with Schmid or regular season Vanecek, I wouldn’t have been nervous given the way the Devils were dominating. Today with the way Vitek has played in the postseason? I was jittery after every goal allowed, even if he wasn’t giving up soft goals per se, you’d have liked to see more saves on the few quality chances the Canes did get. Thankfully the Devils were able to outscore their mistakes today, and Severson’s first of the postseason at 5:33 of the second both restored the Devils’ four goal lead, and dented Kochetkov.

Then came the most annoying moment of the game, for two reasons – one, because when you have a four-goal lead, the last thing you want to do is throw a blind cross-ice pass while on a power play, knowing the Hurricanes are going to be looking for shorthanded breakaways. It was Luke who committed this cardinal sin, his only real mistake of the night and it led to a breakaway where Dougie Hamilton appeared to actually play the stick and not touch Jordan Martinook, but a penalty shot was awarded nonetheless. Why even bother trying to defend breakaways if they’re just going to give the benefit of the doubt to the shooter on legal defensive plays?

Of course, that play would cost us as Martinook scored on his penalty shot and the Canes were back within three goals. We survived some anxious moments toward the end of the second period, including having to kill off a McLeod penalty without him on the ice to do it. Give credit where credit is due, at least the Devils’ PK did the job in Newark, not only shutting down the Canes’ PP but also scoring shorthanded earlier in the game. Smith and John Marino were the Devils’ top shutdown pair on the PK and they both clearly did the job, allowing few quality looks by the Canes.

Knowing the Canes were not going to back down, the Devils just needed to keep pouring on in the third period – which they did, through an unlikely source. Another guy I’ve been critical of this year is Miles Wood, but he showed some of his old speed on a breakaway early in the third period, scoring an electrifying goal and showing his emotion with an emphatic fist pump after the goal.

I couldn’t help but feel good for him at that moment, as much as I’ve criticized his play this year you do know he’s always going to give his best. He’s had a tough postseason being in and out of the lineup (and as a FA-to be no less), but after a couple of strong games it looks like he’s back in for a while at least. If you’re a Canes fan you’d describe this as farcical since two guys collided, enabling Wood to get his breakaway. Oh well, not our problem this time.

Also looking inspired was big brother Jack, who played jacked up at least in part because little brother was on the ice for his first playoff game. Not only did he put up two goals and two assists for a four-point night, but he also felt his oats enough to fight Aho after the two got into a kerfuffle in the second period. So much for his Lady Byng candidacy. Hughes did what he does best in the third period though, as his second goal of the game on a nice little move in close made it 7-2 and seemingly put the game away as a contest.

However, the game then turned from blowout to farce as the Devils gave up not one, but two more shorthanded goals…on the same penalty. First, Martinook and Jordan Staal got a step on both the Hughes brothers and the latter fed the former for the Canes’ second shorty of the night (the first was technically the penalty shot) to make it 7-3. Then, Tomas Tatar got poke-checked with both he and Severson getting beaten to the goal by Jarvis, who got a measure of revenge with a breakaway shorty of his own. Once again our lead was ‘only’ three goals and I was still nervous somehow. Especially with a power play that was a total tire fire, being a -3 on the night in terms of goals scored, after they hadn’t scored all season against the Canes, giving up three other shorthanded goals to boot!

Yet the Canes were still melting down emotionally – taking penalty after penalty in the third – and finally, we were able to get one of the power play freebees back on an extended five-on-three, when a nice tic-tac-toe play from Luke and Bratt led to Ondrej Palat scoring the Devils’ eighth goal of the night. An actual power play marker of our own! Technically it was a five-on-four, though the first guy out of the penalty box hadn’t really entered the play before the goal. Either way we need more than that to combat a shorthanded unit that’s dominated us all year long.

Thankfully despite the power play woes and Vitek’s shakiness at times, the Devils had more than enough firepower to come away with a relatively comfortable 8-4 win, getting themselves back in the series. Clearly more work needs to be done, they need to find a way to get move saves out of whoever plays goal, and they absolutely need work on the power play. If both those things happen maybe Game 3 can portend another turnaround. If neither happens, then today’s game might just be a blip on the radar like Game 3 against Tampa in 2018. At least for one day we were able to have fun at the Rock without the specter of Ranger fans or the what if of losing that series hanging over our heads. And yes, we finally managed to not lose the first three games of the next series after beating them…yay for small victories.

At least Luke’s success today is another more meaningful victory going forward, not only does he have playoff experience now, but it was a mostly positive one. Even if that shorthanded breakaway allowed was a lesson learned.

It looks like Luke’s in the lineup to stay now, just one game after I wasn’t sure if he’d get in all postseason. I’m not sure if Ruff will make any changes for Game 4, he usually doesn’t like to change a winning lineup but the fact we went 11-7 plus the fact Bahl only played around six minutes probably means he could get scratched in a more conventional 12-6 lineup for Game 4. I don’t think the goalie decision is all that clearcut either, it’s not like the coach has been averse to benching Vitek off of wins (he sat him for Mackenzie Blackwood two straight games when Vitek was on a three-game winning streak earlier in the year). I’m glad he got through this game, but he’s still not playing well enough for me to have any real confidence in him, giving up seven goals in five periods this series is just not good enough. Maybe Schmid just needs a blow regardless.

I’d be tempted to change it up in goal, but we’ve made mostly the right decisions in this postseason so far, so we’ll see what the lineup card looks like for Game 4.

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Gallant, Rangers agree to part ways, organization deserves more blame for this mess

Posted on May 6, 2023 by Derek

In a move that isn’t surprising, the Rangers and Gerard Gallant have decided to part ways. Following the disappointing first round defeat to the Devils, there was uncertainty surrounding Gallant’s job status.

Despite having another successful season in which the team went 47-22-13 with 107 points, Gallant was unable to match last year’s success. In his first year, the Rangers followed up a 110-point season by coming back to defeat the Penguins and rallying past the Hurricanes to reach their first Eastern Conference Final since 2015.

Led by Igor Shesterkin having a Vezina season, Gallant turned the Rangers around. He took over for David Quinn behind the bench in 2021-22. Given a young roster that had a core featuring Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, and Ryan Strome, he did a good job.

Chris Drury provided Gallant with high character players such as Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reaves. Drury also added key deadline pieces, Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano, Tyler Motte, and Justin Braun. All fit in well into a roster that had more grit than the 2022-23 edition. They made key contributions in putting the Rangers within two wins of the Stanley Cup Finals. However, the championship Lightning won four straight games to take the closely fought series.

Unlike his first season, Gallant had to mix and match to find the right combinations. With Strome leaving via free agency, Drury brought in Vincent Trocheck as a replacement. He had a good first season but was unable to duplicate it in the postseason. Something that was emblematic of their first round ouster.

The team’s leading scorer Panarin was unable to produce in the playoffs. He had only two assists. Both of which came in a 5-1 win over the Devils to take Game One. Even playing a simpler game minus too many high-risk passes for turnovers didn’t change his lack of production. The Game Seven overtime hero against the Pens was a bitter disappointment. He wasn’t the only one.

Zibanejad only had a goal in the seven-game series. It again took six games for him to score, doing so in a Game Six win to stave off elimination. He had too many shifts where he disappeared offensively.

If not for Chris Kreider, who had a career best 52 goal season under Gallant, the Rangers would’ve been eliminated sooner. He scored five of his six goals on the power play. After a tough seventh game in which he was culpable on at least one goal, Kreider took the blame. He always holds himself accountable.

Even Fox, who was generously nominated for the Norris despite a few better candidates, didn’t have a good playoff. While he was a big factor with eight assists with four coming in Game One, he was nonexistent in the four losses. Like the Lightning did last year to turn around that series, the Devils successfully pressured Fox up high to take away time and space. On Mike McLeod’s shorthanded winner in an uncompetitive 4-0 loss that was symbolic of how hot and cold they were, Fox was taken off the puck by Ondrej Palat.

The only player who played up to his contract was Shesterkin. Once the Devils established their dangerous speed in transition and turned up the heat on Shesterkin, it became a very tough series. Shesterkin made a lot of difficult saves while playing at a high level.

One of the biggest differences between last year’s roster and this past year was the lack of balance. Unlike 21-22, Drury supplied Gallant with star talent by adding Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane to round out the top six. However, despite Tarasenko finding chemistry with Zibanejad and Panarin, he lined up mostly with Trocheck. Kane was more limited due to his hip, which he revealed might need surgery this summer. He played through the injury that made him cheaper to acquire.

Of all the quotes that Gallant had after the first round, perhaps the one that doomed him was the one on talent that was asked by New York Post writer Mollie Walker. The way he responded to it was very telling. To paraphrase, you can have all the talent in the world. Having talent is nice. But you also need players who can forecheck. Unlike last year’s team, this team lacked that the entire season. They were never consistent and weren’t a good five-on-five team. When the power play didn’t perform, they lost in humiliating fashion.

As much criticism as he received for a lack of adjustments during the first round, Gallant did a good job last year by realizing that Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko worked best with Filip Chytil. It was the hard work and youthful energy of the Kid Line that was a key factor in the Rangers’ run to the Conference Finals a year ago. Unfortunately, they were unable to match that in the first round.

Drury also added Niko Mikkola in the Tarasenko deal from St. Louis. A solid, unspectacular player, he was a nice fit on the blue line. Not only did he work well with Braden Schneider, who better have a bigger role moving forward. But Mikkola subbed in for the injured Lindgren admirably on the first pair with Fox.

Motte was brought back for a second straight deadline. He had five goals and five assists in 24 games. His checking and penalty killing was an asset. Unfortunately, Motte and the fourth line that included Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey, who brought the grit Gallant wanted, were unable to establish much against the very fast Devils. Of all the players that spoke to the media on breakup day, Motte sounded amenable to a return. We’ll see what the organization decides.

With limited cap space due to both Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller needing new contracts due to being restricted free agents, the Rangers are in a tough position. They’re likely to lose both Kane and Tarasenko to free agency. Mikkola liked his time in New York City. But he probably will cost too much. Kane sounded ready to move on but had nothing but good things to say. Tarasenko also liked playing here. But he can command a nice salary, which likely means he’ll sign elsewhere.

One of the biggest reasons Gallant is out has to do with a shouting match he had with Drury. It came after a bad loss in Game Four. A game where the team fell flat. That allowed the Devils to tie the series. Supposedly, a lot of stuff has come out since Wednesday. Gallant didn’t like the roster he coached. It sounds like whatever happened led to his dismissal.

How much of a role did the leadership play? As we know, when players have their final meetings with the GM, things can change. After 2012-13, in which they lost to the Bruins, John Tortorella was let go of. Despite winning the President’s Trophy and guiding the previous team in 2011-12 to its first Conference Final appearance since 1997, Tortorella lost his job due to what key voices said, including Henrik Lundqvist.

It happens. What’s so bothersome is how this played out. Even if I wasn’t a big fan of Gallant, it feels like he’s taking the fall. The bottom line is that the organization dramatically changed the roster. They went from a grittier team that was built for the playoffs to a soft, predictable one that could easily be taken off their game. They were so bad in the seventh and deciding game that it set off alarms.

Was it all on the coach? Absolutely not. Unless you’ve lived in a vacuum, the core failed to meet expectations. The Kane trade really felt forced by upper management. It reeked of a Dolan/Sather move. There are no shortcuts to winning a championship. Especially when everyone knew Kane was less than his best.

Gallant looks like the good guy here. He didn’t deserve what he got. The organization never heard his call to make the roster tougher. Instead, they were too easy to play against. Even the Devils hit harder. All you had to do was look how dirty they got in front of Shesterkin. There was none of that from the Rangers. Only Kreider did it with most of the work on the power play.

Lafreniere, who’s become an easy target, also did some of the dirty work. However, no points is what resonates with the same fans who think Kakko was some star despite only a goal and assist. He doesn’t hit and isn’t a natural scorer. In many aspects, the Rangers have failed both former second and top picks by not properly developing them. They’ve learned on the job while playing secondary roles. That must change moving forward.

With Gallant gone, now what’s the plan? It better not be hiring Joel Quenneville. He is still on suspension by the league for what he knew about Kyle Beach being sexually assaulted while coaching the Blackhawks. I don’t care that he won three Cups. His checkered past shouldn’t make him a candidate. It would be a PR disaster. If they actually got permission and hired him, I’d boycott. I value high character and principles.

The same goes for retreads Darryl Sutter and Peter Laviolette. Both have won before. However, they have not been successful recently. As good as a coach as Sutter is, the Flames couldn’t wait to get rid of him. It took too long for Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri to adjust. The Flames went from reaching the second round last year to not even qualifying for the playoffs.

What has Laviolette done to change the perception of him? He won a Stanley Cup many moons ago in Carolina following the lockout. He also guided the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010. After taking the Predators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017, he’s won only one round. The Capitals missed the playoffs. That was enough to part ways. They’re expected to hire top assistant Jeff Halpern.

Unless they elevate Wolf Pack coach Kris Knoblauch, who’s been successful everywhere, there aren’t many options. Currently, Hartford advanced to the third round of the AHL Playoffs after defeating Providence in four games. They’ve gotten better goaltending out of prospect Dylan Garand. He’s 5-1 with a 1.44 GAA and .954 save percentage in six games. He’s only 20 in his first pro season.

The one suggestion I’ll make is current Devils top assistant Andrew Brunette. The former Jack Adams winner who guided the Panthers to the President’s Trophy deserves another chance behind the bench. His offensive style should make him a strong candidate around the league.

With so much uncertainty surrounding how to fix a roster that is loaded with immovable contracts they invested in, they’re between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, they have veterans who are now in their 30’s. On the other hand, they have younger players who, aside from Miller, need bigger roles. That includes new arrivals Brennan Othmann and Will Cuylle.

I imagine Othmann would be better served spending some time in Hartford. They never did it with Kakko or Lafreniere. A critical mistake when they were blocked from having top six roles. Unless something drastic changes, what will be different?

The Rangers can change the coach. But it doesn’t mean anything. The Devils aren’t going anywhere. They’re better set up for the long-term. With up and coming teams like the Sabres and Senators improving, it’ll only get tougher. The organization (Dolan/Sather) is at a crossroads.

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Luke Hughes to make postseason debut tomorrow in critical Game Three for Devils

Posted on May 6, 2023 by Derek

It’s happening. Following two lackluster losses in Carolina to fall behind the Hurricanes two games to none, the Devils will have a different lineup for tomorrow’s critical Game Three.

With Ryan Graves struggling in Games One and Two, which saw the Hurricanes storm the Devils by a combined score of 11-2, coach Lindy Ruff decided it’s time to insert Luke Hughes. The former 2021 first round pick has only played two NHL games. He debuted at the end of the regular season, scoring an exciting overtime winner for his first career goal.

The younger brother of leading scorer Jack Hughes will be under the spotlight when the best-of-seven second round series shifts to Newark. A high-scoring offensive defenseman with the kind of speed that can help the Devils’ transition against the defensive minded Hurricanes, the 19-year-old Hughes totaled 27 goals and 60 assists for 87 points in two years at Michigan.

There’s no time like the present for the ’21 fourth pick. Can he handle the pressure of what essentially is a must win game on Sunday? Ruff is willing to roll the dice. What does he have to lose? The Devils were in the same unenviable position last round following identical 5-1 losses to the Rangers. The only difference is that both came on home ice. They rallied by taking the next two on the road, eventually winning the unpredictable series in seven games.

As Devils blogger Hasan has pointed out, the Canes present a different problem. They’re a strong five-on-five team that can forecheck and play solid defensively. It won’t be easy to come back. However, they can draw on their recent experience for a rallying point. But they’ll need to defend home ice. A series doesn’t start until the home team loses. If they can take Game Three, maybe that’ll give them enough momentum to swing the series.

That’s not the only change Ruff is making. He also has adjusted his lines. With the offense struggling to get going aside from the effective fourth line of Nathan Bastian, Mike McLeod, and Miles Wood, he’s decided to drop Jack Hughes down to the third line. He’ll center Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer.

Nico Hischier will anchor Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula. The Devils captain is still without a goal in the playoffs. Although he has five assists in nine games, he must provide more offense. The same goes for Bratt, whose only goal was an empty netter in Game Seven of the first round. Aside from setting up Dougie Hamilton for a momentum turning overtime goal in Round One, he hasn’t done much.

Hamilton has only a goal and two assists so far. The former Cane needs to get going. He is the offensive leader of the blue line. Interestingly, Ruff had Luke Hughes working on the top power play unit in practice today. With the five-on-four 0 for forever against the Canes in four regular season games and the first two games of the series, something must change. It’s the aggressive Canes’ penalty kill that’s taken away from what the Devils want to do.

Carolina likes to stand up at the blue line and even cheat in the neutral zone to make breakouts tough. They are also good on face-offs. Even if they lose the defensive draws, there’s plenty of support from the other players. By making it hard for the Devils to set up, they’ve been able to get key clears down ice. The Devils have had trouble getting back into the zone to establish the remainder of the power play.

So far in the series, they’re 0-for-5. In the first period of last night’s 6-1 loss, they had a five-on-three for 23 seconds. However, neither chance they got was enough to beat Frederik Andersen. Hughes had a shot from the outside that he stopped. Meier had a deflection that was a save. Both Bratt and Meier had shots on the remainder of the five-on-four that never threatened Andersen.

With Ruff opting to move Hughes onto a new third line with Meier and Mercer, that means he’s decided to try a different player to center the second line. It’ll be light scoring Jesper Boqvist drawing the assignment. He’s expected to line up between Tomas Tatar and Erik Haula. Considering that Haula has been their most consistent forward, maybe he wants to counter Rod Brind’Amour with his own match-up line. How successful it will be who knows.

The checking of Jordan Staal and Game Two star Jesperi Kotkaniemi have been noticeable during the first two games. After Staal dominated the first game, it eas Kotkaniemi whose pair of goals early in the second period sparked the Hurricanes. When it looked like they might escape down, only two, Jack Drury sprung Staal for a breakaway goal with 2:35 left. Martin Necas’ goal with 16 seconds remaining finished any thoughts of a comeback.

With the defense having issues with the Canes’ relentless forechecking speed, it’ll have a different look for Game Three. Jonas Siegenthaler will remain teamed up with Hamilton on the top pair. With Graves out, John Marino will pair with Kevin Bahl. That leaves Luke Hughes with Damon Severson. They should provide more speed and puck possession. But neither is particularly good in their end. Ruff would be wise to use them more when there are face-offs in the offensive zone.

He also must make a decision on who gets tomorrow’s game. Akira Schmid has been pulled twice. However, Vitek Vanecek didn’t provide any relief. The question is, is the coaching staff more comfortable with Schmid.

It was Vanecek that played a big part in the Devils revival. He won 33 games and posted a 2.45 GAA with a .911 save percentage. But in five appearances in the playoffs, he’s allowed 12 goals on 61 shots. He’s the more emotional goalie. Schmid is calmer. It’s anyone’s guess what Ruff will decide.

In order for the Devils to have a chance at a comeback similar to the one they had last round, they’ll need better play out of the stars. Even if his younger brother is in, it’s up to Jack Hughes to provide more offense. He and Hischier are the leaders of the team. They must set the tone. Having savvy vets such as Palat and Haula can help. They were instrumental during the first round. However, it’s up to the young nucleus to pick it up.

It was a year ago that the Rangers were down two games headed back home. They were able to respond with emphatic wins in the next two games. That was a home series with the Canes again feeding off the crowd’s energy to take Game Five. But it was the Rangers who wound up taking the series by winning Games Six and Seven. The interesting part is that the Canes had both Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen. They are without both, along with Max Pacioretty. They’re doing it by rolling all four lines.

The first order of business for the Devils is to get Game Three. They should have a loud sellout crowd. Getting to Andersen early will be a key. They must also generate more traffic to make it harder on the veteran goalie. Similar to what they did against Igor Shesterkin in the first round.

There can’t be as many defensive breakdowns. Controlling the neutral zone is a must. Better puck management is a big key to success against the Hurricanes. We’ll see if the Devils can respond. Tomorrow’s game is at 3:30 PM. Hopefully, they remember to set their alarm clocks.

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Black Friday: Devils non-compete their way into second straight blowout loss

Posted on May 6, 2023 by hasan4978

Stop us if you’ve heard this script before…Devils look overmatched and noncompetitive in the first two games of a playoff series, with their starting goalie getting blown up twice and the team being outplayed in all facets of the game. Of course, there are two main differences between the first round of this playoffs and the second round. We were embarrassed at home against the Rangers, in this series at Carolina – which would be better in a normal situation – but, given the Devils’ strength on the road this year and at times struggle to maintain the same level of play at home, maybe it isn’t in this case.

Of course, the main difference (unfortunately) is this Carolina team is just better. You likely aren’t getting away with pulling the same crap you did in the first round by needing two games to realize this is a step up in competition and speed now. I’m not going to say this series is over the way I did against the Rangers, in part because getting blown up on the road is still psychologically different than doing it at home and in part because so many of our key players haven’t played their best game in this postseason yet. You’d think they’re due to step up at some point…but time is running out on this postseason.

Also unlike the Ranger series, there isn’t really one area of optimism you can point to and say well if they just improved this, we can make some hay. Everything needs to improve, well everything besides the fourth line (which has our only two goals of the series!). When the fourth line is the only one that looks ready to compete, that’s a problem. Yeah they had the excuse of a missing Timo Meier in Game 1, what’s been his excuse for a grand total of zero points in eight playoff games otherwise, including last night? If you want big money this offseason it’s time to shine…same goes for your fellow RFA Jesper Bratt. Not everyone who bets on themselves becomes Aaron Judge, but Bratt hasn’t even shown a pulse for much of the postseason with one lousy empty-net goal and four total points in nine games.

Not that our RFA’s are the only big-name MIA’s in this postseason. Dougie Hamilton – one goal and three points in nine games, not good enough for a guy who had the most points in history by a Devils defenseman, and it’s not like he’s generally going to have a big impact defensively when his offense goes MIA. Nico Hischier, love the guy but one goal in his last twenty-one games (including regular season) isn’t good enough. Not anymore, considering you had 31 goals and 80 points in the regular season. Dawson Mercer’s breakout of 27 goals and 56 points in his second season looks a long way off in a postseason where he’s had just two goals and one assist. Even Jack Hughes has gone quiet again after a brief spasm to life in the middle of the Ranger series – just three goals and five points total for him, including the one meaningless penalty shot at the end of Game 1. When Erik Haula is still the only guy on the team with more than two open-play goals in nine postseason games, that just isn’t good enough.

Unlike the last series where you could attribute some of the offense’s ineptness to great goaltending by Igor Shesterkin, they’ve barely made Frederik Andersen break a sweat in the first two games apart from our three minute-long double power play in the first period yesterday, where our PP pretty much fired blanks after the first thirty seconds or so anyway. What happened to Andrew Brunette? He was supposed to be the genius who led our power play into the 21st century, and with almost as much talent on the first unit as anyone else could have but they look flat out lost with the man advantage. Particularly against Carolina, against whom they’re 0-for-the season in seven games including the regular season (about twenty or so chances), giving up four shorthanded goals in the process.

Now that I’ve taken a meat cleaver to the offense, that’s only half the problem unfortunately. Where is the vaunted D that shut down the punchless Rangers in the last two games in New Jersey? Nowhere to be found on most of these second-period goals, that’s for sure.

Twice in the second period, Jesperi Kotkaniemi made fools of us by getting so wide open he had seconds – minutes, it seemed – to pick out his shot and beat Akira Schmid. You’d probably like a save on one of those two goals (especially shortside), but you’d like better coverage as well. I don’t know where the D was on goal #3…it was a brilliant feed by Jack Drury to stay onside and spring Jordan Staal for a breakaway but why are the two guys closest to the play Hughes and Ondrej Palat? Neither one is a defenseman obviously. At least on the second breakaway in this package it was Hamilton and Damon Severson who were closest to that one when Martin Necas sprung Seth Jarvis, but the puck was just out of his reach for him and Schmid got to it first. He played it weakly though, and it resulted in second and third chances, where the Canes finally scored their fourth – with Necas finishing off an offensive zone sequence he started.

With our D being a total non-entity, it’s hard to kill Schmid but it does look like the clock is about to strike midnight on him, for this series anyway. Problem is, unlike the first round when Vitek Vanecek got blown up we had Schmid who hadn’t been used yet – in this series, both goalies have been blown up with Vanecek turning in his second straight bleh relief performance. Schmid is still the better bet to get it going in Game 3 (especially since his last two home games were shutouts), but in normal circumstances guys who get pulled two games in a row generally don’t start the game after that.

Despite their insistence they have ‘three’ choices at goalie there’s no way Mackenzie Blackwood should even be a consideration to start Game 3…but only because he literally hasn’t played since the end-of-regular season fiasco, which was a little more than three weeks ago. Honestly, I could see a scenario where he plays in this series now – which is alarming enough. That scenario would likely be him dressing as the backup in Game 3 and coming in if Schmid gets blown up again. You can’t really put him in cold with the season on the line though, especially since he’s your third best goalie by a mile.

Strangely I don’t have a lot of issues with Lindy Ruff now considering they got blown up 11-2 in the first two games. When you pick the goalie who’s clearly playing the best right now and your fourth line is the only one who’s ready to play this series then this series doesn’t really fall on coaching, it falls on the players. Granted, you’d like to see this team better mentally prepared for the quick turnaround from the Ranger series – especially with all the adults in the room like Ruff and players like Palat and Haula. Post-Ranger letdown is becoming a very real concern, I know you shouldn’t compare past postseasons to this one but I’m gonna do it anyway to make a point.

2006 – sweep Rangers, lose the first three to Carolina off a fifteen-game winning streak and go out in five games

2012 – beat Rangers in Conference Finals, lose the first three to LA in SCF

This year – beat Rangers in seven-game first round and look non-competitive in the first two games at Raleigh.

As much as anything else that happened in this postseason would have felt like gravy on Monday, it’s still annoying that we can’t – shall we say, consolidate – beating the Rangers in any postseason yet with an actual good performance in the next series. Also concerning is that the Hurricanes have historically had our number in the postseason, again I know you can’t compare what happened in 2002 to this year but there is one actual common denominator in the Hurricane hex – Rod Brind’Amour. He was a key player on Canes teams that beat us in 2002, 2006 and 2009 and is now the well-respected coach for a team beating up on us this year.

Overall, the Devils are 3-11 in Raleigh in the postseason dating back to 2001 (where they went 2-1 and beat an up-and-coming Canes team but even that series proved to be a moral victory for them as they took us to six games from down 3-0). So we’re 1-10 in whatever they call that pit of an arena since 2001, but somehow coming back in this series would require us not only to hold serve at home but also win a Game 5, or a Game 7 on the road.

That highlight above was from our only playoff win in Raleigh since 2001 – a Travis Zajac OT winner in 2009. Maybe they should have him be the designated towel waver before Game 3 to fire up the crowd in New Jersey. Not that Devil fans should need much help to get going, even down 0-2 in the series you have a Sunday afternoon start with a crowd that’s going to be almost 100% Devil fans for the first time this postseason. It might be the only sellout of Devils fans in this playoff if things go sour in Game 3 though, with plenty of open seats for Tuesday night at inflated prices.

Much like when the Devils went down 2-0 against the Rangers, I’m no longer asking them to win the series (although it would be nice to have an opportunity in a season with a wide-open bracket after Boston, Colorado and Tampa all lost in the first round). Win Game 3 at least and give us at least forty-eight hours of hoping we can make it a series again, and also let’s see our big names at least put up some highlights in the rest of this postseason. As much good as the Devils have done this year, their big names struggling is going to be a thing now, even after guys like Schmid, Haula and Palat dragged them through the first round.

It would also be nice not to get blown out every other game…our five playoff losses this year have been by a combined score of 26-6. As much as people drag unexciting teams like the Islanders, at least they were able to stay in most of the games with the Canes, and can stay in games in general when they’re not playing at their A level. If we take one lesson out of the postseason, it’s that we need to learn how to start series better and stay in games when you’re not playing your best. Granted, our only two close games of the entire playoffs they did that against the Rangers in Games 3 and 4, but they haven’t done it enough and have let too many games get away from them.

I also said after the last round that we beat the Rangers in large part because they couldn’t figure out an answer when their stars went missing, while we did. This time, we’re the ones who can’t figure out an answer for our missing stars while the Canes are raining in goals despite missing three key forwards. Maybe they are the real-life itineration of the ‘interchangeable flock of forwards’ Colin Campbell once called us. We’ve certainly made them look that way. Hopefully over the next few games of this series, we show the fight we have all year and don’t go down this way.

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Letdown Wednesday: Devils crash back to reality in Game 1 against Canes

Posted on May 4, 2023 by hasan4978

While it was always going to be difficult for me as a fan to get past the excitement of our Game 7 shutout-clinching win at the Rock on Monday night two nights later for the next series (especially since I was supposed to be busy for the latter part of the game, but those plans fell through due to the weather), I hoped the players would be able to do so. Particularly being on the road where they’ve been strong all year, not to mention the fact that Florida and Seattle both responded to winning Game 7’s in their series by carrying the momentum over to the first game in their next series.

Of course not every series and every team is the same – clearly last night’s 5-1 defeat at Raleigh was a reality check. Yes, beating the Rangers was great but you need four series to win the Cup. Sure, it was going to be tough playing less than 48 hours later on the road, and without big trade deadline acquisition Timo Meier, who’s day to day with facial injuries…but that’s the playoffs. Carolina was missing three top six forwards, part of the reason why many Devils fans (including perhaps me) were foolishly confident in this series.

You can never truly be confident as a Devil fan against this organization though. Seemingly at times one franchise gets another’s number and keeps it…look at how often the Penguins have beaten the Caps or the Habs have beaten the Bruins, with only a couple of examples of those results going the other way. What was scary about last night is the first twenty-two minutes of last night’s Game 1 were eerily reminiscent of Game 1 in 2006, where the Canes obliterated us the first game in Raleigh after we had a historic sweep of the Rangers in the first round and came into the series on a fifteen-game winning streak.

After listening to most of the first period on the radio, I barely got home in time to see the hideous third goal early in the second, which wasn’t helped by the fact Jonas Siegenthaler’s helmet was blatantly ripped off, though he could have legally stayed in to play the puck or put his helmet on he went back to the bench for a change and things broke down in front of the net. It looked to me like Akira Schmid missed a chance or two to jump on the puck but that goal was just a total breakdown with the missing Siegs a key reason why.

To me it should be a clear penalty if you rip a guy’s helmet off during play. I think that it actually is written as such in the rulebook but what difference does it make if NHL refs never call it? Doesn’t help that after our Game 7 experience with hideous reffing we had the exact same ref for Game 1 last night in Wes McCauley. How this guy is supposedly rated the top ref in the league is beyond me. Of course last night’s game wasn’t about him given our flat-footed start early, but I’d rather not see him or his crew the rest of the playoffs. Especially after they missed a blatant high stick on Jack Hughes which drew blood later in that period, or a clear hand-pass from the faceoff dot which is also illegal.

Last night was lost in the first period though, they looked ready to go and we looked in full Rangers letdown mode. I just hope that letdown doesn’t last three games this time – a la 2006 where we got in a 3-0 hole against the Canes the series after sweeping the Rangers, or 2012 where we did the same against the Kings after beating the Rangers in the Conference Finals. Seemingly they were able to reset a little after Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s goal early in the second, which ended Schmid’s night with a change the momentum pull.

To a degree putting in Vitek Vanecek did change the momentum, but it’s not like he was all that impressive either. We were fortunate the game didn’t get even more out of hand when the Canes hit a couple of posts and he was out of position a few times, in short he looked like a guy who hadn’t played in two weeks. Still, the Devils managed to find a lifeline from another unlikely source for goals, when Nathan Bastian of all people beat Frederik Andersen with a nice mini-breakaway move.

Look at the shot total when that goal happened…11-1 in favor of the Canes, with our only ‘shot’ in the first period on a dump-in that Andersen probably didn’t even need to play. Bastian’s goal did give us a jolt of life, but not enough of one to find a way through the Canes’ defense and past Andersen for a second goal. After missing our chance to get back in the game in the second period, the Canes’ defense and forechecking choked the life out of the game in the third. Then ironically, ex-Ranger Brady Skjei put the dagger in with a one-timer past Vanecek from the faceoff dot. It was a bad goal, something you would see in NHL 94, but it happened and an empty-netter from another ex-Ranger (Jesper Fast) ensured we would lose Game 1 by the exact same score in this round we did against the Rangers.

Going forward I don’t think there needs to be many changes but one I’d really consider is putting in Luke Hughes for Ryan Graves. I’m not expecting to see it, but Graves was bad enough last night to merit a benching and bad enough in the early part of Game 7 to be noticeable. Maybe Luke’s speed and transition game would help against a faster team. He certainly couldn’t do worse than Graves did on the second goal last night, coughing up the puck without any pressure on him then giving up a one-on-one chance when he got caught flat-footed by Seth Jarvis.

‘Devils defence’ is code for Graves here, just awful individual play but indicative of how the entire team played in the first period. Hopefully it was more of a style shock than a letdown, after playing seven games of a slowdown style it looked like the Canes were too quick and fast for us in Game 1. Missing Timo didn’t help, but hopefully they have him back for tomorrow’s game and are left with no excuses in Game 2. I’d also put Schmid back in, he really wasn’t at fault for any of the goals though I’d probably nitpick and say he looked scrambly on the third, but so did the whole team. You do wonder at what point does he hit a wall though, it’s not like he’s used to being a day-in and day-out goalie either. Whatever goalie plays, the team will need to be much better tomorrow night.

If I was doing a series preview, I would have (cautiously) predicted Devils in 6. If Timo comes back and they find the way to get the split I was expecting after the first two, I’d stick with that prediction…but you really don’t want to try going down 2-0 for the second straight series, this time against a better team that’s actually a team and not just a collection of talent. There’s no bigger illustration of that than the fact they’ve already won five playoff games despite having three key forwards on the shelf, playing guys like ex-Devil grinder Stefan Noesen on their top lines.

As much as everything is gravy now for Devil fans on the one hand after the season we’ve had, on the other it would be nice to beat this team too after all the playoff headaches this franchise have given us. If we can’t beat them this year with their injuries up front, it might not get any easier going forward. Not to mention with big-name teams like Boston, Colorado and Tampa Bay out of the playoffs in the first round and seemingly no elite goalies left to worry about the rest of the postseason, the bracket is wide open for anyone. Of the teams remaining in the playoffs Carolina themselves were the last to win a Cup – in 2006. Current coach Rod Brind’Amour was a key player on that team, as well as on the ’03 and ’09 Carolina teams which also stuck it to us in the postseason.

Even though we have proven we can come from 2-0 and this time it would have been a 2-0 hole on the road, again I wouldn’t want to try this in back-to-back rounds, against a better team. Friday should tell the story of what kind of series this is going to be.

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Victory Tuesday: Devils cap historic comeback with second straight home shutout in Game 7

Posted on May 2, 2023 by hasan4978

You too, Fitzy. You deserve a bow as much as anyone in this organization for everything that’s gone on this season and the turnaround of this franchise out of the dark ages, back into the spotlight of postseason success. If a 49-point turnaround in the regular season wasn’t enough to underscore the Devils’ resurgence as an organization, this series and everything involved with it represented just as much of a quantum leap forward as did our outstanding regular season.

I make no bones about the fact I didn’t believe in this team after the first two games of this season, and I sure didn’t think there’d be any comeback in this series coming after the way the first two games went. But all of us believe now, after the Devils’ second straight 4-0 shutout at the Rock completed their comeback from losing the first two in Newark with only this franchise’s third-ever Game 7 win at home, and the first since their move to Newark. Our other two Game 7 clinchers in NJ were at the Meadowlands…of course the 2003 Stanley Cup clincher against Anaheim was one, with a first-round win over the Buffalo Sabres in 1994 being the other. I was at the former thankfully, but didn’t even get to see the latter in real time. We’ve had quite a few Game 7 wins on the road, but not many at home oddly enough.

I’ve compared this season to 1994 a few times, maybe wistfully so since if I have one regret as a fan, it’s not becoming a truly big fan until the historic run to their first Cup in 1995. Not that I had much chance to, since our family didn’t even get SportsChannel until that season anyway. But our 1994 regular season (like this year) saw the Devils defy the skeptics and come out of nowhere to have a sterling regular season, and the postseason had enough excitement for several years of playoff hockey – starting with our tense back-and-forth with Buffalo involving a goalie duel between the great Dominik Hasek and rookie Martin Brodeur in his first full playoff series. In the second round, we fell behind 2-0 at home to the Bruins, before Chris Terreri came off the bench and won three times at the Boston Garden to lead the Devils to what would turn out to be an epic Conference Final with the Rangers.

Our series with the Rangers in 2023 actually had elements of both those first two rounds in 1994…the goalie duel between our young rookie and the other team’s established star culminating in a Game 7 home win, along with the comeback from 2-0 down with a goalie change before Game 3 on the road proving pivotal. Make no mistake, this was a pretty unique comeback though. Yes, teams have come back from 2-0 and even 3-0 before, but not many have come back after being blown up in the first two games at home. Ironically, it was Fitz himself who sent the message to his team after Game 2 saying something to the degree of ‘hey, nobody said this was going to be easy…just go out there, relax and have some fun’. That message of staying loose was reiterated by head coach Lindy Ruff before Game 7:

Some of us might need blood pressure medication if there are any more series like this in the playoffs! Fortunately they at least no longer have the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, the way it’s felt like we have for months. Always in the background of having this spectacular season was, but we’re likely playing the Rangers in the first round, what if we come up short in that series and they make a big playoff run at our expense? Of course, now it’s the Rangers and their fans who have to deal with that reality, and worse since their expectations were higher from the get-go. In the end, it was the younger, happier, looser team that won.

I’m sure Derek will have more to say about the Rangers going forward later, but I absolutely agreed with most of his Game 7 recap, including where he alluded to the Rangers having a different approach this year than last year. As much as some of us may have mocked their penchant for overpaying for grit two offseasons ago, sometimes you have to overpay to get what you need. Even though they didn’t win it all last year, they came damn close of at least getting to the Cup Finals. This year? It seemed like they just collected talent without any thought of how it would fit into the team. Like Lou Lamoriello always would say, a team is an orchestra…you can’t have five violinists.

The collecting talent and worrying about the rest later approach was my biggest criticism of ex-GM Ray Shero here, though clearly to a degree he had to do that more in the earlier years of the rebuild just to get any talent. In the end, his best contributions to the organization were both the Taylor Hall trade(s), and bringing Fitzy into the organization as his right hand. Ownership gets slagged at times from Devils fans because they didn’t spend in the early years, but also give them credit for being willing to promote from within after parting ways with Shero. They could have gone for another big name from the outside or new blood but instead promoted Fitz, who was already highly regarded before getting a GM job and should only be a lot more so now.

Despite being Shero’s right hand, Fitz’s approach is more Lou than Shero, even if I’ve never heard him use the orchestra moniker himself he clearly believes in guys having roles and has filled in all the right gaps over the last couple of years. For all the talk about how the Devils were a young team going into this postseason, people forgot or overlooked that the Devils did bring in a lot of vets who were able to teach the kids what it took to win playoff hockey.

In a way, it was fitting that many of those vets carried the day in Game 7 with Ondrej Palat, Tomas Tatar and Erik Haula all getting – or heavily influencing – the first three goals. Haula was arguably the second most important player in the series after Akira Schmid, while Palat had one of the best individual efforts I’ve ever seen to create a goal by a guy who didn’t actually score himself, leading to Mike McLeod’s pivotal shorthanded marker last night that broke the ice and swung momentum firmly onto the Devils’ bench.

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1653211277362167811?s=20

McLeod’s goal turned out to be all we needed thanks to Schmid and a Devils defense who did just enough to mitigate the Rangers’ stars for the fourth time in five games. It’s also telling that when the Rangers’ stars got shut down, they had no other answers while despite the fact our stars (aside from Jack Hughes, who only had a couple of assists himself the last two games) were shut down for almost the entire series, someone else usually stepped up. Dougie Hamilton had his one star moment of the series with the pivotal Game 3 OT winner, while Jonas Siegenthaler’s unexpected burst of offense made the difference in Game 4. Palat, Haula and second-year forward Dawson Mercer had all of our goals in Game 5. For all the talk about the Rangers’ star players outside of Chris Kreider not showing up, where were the role guys? You need them to step up for a deep playoff run too – as we showed. Some of that also goes back to a generally flawed philosophy of not having enough people who are happy to be role players and know what it entails.

Despite Igor Shesterkin’s yeoman play throughout the series, it was obvious the last few games that the Devils were objectively the better team, it was just a matter of whether Shesterkin and the Rangers’ PP would spoil the party. Shesterkin did his part, but so did the Devils’ PK, holding the Rangers to 1-17 in the last five games of the series after they ran riot in the first two. Despite shall we say, uneven officiating in the last two games which even Chris Cheilos commented on during the first intermission last night (and Derek also pointed out), the Devils never flinched…apart from when Hughes muffed a scoring chance in the first period while still barking at the officials for missing a call earlier. Fortunately, Timo Meier and others on the bench were able to re-focus Jack, who’s shown competitiveness on another level in this series.

Even when Jacob Trouba lined up Meier late in the third period when the Rangers went into full let’s get physical mode, the Devils didn’t alter their play one bit while it (and K’Andre Miller’s dumb unsportsmanlike penalty on Nico Hischier earlier, after he clearly wiped out and slid into Shesterkin) showed the Rangers’ desperation at that point. They ultimately had no answer for the Devils’ Swiss rookie in net though, as Schmid made 31 saves and recorded his second straight home shutout of the series.

While I’m delighted for Schmid, the progress he’s shown and the increasing likelihood we’ve found a long-term answer in net, I do feel a little bad for Vitek Vanecek. We’re not here without all the work he did in the regular season keeping the ship steady while Mackenzie Blackwood was struggling with his play and injuries for a third consecutive season, while Schmid was steadily making progress after an unsuccessful first few games at the NHL level last year. I hope Devil fans don’t forget the role he played in this season, no matter what happens with Schmid going forward. Vitek’s seemingly taken everything in stride this year though, and comes off as a good teammate in the locker room. Hopefully he’ll be able to enjoy a good chunk of the team’s success the next couple years, even if it’s in a 1B role long-term.

I also felt a little annoyed for Curtis Lazar yesterday, after he scored in Game 6 and finally had his first big Devils moment he came out of the lineup last night (along with Jesper Boqvist), in favor of Miles Wood and Yegor Sharangovich. I didn’t really have an issue with the latter, especially given Sharangovich’s role on the PK when he does play but he truly stepped up last night and had one of his best games in weeks, creating some chances offensively as well. Wood I wasn’t looking forward to seeing again after his dumb penalties early in the series and disappointing play throughout the year, but at least last night he kept it simple and got to enjoy a big night in the team’s resurgence himself, after being around through years of losing.

Between the lineup maneuvers and all the Ranger fans that I saw (more than in the prior three games) before Game 7 I had a bit of an uneasy feeling, one only exacerbated by the first period which looked like it was going to be another penalty-fest. Maybe after the intermission crew pointed out the spotty officiating, the league got the message the last two periods? At least it wasn’t as unbalanced then. Like that scene in Remember the Titans where they overcame the refs, we did the same last night in the end and the party was on after Jesper Bratt’s empty-netter gave us our fourth goal towards the end of the third period.

Little did I know, I would cause myself almost as much self-imposed angst in the postgame than the game itself gave me. After Bratt’s goal, I went over to the other side of the arena to celebrate with my friends but I couldn’t really stay near them since everyone around them was a Devils fan (heh) and was clearly going to stay for the postgame handshakes and interviews, so I paid my regards quickly and told them I’d see them in the second round with one eye on also making my train back from Broad Street at 11:15. I got to Broad Street at 11:10, and the train was a few minutes late but finally showed up…or so I thought.

Maybe like the Devils early in the series I just didn’t pay attention to details, and didn’t make sure it was actually the right train since evidently the previous one going to Montclair was also delayed. It turned out I got on that one instead of the one I needed which was a few minutes still after that, but I didn’t realize it until my train actually got to Montclair and the announcement came that it was the last stop. When I knew what happened, I figured I’d switch there back to my line…but to my horror the conductor said no more trains out of this station. Trains stop at midnight in Montclair?!

Guess it would have helped if I’d had my ticket checked and maybe found out before the last stop in case there was a possibility of switching somewhere else, but given the fact I had my earbuds in and wasn’t really listening to the stops I was now stranded at Montclair. After a minute or two of walking around in a daze, I figured I had to get a Lyft or Uber (some old guy who worked at the station told me Uber was less expensive than a cab, so I went with that suggestion), which I’d never done in my life. So I was frantically trying to install the apps with a battery almost running out on my cell phone, at first not realizing I was installing the driver apps rather than the ride apps.

Somehow I managed to install the correct Uber ride app, figure out how to use it and schedule a pickup while still having enough battery at 1% for the phone to give the driver my exact location. My driver was nice enough, and even had a charger for my phone, not that I really needed it anymore once he arrived. It was a half hour back from Montclair to Madison, so I arrived at my parking lot at 1 AM, about an hour later than it should have been and mine was the only car left in the lot. I gave him a $10 tip for a $45 ride, so it was a $55 mistake but hey, I got home soon enough to manage five hours of sleep and at least I learned something out of the situation. I wouldn’t want to repeat the experience, but now at least I know how to use Uber if I should need it again for whatever reason (like say, a multi-OT extravaganza later in the playoffs that I don’t feel like leaving early).

Guess it was a fitting end to a weird, but rewarding series. Weird in the sense that after we saw road teams win the first four games, home teams dominated the last three. Not to mention the fact that momentum seemed almost nonexistent from period to period, much less game to game. I’m not gonna lie though, I was really glad the Rangers didn’t score late in the second, because I had visions of 1994 dancing in my head as they got chances on that last shift down 2-0. God help the people watching the telecast if that had happened, and you had the entire second intermission of Steve Levy breathlessly asking Mark Messier about the comparison to his Game 6.

If you’d asked anyone irrespective of the score who dominated the game last night, most people would have said the Devils based on puck possession and quality of chances, yet the Rangers kept pace in shots on net through the first two periods and had more shots on goal in the third with Schmid making at least a handful of great saves to keep the Rangers at bay. Again, a weird dichotomy – but in the end the night showed learned lessons for the Devils to keep winning in the playoffs, or me in learning an emergency way to get home.

As Doc Emrick would say, they don’t ask how – they ask how many. Although we won’t get to hear his dulcet tones this postseason, it was nice to see so many other links to the Devils’ past show up during this series. Everyone of course knows Brodeur is a bigwig in the front office now, but you also had guys like Patrik Elias and Andy Greene popping in to be the ‘designated towel waver’ before other games in the series, along with the YouTube postgames with Scott Gomez throughout the first round. Maybe even somewhere, godfather Lou nodded his grudging approval over our commitment to lockdown D in the last few games of the series.

Now it’s onto Carolina and more postseason fun, excitement and agida!

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Seventh Hell: Rangers dominated by Devils in Game Seven nightmare, bow out of first round in embarrassing fashion, Devils take series

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Derek

It was a nightmare finish. The doomsday scenario played out. In what can best be described as Seventh Hell, the Rangers suffered a lopsided 4-0 shutout loss to the Devils in Game Seven that really felt anticlimactic.

Instead, it’ll be the Devils who advance to play the Hurricanes in the second round. They’ll have a quick turnaround with Game One Wednesday at Raleigh.

That’s how the whole series was. There was no such thing as momentum in the seventh installment of the Battle of Hudson. Simply put, everything they did well in Game Six they did wrong in the seventh and deciding game.

They never could establish a consistent forecheck against a disciplined Devils defense that was better. They took away the middle of the ice to make it easier on rookie Akira Schmid, whose 31 save shutout was the second of the series. Although he was good at stopping Mika Zibanejad twice, Alexis Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck, there was too much one and done.

They made it too easy on Schmid, who was the series MVP. He won four of five starts, allowing only seven goals on 142 shots. That translates to a 1.38 GAA and .951 save percentage. In the four wins, he gave up just two goals. The only game the Rangers solved him in was when they got five past him to take Game Six. They were abysmal in the other four games.

While it’s easy to point to Schmid’s performance, a lot of credit must go to how well the Devils played. They attacked the Rangers with their superior speed in all three zones and protected the house. Their defensive adjustments following a pair of 5-1 blowout defeats in the first two games was the biggest reason for the turnaround.

Lindy Ruff pushed the right buttons. He out-coached Gerard Gallant, who kept trying to find the right combinations. But his team never adjusted well enough to win the series. They were exposed defensively by a much more aggressive team that was better than most wanted to admit. They weren’t “soft.” But the opposite. Look how much more they pinned the Rangers in and bullied them. It was a bad match-up.

While some of the blame was put on Gallant by both Henrik Lundqvist and Steve Valiquette on MSG following the embarrassing defeat, the truth is that it falls on the players. They’re the ones who didn’t execute in blowing a series they led two games to none. There were too many passengers. Not enough key players stepped up. That, along with special teams, actually cost them last night.

By losing in disappointing fashion to their bitter rivals in the first round, it put to rest the notion that you can win on talent alone. As Gallant said in his postgame, talent alone can only get you so far. To be successful in the postseason, you need more grit and forecheck to win at this time of year. Along with a slow defense that got exposed, they were lucky to even be in the game.

If not for some brilliant saves from the unflappable Igor Shesterkin, who sure deserves better than what he got, it would’ve been a blowout. The Devils easily could’ve had six or seven goals. It really wasn’t close. He might’ve only finished with 20 saves on 23 shots, but that was misleading. He turned away high danger chances most of the night. He really was hung out to dry.

It reminded me of some of the series Lundqvist had. He was the best player. But the Rangers did the same thing to Shesterkin that they had to Lundqvist, who heard the sad comparison from former backup Valiquette. He certainly can relate.

Here’s a sobering thought. In two playoffs, Shesterkin has a record of 13-14 with a 2.45 GAA and .929 save percentage. For his brilliant career, Lundqvist also had a losing record – finishing 61-67 with a 2.30 GAA and .921 save percentage. That right there is depressing. Even worse, Shesterkin finished the seven-game series with a 1.96 GAA and .931 save percentage.

If it wasn’t for the goalie and power play, this series would’ve been over much sooner. That’s how bad the Rangers were at even strength. They were outchanced, outplayed, and out-hustled by a hungrier team. If the younger Devils are already winning now, what does that mean for the future of the rivalry?

The Rangers organization really needs to do a lot of soul searching. They bought into acquiring Patrick Kane after adding Vladimir Tarasenko. It didn’t work. Kane never really fit in. He certainly tried. But whether it was the hip, which probably requires surgery, or unable to find chemistry, that experiment wasn’t successful. It failed to produce what management envisioned. The box office draw doesn’t always mean better.

As for the game, the Rangers looked as flat as they were in Game Five. The Devils came out loose. They took it to their close rivals by getting six of the first seven shots. They also led in attempts 14-1, not even eight minutes in.

Ruff made two changes to his lineup. He reinserted Miles Wood on the fourth line. He replaced the effective Curtis Lazar, who scored a goal the other night. Wood was back with line mates Mike McLeod and Nathan Bastian. Yegor Sharangovich played on a new third line in place of Jesper Boqvist. Ruff opted to move Dawson Mercer to the middle to center Timo Meier and Sharangovich.

By doing that, he moved Tomas Tatar up to the top line with Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt. Jack Hughes was again between Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula. That was the only line that stayed the same. Ever since he moved Haula onto that line with Palat, they were much more effective. That was one of the biggest adjustments in the series.

What transpired was stunning. But before the Devils got started, the opening face-off nearly led to the game’s first goal. On a subtle play by Mika Zibanejad, he took the puck away. That quickly, he had Chris Kreider on a two-on-one. But John Marino broke it up. That key defensive play was huge. If the Rangers score there, they could’ve grabbed the momentum.

Following that close call, the Devils began to pressure the Rangers in their end. Both Ryan Graves and Dougie Hamilton had shots go over the net. They continued to miss wide with both Haula and Meier unable to connect. Their aggressiveness included defensenen pinching in. The Rangers didn’t do a good enough job chipping pucks out. If they had, maybe it’s a different game.

After a McLeod hit on Niko Mikkola, who had the first shot of the game, Bastian collided with Tyler Motte, knocking him down. Their skates came together. Wes McCauley and partner Gord Dwyer decided it was a tripping minor. It looked incidental. Bastian was unhappy with the call. That wouldn’t be the only time the Devils disagreed with the refs.

Before they could really get going on their first power play, Adam Fox took a poor angle to Hischier, who cut in for a shorthanded bid that was stopped by Shesterkin. He was called for holding 34 seconds into the five-on-four. It was part of an awful night for the Rangers’ best defenseman. He was far from alone.

During the four-on-four, K’Andre Miller lost a puck that allowed the dangerous Hughes to try a wrap-around that Shesterkin shut down. A couple of shifts later, Hischier had a redirect stopped. That was part of their strategy. They made it difficult for Shesterkin. He really was locked in.

A Kane turnover led to more Devils attack time. It was frustrating to watch. You had the Rangers losing puck battles in their zone. Kaapo Kakko avoided a hit during a passive shift that summed up how poorly they played.

The Devils continued to dominate puck possession at even strength. When he wasn’t making saves in a period that didn’t have many shots due to both teams missing the net, along with plenty of blocked shots, Shesterkin tried to help his struggling team by playing the puck. Something he did during the series.

As they kept the pressure on, the Devils had to be getting frustrated. They created a lot of chances early but had nothing to show for it. To their credit, the Rangers blocked shots and finished checks. At least they did that to help out the goalie.

The period turned when Damon Severson took down Motte. That penalty was made possible by the second effort of Jimmy Vesey. He was able to push the puck forward in the Devils zone, allowing Motte to beat Severson, who went off for tripping.

It was on the second power play that the Rangers came close. Zibanejad just missed wide on a high labeled shot. Then, Fox skated behind the net and found Vladimir Tarasenko wide open in the slot. But his slap shot just missed. As the power play was expiring, Zibanejad was all set up in the left circle. But Schmid made a good glove save to keep it scoreless.

The Devils continued to put themselves at risk. Kevin Bahl threw a puck directly out without any pressure on him for a delay of game minor. That gave the Rangers their third straight power play. They really needed to score here. It didn’t happen.

Instead, Schmid denied another Zibanejad one-timer to cheers from the Devils crowd. That was the only save he had to make over the two minute penalty. The Rangers made poor decisions with the puck that allowed the more aggressive Devils penalty kill to clear the zone. They also continued to look for something shorthanded. Sharangovich fired over the net.

With the game still scoreless late in the period, Panarin entered the Devils zone and made one of those bad drop passes to nobody. That turnover allowed Hughes to transition quickly for a breakaway that Shesterkin handled. His biggest save came when he got just enough of Hughes’ backhand to keep it out. That’s how most of the game was.

Of all the players in the series, Panarin was the most disappointing Ranger. He is getting paid a lot of money but doesn’t look like a playoff player. But a paper tiger. He finished with zero goals and two assists. He had no points over the last six games. Unbelievable.

The Rangers were finally starting to play better late in the period. Schmid made a few stops, including one on a tricky Kane deflection off a smart Mikkola pass. Hischier would get a similar redirection that Shesterkin stopped with under a minute left.

Despite being outplayed for the first half, the Rangers were out-shot 7-6. Total attempts were 21-15 Devils.

At the start of the second period, Zibanejad had a shot block to deny Bratt. After the line change, the Devils got the Hughes line out against the Chytil line. Hughes had a shot rejected by Chytil, who didn’t have a good series. He wasn’t as effective as last year’s playoffs. But he worked hard. He absorbed a hit from Bahl during that same shift.

Palat got in the path of a Mikkola shot. That allowed the Devils to counter quickly. Mercer missed on a tip-in over the top. The Devils ability to counter due to their speed was a huge difference in the series. Once they adjusted following Game Two, they controlled most of the play.

A key sequence almost resulted in a Ranger goal. On a hit from Lafreniere on Hughes, he forced a turnover. Coming in two-on-one, he moved in and got off a good shot from the left circle that Schmid gloved. That probably was his best save of the game. If Lafreniere scores there, it might’ve played out differently.

The Devils didn’t have as much easy access for a good portion of the second. It was the Rangers who finally picked up their play. In particular, the line that had Lafreniere with Vincent Trocheck and Kane was good. They put together some good offensive shifts. On a strong forecheck, Trocheck got a tough shot in tight that rebounded to Kane. But he had nowhere to go due to being checked on the play. That allowed Schmid to cover the puck up.

At the end of his shift, Lafreniere came in transition. However, his long wrist shot went wide. Unlike the previous six games, he was more decisive looking for his shot. After not picking up a point in the tough series loss, it’ll be interesting to see what the Rangers decide to do with Lafreniere’s next contract. He definitely hasn’t earned a long-term deal. But I think it would he a mistake to give up on him. There are elements of his game that are sound. I’ll have more thoughts in the off-season.

The Devils finally got a penalty called when Miller accidentally high-sticked Meier behind the net. He didn’t even see him. However, their power play didn’t last long. Unable to do anything during the first half, Bratt took down Barclay Goodrow to go off for tripping.

The Rangers wisely killed some clock to try to give themselves more time on the eventual five-on-four. However, there was still the matter of the ensuing four-on-four. One that proved disastrous.

After playing them to a standstill, it looked like the Rangers would go on the man-advantage with a good chance to take the lead. Instead, Palat pressured Fox into a huge mistake behind his own net. He lost control of the puck due to Palat’s persistence.

Kreider tried to play the puck and get out. Before he could, Palat stripped him clean and then made a great pass in front for McLeod, who was able to tuck home a backhand past Shesterkin for a backbreaking shorthanded goal with 10:07 left in the period.

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It was a classic example of why the Devils signed Palat. The former Lightning Stanley Cup hero just has a knack for making these kinds of big plays. Fox’s soft play made it possible. His pass wasn’t good for Kreider because he panicked. Palat made a terrific read, and all but scored the goal that McLeod got. McLeod was in the right spot and showed great patience to score the momentum turning first goal.

One might ask, how many times can the Rangers be burned by Palat? Apparently, not enough. They haven’t learned anything since 2015. In some aspects, this series mirrored the crushing Eastern Conference Final loss to the Lightning. They were completely shut down in Games 5 and 7. The only difference is that at least it came on the road. Even if there were Rangers fans in attendance last night.

Energized by that goal, the Devils looked for more. Shesterkin would have to stop McLeod again. With the Rangers back to being a mess in their end, Hischier had what looked like the second goal. But a diving Miller made a great block that probably saved a goal. He limped off the ice. As critical as I’ve been, that was a gutsy play by Miller. He was actually better in this game but took an ill-advised penalty during the third when things turned ugly.

The Rangers were back to being one and done. They never could sustain enough pressure to really mount an attack. Schmid saw all 31 shots. There was zero traffic. Even if he’s a young netminder, that’s too easy. He got the game’s first star because he had a shutout. The Rangers never made him work hard. The only game that they did, they beat him five times.

While the Rangers struggled, you had Sharangovich getting two quality scoring chances on Shesterkin. He kept making big saves to give his team a chance. They were unwilling to take it. They couldn’t get out of their own way.

On a better shift where Gallant decided to reunite the 21 and over Kid Line, they created a few shots. But everything was from the outside. Schmid made the stops. He got a stoppage after making a save on a long try from Lafreniere.

Then came the shift from hell. On a night where they just didn’t have it, the top line imploded. On what can be best described as defense optional, they watched Marino cruise into the zone and fly by for a backhand point blank that narrowly missed due to Shesterkin challenging.

With Kreider unable to back check, Marino eventually retrieved the puck behind the Rangers net and sent a pass in front to an uncovered Tomas Tatar for an easy goal. That made it 2-0 with 4:21 remaining.

The replay showed Mikkola go down early with Mercer driving the net to create a distraction for him and Braden Schneider. Kreider let Marino come in for the first chance. He then went towards Marino. Tarasenko never even attempted to pick up Tatar. It was an utter failure by all five skaters. It was a very soft play that was indicative of how it went.

At that moment, it felt like game over. The breakdown was just as bad as the first goal. There was such a lack of effort. It was also how relentless the Devils were. They were much better, earning these goals.

It took until less than a minute left for the Rangers to actually start firing shots at Schmid. Trouba had a point shot redirected by Zibanejad in front that almost went in. Miller sent a point shot wide. With four seconds to go, Schmid denied a Tarasenko tip-in to keep the Devils up by two headed to the locker room.

In the third, Gallant decided to put Panarin and Kane together with Trocheck. They didn’t click. Maybe he should’ve reunited Panarin with Tarasenko. They had chemistry together. Whether it was with Trocheck or Zibanejad, that was never tried. Gallant could’ve had Kane and Kreider back up with Zibanejad like the first two games.

The Devils had a good initial forecheck during the first couple of minutes. Eventually, they’d back up and play that tight defensive system, which took away the rush. They eliminated the stretch pass and made the Rangers dump and chase. They weren’t quick enough on the forecheck to recover pucks and cycle.

Tarasenko got a good shot on Schmid, who made the save. But that was it. It was again one and done. After Trouba got a shot that Schmid stopped, Tatar had a takeaway that led to Miller getting out-raced by the faster Hischier who got nearly got a chance.

Shesterkin came way out to play a puck. That led to Hischier accidentally knocking into Shesterkin, who went down. Miller lost his discipline by roughing up Hischier. As that was happening, Haula sent a puck into an open net. But the whistle had gone.

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Miller was sent off for tripping. How. It was clearly roughing. Honestly, they were abysmal. The officials were so bad that after the first Miller penalty earlier in the game, they actually had Goodrow in the box before realizing their folly. Aside from that, they missed a few obvious penalties on the Rangers, including a Trouba high stick on Bratt. The Devils were already on the power play. They simply didn’t want to call it.

On the power play, the Devils couldn’t get much done. Aside from an early Haula tip-in that went over the net, they watched in horror as Trouba delivered a lethal hit that sent Meier flying. He stayed down for a while. The replay showed that Trouba had Meier lined up with his head down. The only issue was that even though he led with the shoulder, he made contact with Meier’s head. It really should’ve been an illegal check to the head penalty.

In the old days, Scott Stevens was the master at catching players with their head on a swivel. The rules were different. The game was a lot tougher. Trouba is cut out of the same cloth. He obviously tried to wake up his team. It was too late. They were asleep. It definitely was a penalty that they didn’t have the guts to call. I say that as a big Trouba supporter. He hits clean. But this one was a little too high.

Meier left the game and didn’t return. He was bloodied by the vicious hit. Obviously, he must’ve been in concussion protocol. It looked bad. Astonishingly, he did come back during the handshakes and met up with Trouba. It seemed cordial. I imagine he apologized. Hopefully, Meier will be okay to go for the Devils in the next round.

Following a successful penalty kill, the Rangers really had a difficult time with the Devils 1-2-2. If there was a criticism, it was the failure by the bench to adjust to those tactics. They never deviated. Maybe Lundqvist had a good point when he wondered what the game plan was.

Following a turnover with them pinching their defense, Mercer was one on one with Shesterkin. He stoned him to keep it a two-goal game. Sharangovich missed on a rebound. That’s what happens when you play from behind in a deciding Game Seven. Eventually, you have to take chances. It was pretty obvious what the score would wind up.

With the game still close, Panarin had Trocheck in the slot for one of the Rangers’ best scoring chances. But Schmid made a superb glove save to thwart him. That was it. It was that kind of night.

On another effective shift, Lafreniere centered a pass in front that Chytil missed. As play continued, Chytil sent an unscreened wrist shot from the perimeter that Schmid easily handled.

With the Rangers in desperation mode, they finally got burned. A Palat takeaway allowed Hughes to lead an odd-man rush. He perfectly set up Haula for the dagger with 5:33 remaining.

Game over. It was pretty bad afterward. Shesterkin then made another great save to deny Bratt. He simply swatted it away. The three goals he allowed were off great chances created by the Devils, who were too fast. They were the better team and proved it.

Eventually, Gallant lifted Shesterkin for a six-on-five. Following one more Schmid save on Zibanejad, who had a forgettable game and tough series by his standards, Marino sent a clear down that Bratt hustled to. He circled around the net and put in his first into the empty net to put the exclamation point on the Devils win.

As Hasan said prior to the game, it was a weird series. There was no such thing as momentum. Most of the games weren’t close. The Devils won the one game they had to to get back in it. Game Three in overtime when Bratt set up Dougie Hamilton. Speaking of which, he didn’t even have a great series. It didn’t matter.

Hischier scored no goals but wound up with five assists. He had his best game when it counted. Bratt got one goal. Meier had no points. Sometimes, it’s hard to make sense of the playoffs. Anything can happen. That’s how the series played out.

Congrats to my Devils friends. Enjoy it for the day. Next up are the Hurricanes. They play a more structured game. Even though they aren’t a strong offensive team, they should make it tough on the Devils. It probably will be a good series.

I’ll have more on the Rangers once things clear later this week. What will they do? Are changes coming? I guess we’ll have to wait and find out.

It’s hard to believe the season is over. A final thought. I never thought this roster had the right mix. As good a job as he’s done, Chris Drury has to take a hit for this. It wasn’t only him who decided to risk the salary cap for Kane, which meant the same lineup every game. That came from above.

Last year’s team had better chemistry. They weren’t as easy to play against. They had more grit. You need that in the playoffs. Somehow, that got lost in translation. It isn’t about fielding the most talented roster full of stars. It’s about constructing the best team. They failed miserably.

My last three stars features all Devils. I went with Marino for third star. He and Ryan Graves had a better series than Miller and Trouba. The second star was clearly Palat. He got stronger in the big games. Mister Clutch again doomed the Rangers. First star goes to Schmid. He was the difference. Even if our team couldn’t test him enough, he was the best player. Haula was the best skater. Who had that coming in? I had a feeling Haula would be good. He was a great pickup by the Devils.

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Unpredictability of First Round makes Game Seven between Rangers and Devils hard to call

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Derek

In sports, there’s nothing like Game Seven. When it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the excitement is through the roof. Both players and fans count down until the drop of the puck. After that, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen.

If you don’t believe me, look at what happened to both the record-setting Bruins and former champion Avalanche last night. By show of hands, how many people had both the Panthers and Kraken pulling off mammoth first round upsets that have shook up the postseason? I’ll guess not too many outside of Florida or Seattle.

When asked about tonight’s do or die Game Seven by reporters earlier today, Patrick Kane said, “There’s nothing like Game Seven. So it’s definitely an exciting game to be a part of.”

Regarding what happened to the Bruins and Avalanche, he gave a very honest assessment of where the game is.

“I think that’s the NHL for you today. There’s so much parity in the league. Any given team could win. Usually, the best team comes out in a best-of-seven series. But yeah. Anything can happen.”

Kane is familiar with Game Sevens. He’s played in five, all with the Blackhawks. His record is 2-3. The two they won came in the Conference Finals. The Blackhawks would go on to win the Cup in both years, including their last when they conquered the Lightning in 2015.

Saturday’s hero, Chris Kreider, will be skating in his ninth Game Seven. Since he debuted during the 2012 postseason, he’s been very successful, going 7-1 in deciding games. The seven wins are one shy of the NHL record shared by former teammates Carl Hagelin, Ryan McDonagh, Brad Richards, along with Ray Bourque, Justin Williams, and Glenn Anderson. Only Richards was perfect going 8-0.

On the other side, no Devil has been in more deciding games than Ondrej Palat. The former Lightning Stanley Cup hero has a record of 4-2 in Game Seven. Surely, his younger teammates, including star Jack Hughes, will draw from his experience.

If we were to give an edge, it would go to the Rangers, who went through it last year. They came back twice in the first two rounds. First, they dug out of a 3-1 hole to defeat the Penguins in dramatic fashion when Artemi Panarin scored in overtime on the power play. Then, they rallied from a 3-2 deficit to get the better of the Hurricanes by running away with the seventh game to advance to the Conference Finals.

Many players remain from the 2021-22 roster. That includes Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba, K’Andre Miller, Barclay Goodrow, Tyler Motte, Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Braden Schneider, and the aforementioned Kreider and Panarin. Vincent Trocheck was on the opposite side for last year’s Game Seven in the second round.

Given all their experience, one would think the Rangers will prevail later tonight when they visit their close Hudson rivals at The Prudential Center in Newark. However, be careful. Expect the unexpected. If you go in overconfident, you could wind up regretting it.

Who will play the hero tonight? Will it be a top star or a role player that steps up? Nobody knows. If we knew how it would play out, there wouldn’t be a Matteau! Matteau! Matteau! Nor a Henrique, whose goal in the first round allowed the Devils to advance in Game Seven over the Panthers 11 years ago. He’s best known for his overtime winner that beat the Rangers in six hard fought games during the Eastern Conference Final.

It isn’t always your best players who deliver in big moments. Not everyone is Messier. For those Blueshirt fans flashing back to what he did, that was 29 years ago. This is now. It’s 2023. There’s no script for Game Seven. Anything can happen.

At least we know that Akira Schmid will return to the net for the Devils. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds to finally being solved last game. The Rangers scored five times to chase him with over eight minutes left in Game Six. They should have more confidence. That means continuing to shoot the puck.

The Devils know that it’s been tough to beat Shesterkin. Probably the best goalie left in this wacky postseason, he’ll need to be at his best. It doesn’t matter how good he’s been. It’s another big game on his resume. The Rangers better remember to play well in front of him. If they don’t, all bets are off.

Both teams want to have their best game of the series. It’s hanging in the balance. One critical mistake could be curtains. You’d figure each side would come out playing tight. It’s my opinion that the more aggressive team should have a better chance of winning. You can’t sit back and wait for something to happen. You have to go for it.

Of course, decision-making will be a key. Puck management is crucial. The team that manages the puck better should be in good shape. Sloppy turnovers doomed Boston last night. That more than anything is why their special season ended so early. Watching that overtime, it was a question of when the Panthers would win. They were the better team.

It boils down to not panicking. There’s definitely anxiety for the players. If they don’t have nerves before such a big game, they’re probably not normal. It becomes about execution. When I watched the Bruins, who rallied from two down to take the lead before giving up a late goal to Brandon Montour, they didn’t play with much confidence. They played scared. You can’t play that way in such pressure packed games.

In this series, it hasn’t come easy for some key stars. Zibanejad scored his first goal in Game Six. Panarin remains without a goal. Is tonight the night he breaks through? Miller has one assist. So, too, does Trocheck. Outside of his big Game Two, where he had a goal and two assists, Kane hasn’t been great. But he knows what it takes. So does Vladimir Tarasenko, who notched his third goal and added an assist the other night. A smart move by Gerard Gallant moving the former Blues star up.

On the Devils’ side, captain Nico Hischier remains without a goal. He has been okay but probably needs to be a factor later. Jesper Bratt is also without a goal. He did set up Hamilton in overtime to win Game Three. But he hasn’t been that noticeable. Timo Meier remains without a point. He was acquired for this kind of game.

It isn’t Hughes that leads the Devils in scoring this series. But rather, the battle tested Erik Haula. He enters with five points (3-2-5). The gritty two-way pivot has proven why they moved Pavel Zacha to get him. He wins key draws, battles hard, and goes to the dirty areas.

Kreider provides that for the Rangers. His five power play goals and six overall lead all skaters. There are not many other Blueshirts that do what he does. Lafreniere will go to the net and finish checks. He has no points. Trocheck isn’t shy about playing in front, but only has one goal. The grinders like Goodrow will get their jersey dirty. This is his kind of game.

What about the team defenses? Obviously, the Rangers are led by Fox (8 assists) and rugged partner Lindgren. So much of what they do runs through Fox. When he’s been good, they’ve won all three games. It’s no coincidence that he racked up all his points in Games 1-2 and 6. However, the match-up tandem of Miller and Trouba will determine a lot at five-on-five. They must have a good night.

On the Jersey side, they’ll need Hamilton and partner Jonas Siegenthaler to play well. Hamilton is their biggest offensive threat from the back end. When he contributes, they’ve been successful. It still could come down to Ryan Graves and John Marino. They play a similar defensive role to Miller and Trouba. When the Devils won three straight, that key pair played well. They were victimized in Game Six.

Of their secondary players, Mike McLeod has been effective. He’s won a ridiculous 66.2 percent of face-offs (43-and-22). A good skater who works well as the checking center, he plays with energy.

Keep an eye on Dawson Mercer. He’s got goals over the last two games. He’s particularly dangerous shorthanded when teamed with Haula. Shesterkin made two huge saves to deny them at a crucial point last game.

Maybe that player for the Rangers is Chytil. He has a goal and three assists in the series. Most of his success came during the first two games. If not him, Kaapo Kakko has been very involved. He could easily have more than a goal and assist. We’ll see if the former second pick taken after Hughes can be an x-factor.

Whatever happens, it’ll be exciting. The crowd will be into it. They were very loud for Game Five. The same echoed true for MSG in Game Six. A deciding Game Seven is as good as it gets for playoff hockey.

Will either coach have to make a key move during the game? Gallant would tweak his lines if he has to. Lindy Ruff isn’t afraid to mix things up if things aren’t going well. It’s two proven bench bosses.

There’s more pressure on the Rangers. They have a lot riding on this. That’s why they added both Tarasenko and Kane. The Devils are the younger team that’s surprised many this year. Please refer to Hasan’s piece for tonight. I agree with him about the game’s start time. Network TV doesn’t ever consider the fans who attend these games.

Ratings are up for the seventh Battle of Hudson. You have to think they’ll get increased viewership for Game Seven. There’s no greater theater. If it’s close, there will be drama. Electricity will be in the air.

Game Seven. Tonight. 8 PM. See you there.

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Devils-Rangers take circuitous path to a predictable destination…Game 7

Posted on April 30, 2023 by hasan4978

As much as part of me wants to vent about Game 6 and the Devils being blown up for the third time in this series, their sloppy penalties and play in the last two periods or about the NHL refs’ obvious game management last night (specifically giving the Rangers all the power plays when we dominated the first period, then giving us all the power plays after we fell behind) – to paraphrase a legendary, taciturn coach…we’re on to Newark. And we’re on to Game 7 as well, the first one for the Devils since Adam Henrique’s first series-winning goal of the 2012 postseason a little more than eleven years ago, while it’s the third Game 7 for the Rangers just in the last two seasons.

Amazingly, as the opening Tweet above points out this is the first time the Devils and Rangers have met in a Game 7 since that titanic 1994 series and the third time overall (1992 being the other). We’ve met several times in the playoffs since then, but I don’t really need to go through those series too much…our shocking five-game exit in 1997 during the second round was the least memorable of the rivalry by far, while our 2006 four-game destruction in the first round was the most one-sided series. Our five-game home exit in 2008 in the playoffs was predictably anticlimactic after a season where the Rangers beat us 11 of 13 times. Then came 2012’s Conference Finals, another great series that happened to only go six games.

In fact, you can make the argument that series was better than this year’s series, despite the fact we’re going to Game 7 this time. For a seven-game series that a lot of people (including both me and Derek) predicted would go the distance before a puck was dropped and a series between two teams who only finished five points apart in the regular season, the actual hockey itself has been anything but predictable given the fact the first four games were all won by the road team. Not to mention four of the six games have been blowouts, including all three Ranger wins. Even though we both got the number of games right and one of us is obviously going to get the end result correct, if you’ve watched or paid attention to the first six games of this series and think you can predict what’s going happen in Game 7 then you’re quite simply certifiable.

Perhaps the only good thing about last night’s game is the Devils simply blew a 1-0 lead, rather than the 2-0 lead of 1994 infamy – a fact the ESPN crew would have no doubt liked to remind us of (and probably did anyway). I had it muted with the Devils’ radio telecast on last night, clearly that didn’t work in terms of mojo. At least I won’t have to worry about Ray Ferraro laughing at us giving up a goal tomorrow, though the 8 PM start time in itself is annoying – particularly with the very real possibility of overtime and having to take the train schedule into account the longer the game goes. Because of this, I’m going to indulge myself in a mini rant for the next couple of paragraphs.

I’d gladly drive into Newark except my car can’t handle long periods of start and stop driving at the moment. I could use a work car, but admittedly I’m kind of glad I’m taking the train at this point given the predictable price gouging going on around the arena (and the fact traffic going out of the arena will be predictably bad if you have everyone leaving at the same time). My normal lot a few blocks away – which was $10 during the regular season – is $30 now during this series, and they’re hardly an outlier in inflated prices. Conversely, round-trip forty minutes on the train is only about $14.

If you’re going by yourself as I have been this year, the math is pretty clear. Even going with one other person, the cost would be similar. It’s just that taking the train is more time-consuming since you’re on NJ Transit’s schedule, plus from where I go the train only takes you to Broad Street station. You still need to either walk the twenty minutes up Broad Street to get to the arena or find a bus to lessen that part of the trip. My tradeoff for not having to worry about driving, or lot price gouging is the fact I may not necessarily be able to stay for a multiple-OT thriller. By my unofficial calculation, the second OT intermission would be my drop-dead time since the last train back to Madison is 1:15 AM, and I’d obviously have to leave the arena a bit before then to make it back to Broad Street. I have no intention of being stuck in Newark for five hours overnight and getting no sleep at all, or in paying for an Uber that would be ridiculously expensive and ridiculously stuck in traffic. Nor am I going to chance hoping there’s a room available at the hotel near the arena and overpaying for that just to have a safe spot for four hours. If it comes to it, I’m bringing my earbuds and listening to a third OT on the ride home.

Truth be told, marathon OT’s are great when you’re in the comfort of home and don’t have to worry about anything else once the game ends, but not so great for the attending audience if you still have to drive or take the train home. Especially on a weeknight where the game starts at 8 PM. Obviously, the NHL’s going to cater to the TV audience over the fans at the arena, since the game will be a sellout whatever time they do put it on. Yes, I’m a grouchy middle-aged man and won’t really care what time the game ends or whether I’m still in the building by then if the Devils win, and if the Rangers win I won’t care too much if I manage to hit the early train back and get home at midnight, other than being glad I didn’t have to waste another two sleepless hours in the building.

Anyhoo, I’d originally intended for this blog to be a look back at Game 7’s past, especially since we haven’t had a whole lot of them. I’ve only been at two personally, and it’s basically a heaven and hell comparison between our 2003 Cup clincher against the Ducks, and the 2009 meltdown against Carolina in the first round. Despite our run of success as a franchise, we really haven’t had a lot of home Game 7’s over the years. Ironically, the home Game 7 I remember the least (1994’s first round against the Sabres) is pretty comparable to this year in terms of a goaltending matchup with a young rookie named Brodeur going save-for save with the great Dominik Hasek.

There was also that 1999 meltdown against the Penguins, literally the only thing I remember about that game was Brodeur making a staggering save on a two-on-zero, but then getting scored on anyway later that sequence when the vaunted Devils’ D was nowhere to be found. Personally, I’m hoping for a 2001 against the Leafs repeat, a nice easy 5-1 win – albeit that game was 0-1 in the middle of the second period before the Devils exploded after that. That’s likely unrealistic but with this series and its wild swings of momentum from nowhere, who knows?

I don’t really have much interest in previewing the game itself since as I said in the open, how can you watch this whole series and think you have any idea how this game is going to turn out? I don’t like how things are trending with Igor Shesterkin getting hot and the Ranger scorers starting to heat up while ours are still ice-cold and we’re still taking dumb offensive zone penalties. Game 7 is Game 7 though, all it takes is one win at this point and objectively we were the better team this year, given we finished ahead in the standings and took seven of a possible eight points head-to-head from the Rangers, but none of that means any more than the Rangers’ recent past in Game 7’s as a wise man once said not that long ago:

Little surprise that Haula’s been among the best Devils in the first six games, and really over the last month plus as a whole. That’ll likely have to change if the Devils are going to pump more than two goals past Shesterkin for only the second time in the series. If the Devils don’t win this series, the lack of scoring from guys like Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier will become an even bigger story, especially with the first two wanting lucrative long-term deals this offseason. Holding them to under two and trying to win 2-1 or 3-1 again is going to be a big ask, now that they possibly solved Akira Schmid in Game 6 to the tune of five goals and a late pull. Still, you have to go back to Schmid in Game 7. I love Vitek Vanecek and everything he did for us in the regular season, but Schmid and his great play three games in a row is the biggest reason we’re still sitting here with a chance after going down 0-2 with most of our stars firing blanks.

I’ll have to conclude on this note – especially since if this series ends the wrong way I may not feel like writing a post-mortem for the next couple days or so – whatever happens tomorrow shouldn’t take away anything from this Devils season on the whole. Not now that they actually made it a series and can legitimately learn something from it besides getting the butt kicking they got in 2018, or seemingly were in for after the first two games this series. Yes, it would be disappointing to lose to the Rangers, especially on home ice but a deep playoff run was beyond anyone’s realm of expectations in October 2022 after the first two losses of the season. Our goal then was to at least be relevant in April again, nothing more than that.

In the end, this team brought hope back to a fanbase beaten down by a decade of almost total irrelevance – one fluke, quick playoff exit surrounded by seventh and eighth-place finishes where the season was over by January and we were crunching lottery odds after the holidays. Besides injecting true belief back into people who’d become jaded by seemingly endless losing like me, the organization’s put itself into a position where they should be a force for the next several years. A young, talented core with cap space and more key prospects on the come has the Devils uniquely poised to cement a place in the league’s elite and stay there for years going forward. I know there’s always a possibility that won’t happen, there are issues that need to be addressed but that isn’t today’s concern or even Tuesday’s concern.

This organization, starting with GM Tom Fitzgerald has earned the benefit of the doubt going forward, whatever changes have to be inevitably made in the future. And this team on the ice deserves our belief tomorrow night after everything they’ve done all year – all the comebacks, the thirteen-game winning streak, setting a franchise record for wins and more recently coming back from 0-2 in this series. Maybe we won’t get it done in the end, but now’s not the time to think about the worst-case scenario and who to blame or how unfair it is our dream season could be spoiled by our biggest rivals. Now’s the time for one word and one word only…

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Kreider’s big night leads Rangers to huge Game Six win over Devils, force deciding Game Seven on Monday

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Derek
An emotional Chris Kreider celebrates being named first star. His goal and two assists led the way as the Rangers forced a deciding Game Seven by defeating the Devils 5-2 to take Game Six. AP Photo by New York Rangers via Getty Images

For a while, it looked a lot similar to the past three games. On their heels at every turn for most of the first period in which they were badly outplayed, the Rangers seemed to be stuck in neutral.

They kept backpedaling against a very fast opponent looking for the kill. Fortunately, Chris Kreider had other ideas. It was his power play goal with less than 25 seconds left in the first period that gave them some life. He wasn’t done. It was Kreider, who keyed a 5-2 win over the Devils to take a do or die Game Six before a packed MSG.

In a brilliant performance by the longest tenured Ranger, Kreider’s goal and two primary assists highlighted a resounding home victory to force a deciding Game Seven on Monday night. He even made some history by tying hockey legend Mark Messier for the most goals (16) in elimination games. Exactly what you’d expect from the clutch power forward.

What it all boils down to is that despite all the more talented stars they boast, it’s Kreider who’s the heart of this team. He’s been the Rangers’ best player. After getting shut down over the last three games, which were all losses, he responded by getting his series leading sixth on a late power play. His three points came on the first three goals as the Blueshirts finally got to Akira Schmid.

After only allowing two goals in his first three postseason starts, the 22-year old Devils rookie gave up five goals on 29 shots in 52 minutes. He was chased by Braden Schneider with 7:32 remaining in the game. Vitek Vanecek replaced him to probably give Schmid a breather before Game Seven. It looked like a pull by Lindy Ruff to let him get focused on the biggest game of the series.

Only one team will advance to meet the Hurricanes in the second round. As expected, nothing has been decided yet. Both Hasan and I felt that this series would go the distance. Obviously, we made different picks. In less than two days, we’ll find out which team will come out victorious in the seventh installment of the Battle of Hudson.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect that at all. Five consecutive goals after the Rangers looked completely outmatched. The Devils’ speed was very evident in a better first, where they dictated most of the play. They were more aggressive and really pushed hard.

Faced with the tall task of again being the last line of defense in another big spot, Igor Shesterkin really delivered. He made 34 saves, including 10 big ones in the crucial first period. There were moments when he was the biggest reason the Rangers were able to take control of Saturday night’s game. By stopping 34 of 36 shots, that made it 22 straight playoff games where he’s allowed three goals or less. It’s all the more impressive, with it being his fourth series over two seasons.

Entering the elimination game, Gerard Gallant went with his reconstructed lineup that featured Vladimir Tarasenko up on the top line with Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Of all the changes he made, it was that one that had the most impact. All three players factored into the scoring.

Patrick Kane played with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere. Artemi Panarin slid down to play alongside Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko. The fourth line remained the same as did the defense pairs.

Of course, the Devils rolled with the same lineup they’ve used since Game Three. It looked like it was working. Early on, Ondrej Palat got an early tester on Shesterkin that he gloved. He’d also stop Dawson Mercer to keep it scoreless.

It felt like the ice was lopsided. The Devils kept using their speed to get in on the forecheck. Even their fourth line created pressure. A Nathan Bastian offensive zone interference minor on Barclay Goodrow put that attack on pause.

On their first power play, Tarasenko replaced Kane on the first unit. They were able to get three shots on Schmid, but he stopped Zibanejad, Adam Fox, and Panarin. The second unit had Kane with Filip Chytil, Trocheck, Jacob Trouba, and Kakko, who replaced Lafreniere. They were unable to get any shots through.

After they killed the penalty, the Devils again got back on the attack. The dangerous Jack Hughes got off a backhand that Shesterkin handled. He also went wide with a shot.

The way the first half of the period was played, shots were at a premium. The Devils led in shots 5-4. Eventually, they’d break through to grab the lead on a strong shift from the fourth line.

On some sustained pressure started by Mike McLeod, who skated with the puck in the corner, Damon Severson pinched in at the point. He moved the puck across for a Kevin Bahl shot that rebounded off Shesterkin right to Curtis Lazar for an easy goal with 8:11 left in the period. During the play, Bastian was parked in front to create enough of a distraction. That was enough to give the Devils the lead.

Following Lazar’s first of the series, the Devils continued to control most of the play. However, Shesterkin was able to keep them at one. If he hadn’t, we might not be talking about Game Seven.

On a better offensive shift with less than five minutes remaining, Kane had a backhand stopped by Schmid. He then calmly cut down the angle on Ryan Lindgren. At that point, he hadn’t been seriously threatened. It wasn’t enough pressure. That was partially due to them paying more attention to defending against the Devils’ speed. They backed up a lot, which hurt the offense.

With under a minute to go, Mercer lost the puck and took down Kane to put the Rangers on their second power play. That penalty would prove pivotal. Unable to get much established up to that point, the Rangers needed a boost from a man-advantage that had gone ice cold.

After going 0 for their last 14, the Rangers finally broke through to tie the game. On a good set play, Adam Fox made a short pass across for a Zibanejad one-timer that deflected off of Kreider’s leg to tie the score with 24.9 seconds left. He was parked in front. His usual spot. Even though it wasn’t the usual tip-in, just being in the right spot gave him his sixth goal, which got the crowd into it.

That goal was critical. It breathed life into both the team and the building. Prior to Kreider’s latest power play goal, not much happened. The fans were waiting for something to happen. From a psychological standpoint, it was huge to get the game tied before intermission.

At the buzzer, Palat took an offensive zone minor for tripping up Jacob Trouba. As usual, the captain was involved physically. While partner K’Andre Miller has been pretty quiet, Trouba has continued to play solid throughout the series.

After getting out-shot 11-8, the Rangers had a third consecutive power play to start the second period. They attempted four shots with two getting through. But Schmid kept the game tied. He’d later make a good save on Kane when the teams were back at even strength.

Palat would then take another penalty in the offensive zone. He chopped down on Miller’s stick to draw a slashing minor. It wasn’t much. But Miller wisely dropped his stick to get the call. At that point, the Rangers led in power plays 4-zip. That didn’t please Ruff.

However, here came an important moment. On a bad turnover by Zibanejad, who tried to skate the puck in, that allowed Erik Haula and Mercer to come in the opposite direction for a two-on-one shorthanded rush. Shesterkin made two of his biggest stops when he denied Mercer and then got across to thwart Haula on a rebound. If either goes in, who knows what happens.

At that moment, the Rangers power play wasn’t sharp. They could’ve paid for it like in Game Five when Mercer scored a shorthanded goal. Instead, Shesterkin made the two biggest saves of the game to draw the familiar “Ig-or, Ig-or” chants from the crowd.

The game turned around thanks to a big Zibanejad face-off win against Hughes in the defensive zone. After easily getting out of their end, the Rangers finally got the puck deep against the Hughes line.

On a Tarasenko pass behind the Devils’ net, Kreider drew both Ryan Graves and John Marino out of position. He then sent a perfect backhand feed in front for Zibanejad, who finally got his first goal to give the Rangers the lead with 9:50 left.

The scoring play was all Kreider. He used the back of the net to draw attention on him and then slipped a great backhand pass between Marino’s legs for Zibanejad’s go-ahead tally. You could tell Kreider was feeling it. He wasn’t done.

With the crowd fully into it, they began to take it to the Devils. Following an effective shift for Kane and Trocheck that saw Schmid make three saves, there was a scrum. During it, Trocheck foolishly punched annoying pest Timo Meier. He still doesn’t have a point but keeps getting underneath our players’ skin. He sucked Trocheck into a bad penalty.

On their first power play, the Devils managed two shots from their best two players. But Shesterkin stopped both Hughes and Nico Hischier to keep them off the scoreboard.

After the key penalty kill, Braden Schneider caught Meier with a good open ice hit, knocking him down. He got cheers. Nicknamed Baby Trouba, Schneider has picked his spots well in the series.

When the Devils tried to find offense, they were thwarted by some stronger resistance. In particular, Fox had one of his better defensive games – finishing with four blocks and five takeaways. He really came through with an excellent overall game. He also had two assists to pick up his first two points since the first two games. Fox leads all skaters with eight helpers in the series.

On a late shift where they got the match-up against the Devils’ fourth line, the Zibanejad line delivered a big goal to go up two. On a Fox pass for Kreider, he again made a great play to find a cutting Tarasenko wide open. He made no mistake picking high glove on Schmid for his third of the series. That put the Rangers ahead 3-1 with 1:35 remaining.

At that point, the new top line had combined for three goals and four assists. Exactly the kind of production Gallant hoped for when he decided to move Tarasenko up in place of Kane. He was quite happy with the results.

Entering the third ahead by two, the Rangers had to make sure they didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal. As they’ve proved, the Devils are capable of coming back. They never gave up. However, Shesterkin was not having it.

Over a minute into the period, Zibanejad took down Hughes to go off for tripping. However, the penalty kill did an outstanding job by limiting the Devils to a pair of shots from Meier and Hughes that Shesterkin handled. Both came from the outside.

When they weren’t clearing pucks, the Blueshirts were finishing checks and blocking shots. They blocked 21 for the game. Both Fox and Trouba each had four while Schneider chipped in with three. Checking forward, Tyler Motte blocked two as well. It was a team effort.

As they continued to search for offense, the Devils found it tougher. Still without a point, Lafreniere came back for a takeaway and also had a hit during a shift. He’s played hard. Obviously, it would be nice to see him get rewarded. There is one big game remaining that’ll be played Monday night in Newark.

When they did have opportunities, the Devils were kept at bay by Shesterkin. He kept making saves. In the third, he stopped 16 of 17 shots.

On a Bahl turnover, Barclay Goodrow came in transition with Jimmy Vesey. On a Vesey shot from a sharp angle that Schmid had trouble with, a driving Goodrow bunted it out of mid-air to get his first of the series. That made it 4-1 with 12:37 left.

That goal was definitely one Schmid should’ve had. He started to show cracks in the armor. When Schneider beat him on a long one-timer short side, that was it for him. On a good Panarin forecheck behind the net, he got the puck over to Chytil, who moved it up for Niko Mikkola. He sent it over for Schneider, who broke a long drought with his first goal since Jan. 5.

With the game decided, Trouba delivered a hit that knocked down Hischier. He was called for roughing. The Devils captain was none too pleased. He exchanged words with Miller during a scrum. Both Trocheck and Bahl got misconducts to get the rest of the night off.

Trailing by four with 5:31 remaining, Ruff opted to lift Vanecek for a six-on-four. It worked. Following a Hughes pass for a Hischier shot, the puck came right to Mercer, who rifled it home upstairs to cut it to 5-2 with 4:48 left in regulation.

That’s as close as they came. The Devils continued to play with an extra skater. After a Hughes dump in on goal, an aggressive Shesterkin went for it. He tried to score into the empty net. However, his attempt was intercepted by Meier. But a diving Fox blocked his shot.

As they neared the conclusion, Trouba caught Hischier with a clean hit. To his credit, he got back up and nearly made it interesting. Hischier got a great chance to score. All set up in the slot, he had his wrist shot gloved by a very confident Shesterkin who got more “Ig-or, Ig-or” chants.

That was the exclamation point on the game. For one night, the Rangers showed their playoff experience. They bounced back in a big way to tie the series at three games apiece. It was nice to see the true character of this team finally show up in a big spot.

Now, it’s all about Game Seven. The best words in sports. There’s no greater theater. Hasan said something in reply about this series being weird. I agree. If you think momentum matters, I’d stop you short due to the extreme shifts we’ve seen. It’s been unpredictable. For that reason, I don’t know who’s going to win Monday night.

It’ll probably be the team that makes the fewest mistakes but can dictate the terms. It marks the third time in the Hudson Rivalry that there’ll be a do or die seventh game. It hasn’t happened in 29 years. I’m not going to revisit the details. That’s what ESPN is for.

For my three stars, I went with Shesterkin, Zibanejad, and Kreider, who was the game’s deserving first star. The media selected Tarasenko third star. I chose Shesterkin due to the big saves he made. Without those, who knows.

Onto Game Seven.

https://twitter.com/BattleOfHudson/status/1652508979673612288?t=Eq_IMTwdfa1WxWel9kXf4w&s=19

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