Rangers vs. Devils: Rangers Fall to New Jersey 4-3 At Madison Square Garden

The New York Rangers were defeated 4-3 by the New Jersey Devils this evening, and dropped to 1-2-0 on the regular season. New York gave up an early goal just 32 seconds into the opening period, but despite a pushback, they were unable to overcome the two-goal deficit. MacKenzie Blackwood played a large part in the victory for the Devils as he turned away 47 of the 50 shots he faced on the night.

1st Period

Travis Zajac (1) - Miles Wood (1) & P.K. Subban (1) - 0:32

It took just under a minute into the game for New Jersey to jump out to an early 1-0 lead, and it was off of Travis Zajac’s first goal of the season. The Rangers were caught sleeping during a defensive change, and P.K. Subban made them pay with a quick outlet pass up the right boards. Miles Wood was able to chase down the loose puck with his speed, and generated a rebound in front of Alexandar Georgiev. Travis Zajac, who was trailing the play, jumped on the rebound and shoveled the shot past Georgiev to make it a 1-0 game.

2nd Period

Chris Kreider (1) - Artemi Panarin (1) & Adam Fox (2) PPG - 2:50

After surrendering the opening goal just 32 seconds into the game, the Rangers finally responded with an early goal in the second period. New York’s first power play of the game resulted in an immediate goal with Chris Kreider scoring his first of the season. Kreider’s initial pass wound up deflecting off of Ryan Murray’s back skate, and slipped in behind MacKenzie Blackwood.

Jack Hughes (1) - Ty Smith (2) & Yegor Sharangovich (1) - 4:13

Just under two minutes after the Rangers tied up the game, the Devils came right back down the ice and regained a 2-1 lead. The shot by Yegor Sharangovich gave Alexandar Georgiev some trouble on the glove hand again, and the puck landed on the goal line. Jack Hughes spotted the puck just sitting in the crease and slammed home the loose puck.

Jack Hughes (2) - Unassisted - 8:38

Jack Hughes wasn’t finished just there though and picked up his second goal of the evening at the 8:38 mark. Just prior to the goal against, the Rangers had hit the post on a wide open net at the conclusion of their power play. Hughes was able to jump the shooting lane on an attempted shot by Jacob Trouba, and broke in all alone on a breakaway. Hughes made a quick move to his backhand, and slipped the puck between the legs of Georgiev.

Mika Zibanejad (1) - Adam Fox (3) & Artemi Panarin (2) PPG - 12:09

New York had their second power play of the evening just past the halfway mark of the period, and capitalized yet again. This time around it was Mika Zibanejad from his patented office, and he snapped a shot over the shoulder of Blackwood. Zibanejad actually wound up flubbing the shot, but got just enough of it to pick the shortside corner.

Miles Wood (3) - Jack Hughes (4) & Kyle Palmieri (2) - 16:00

With the Rangers already converting on two of their power play chances, it was the Devils turn to go to work with the man-advantage. Unfortunately for the Rangers, Jack Hughes continued his dominance throughout the second period, and setup Miles Wood with a beautiful centering pass. Wood wound up re-directing the puck past Georgiev with his skate, and gave the Devils a 4-2 lead in the game.

3rd Period

Filip Chytil (1) - Phil Di Giuseppe (2) & Pavel Buchnevich (2) - 7:00

The Rangers entered the third period down by a pair of goals, but they jumped back into the game with an early goal from Filip Chytil. Pavel Buchnevich did all of the work on the goal as he muscled the puck into the offensive zone, and quickly shoveled a reverse pass back out front. Following a scramble in front, the puck popped out to Filip Chytil, who chipped home his first of the season to make it a 4-3 game.

The Rangers had another slow-ish start to the game, and the Devils made them pay early on. Alexandar Georgiev had a tough go in his second start of the season, and seemed to struggle a bit with his glove hand. New York had plenty of chances to find the tying goal late in the game, but unfortunately their power play success dried up. Following tonight’s defeat, the Rangers will have another two-day layoff before returning for a two-game set against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday and Sunday.