Devils Comeback Falls Short, Lose 3-1 in New York | GAME STORY

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Devils comeback attempt late in the third period fell short as New Jersey lost 3-1 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Simon Nemec had the Devils' lone goal while Mika Zibanejad, Erik Gustafsson, and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Rangers. 

“Obviously disappointed we lost. It was a hard fought game," interim head coach Travis Green said following the game. "I thought we came up light a little bit in a couple areas. A little loose (on) puck battles. A lot of nights, those little battles determine the game. I thought obviously our power play needs to get us one. We didn’t convert on some really good chances where we had some good looks, or even back door plays that didn’t connect that we’re capable of. It was a tough loss against a good team.”

Early in the first, the Devils penalty kill was put to work after Erik Haula was called for tripping. New Jersey had a great effort, clearing the puck several times and keeping the fifth-best power play in the league off the board.

The Rangers opened the scoring when Artemi Panarin got past Kaapo Kahkonen in the opening eight minutes of the game; however, the Devils challenged for off-sides and won the challenge, no goal.

The Devils had their first power play of the game after Kaapo Kakko was called for high-sticking; however, New Jersey had only one shot while on the man-advantage. Alexander Holtz was called for slashing in the final eight minutes of the period and the Devils penalty kill came up big once again. In addition, Erik Haula had a breakaway chance, shorthanded, that Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick got a piece of to keep the forward off the board. Following the first period, the Rangers outshot the Devils 13-6; however, Kahkonen continued to make save after save and helped the Devils leave the first period with a 0-0 score.

"He was good,” Green said. “Especially in the first half of the game. It wasn’t our best game the first 20 minutes and then he kept us in. I thought we started to gain some traction."

“He came up with some big saves," Jesper Bratt also shared. "It was good seeing him in net. I thought he did good out there.”

Both teams had penalties in the first half of the second period, first Brendan Smith was sent off for tripping, before Adam Fox was called for interference 30 seconds later. Neither team was able to score 4-on-4 or on their respective shortened power plays. In the final five minutes of the middle frame, the Devils went on the power play for the third time but were held off the scoresheet once again.

A turnover by the Devils behind the net set up Chris Kreider to recover the puck and find Mika Zibanejad in front. Zibanejad’s backhand got past Kahkonen to make it 1-0 with seven and a half minutes left in the second period. In the final minute of the second period Erik Gustafsson’s shot through traffic snuck past Kahkonen to make it 2-0 Rangers.

30 seconds after the Rangers' second goal, Matt Rempe elbowed Jonas Siegenthaler and received a five minute major for elbowing and a game misconduct. Kurtis MacDermid was assessed a 10 minute misconduct as well.

The Devils went on the power play in the final seconds of the period and started the third period on the man-advantage. Despite having some chances, especially late in the power play, the Devils were unable to score on their five-minute power play.

“This late in the season it’s hard 5-on-5 to score goals,” Bratt explained post-game. “You need your power play to step up in those times, especially late in the game. We just need our power play to be better there. We could have made a difference for the team and we did not. Obviously frustrating.”

With eight minutes left in the third period, Haula was sent off for interference and the Rangers power play received their fourth power play of the game. The Devils were successful once again keeping a top power play from scoring on the man advantage.

In the final two and a half minutes of the third period, right as Kahkonen was pulled for the extra attacker, the Devils got on the board with Simon Nemec scoring his third of the season. Following the goal, the Devils had a big momentum shift and pulled their goaltender once again looking for the tying goal. However, Vincent Trocheck's empty net goal with 1:13 left in the game would put a comeback out of reach.

Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler didn't return in the third period and Green gave an update following the game.

“He’s not doing great, he didn’t come back," Green said. "Never like to see a player get hit like that, especially when it’s happened twice now.”

The Devils have lost the first three of their matchups between the Rangers this season and will head out west for a three-game road trip starting Wednesday.

Here are some observations from the game:

• In Kaapo Kahkonen's Devils debut, the goaltender stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced. He credited his teammates and how they played in front of him following the game:

"(It was) pretty good. I think the guys did a good job in front of me. They were really helpful throughout the whole game, communicating to me. Obviously there's a lot of things system wise that are new for me but you learn as you. You can't just remember everything at once but I think we did a pretty good job helping each other out there."

• When it came to special teams, neither team was able to score on the man-advantage. The Devils penalty kill went 4/4 against a top power play, and New Jersey was unable to find the back of the net on any of their four power plays.

“They’re not connecting," Green said post-game. “It’s easy to say if you could just say hey, this is why they’re not scoring then they would probably score. There’s more than one reason why they’re not. Tonight we just didn’t get organized very well. I thought the Rangers did a good job, give them credit.”

• The Devils were held to just 20 shots on goal through 60 minutes. New Jersey had six in the first period, seven in the second, and seven in the third.

“They were playing solidly,” Bratt said. “There were times we didn’t really manage the puck well either. They were playing well today in the inside, they took away the middle of the ice from us to get those grade-As and we also didn’t funnel enough pucks to get in there. We kept a little too much to the outside and we had a little (bit) of a slow start to the game.”

•In the last meetup between the Devils and Rangers on Feb. 22, Matt Rempe had a big hit on Nathan Bastian which has sidelined the Devils forward since. To start tonight's contest, MacDermid asked Rempe to fight but the rookie refused. Later on, Rempe's hit took out defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler. MacDermid and Green discussed Rempe post-game:

"I knew about the hit on Bastian going into this game," MacDermid explained. "First shift I asked him (to fight). There's a bit of a code and I thought he would have answered that but I don't know what he was told but he said no. But after a hit like that, it kind of goes without saying you should answer the bell in some way and be a man about it. And then the game goes on and he throws another hit like that and gets kicked out and possibly suspended. There's a right way to go about things and a wrong way and kind of lost a lot of respect for him tonight."

“Everyone knows, that knows the game at all, knows that that player is in a vulnerable spot," Green explained. "There’s a player that is looking to (injure), call it predatory or whatever you want to call it, and it’s definitely not the first time that it’s happened and second time against us.”