Devils fall to Rangers, 5-2

In a matinee matchup, the first at Madison Square Garden this season, the Devils fell behind 3-0 after 20 minutes. Unlikely goal scorers in Kenny Agostino and Andy Greene were on the board in the third period, but the Devils offense fell short, dropping the matchup to the Rangers 5-2.

Here are 10 takeaways from the game:
1. Before the Devils contingent had arrived at Madison Square Garden, the Devils were already in the news, after another roster move ahead of Monday afternoon's NHL Trade Deadline. Veteran defenseman Ben Lovejoy was sent to the Dallas Stars in return for Dallas' 2019 3rd round draft selection and defenseman Connor Carrick.
Tweet from @NJDevils: #NJDevils Executive Vice President/General Manager Ray Shero on @RevLovejoy6's contribution: pic.twitter.com/1vSpS9HUdW
In acquiring the Dallas draft selection, at the June NHL Entry Draft, New Jersey will have nine picks, including five in the first three rounds.
2. The Devils also played without Marcus Johansson, who was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. Johansson was held out for precautionary reasons, while the Rangers held out several Unrestricted Free Agents of their own in Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello and Adam McQuaid. Combined, Hayes, Zuccarello, and McQuiad have 84 points this season.
3. Miles Wood had been absent for the Devils most recent practice sessions after missing the third period against the Ottawa Senators earlier in the week due to injury. Wood, who is becoming known for how quickly he recovers from his injuries - his coach John Hynes even calling him a 'freak of nature'! - was back in the Devils lineup against the Rangers.
Wood played 15:46 total, with 1:03 of power play time.
4. Cory Schneider appeared in net for the 3rd time in the Devils last 4 games. Schneider rolled into Madison Square Garden with a 3-0-0 record in those appearances Schneider had made 79 saves on the 80 shots he faced. Against the Rangers, Schneider made 29 saves on 33 shots in his first loss in three games.
5. Schneider entered the game against the Rangers after posting a shutout against the Ottawa Senators earlier in the week. When Rangers Jimmy Vesey scored on Schneider at the 4:48 mark of the first period, it was the first goal that the Devils netminder had let up in 85:44 of play and snapped his shutout streak.
6. At the other end of the ice, the New Jersey Devils were facing Rangers netminder Alexandar Georgiev. It's unusual to see the Rangers without star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in net when facing New Jersey, in fact this is the first time since October 14, 2017 (Ondrej Pavelec) that, if healthy, Lundqvist has not been in net against the Devils.
7. New Jersey native Kenny Agostino in his first matchup as a Devil against the New York Rangers put New Jersey on the board to start the third period. Agostino's goal was his first as a member of the Devils and just the fifth of his career. Agostino beat Georgiev at 2:20 of the third period, scored unassisted and cut the Rangers lead to 3-1.
Tweet from @NJDevils: Nothing like scoring your first goal as a Devil against your childhood team. 😈 #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/j3zIOs6UBm
Agostino's goal came on the Devils first shot of the third period and just their 14th of the game.
8. Andy Greene added to the Devils third period scoring when he cashed in a shot off a cross-ice pass from Kyle Palmieri. From 23 feet away, Greene popped in a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season and 46th of his career. The Devils captain surpassed his goal total from last season (3). With his 19th point of the season, Greene is creeping closer to the 20+ points in a season, which he has not done since the 2014-15 NHL season.
Tweet from @NJDevils: 2������1������ ������ 6������ 🚨 pic.twitter.com/BjgketU2ls
9. Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri assisted on Greene's goal. For Hischier it was his 26th assist of the season, which ties him for a team-high with Taylor Hall. Hall has 26 assists in the 33 games he's played this season. To add to that, the assist for Hischier was the 95th point of his career to put him at seventh on the Devils all-time list for most points through the first two years with the Devils. (Credit: Craig Seiden, NJ Devils Radio Statistician)
10. Shots were certainly hard to come by for New Jersey against the Rangers. With just four in the first period and 21 after 60 minutes, unable to crack double digits in shots in all three periods. Making up for most of the shot output was the Devils top line in Jesper Bratt, Hischier and Palmieri - they made up eight of the shots against the Rangers.