Devils fall to Rangers at The Garden

NEW YORK --A 5-2 loss for the Devils on Saturday night leaves the Devils looking for answers on consecutive nights.
The Devils were stymied by the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, who concluded their seventh set of back-to-back games this season. New Jersey's record dropped to 4-3-0 in the second games of back-to-backs.

Here are 10 takeaways from the game:
1. There was some major line shuffling by coach John Hynes as the Devils came off a loss to the Blue Jackets on Friday.
Drew Stafford and Steven Santini were healthy scratches. Pavel Zacha was back in the lineup after he sat out the last three games. Ben Lovejoy drew into the lineup for Santini.
Hynes reorganized his lines and pairings as follows:
Hall-Hischier-Bratt
Johansson-Zacha-Noesen
Wood-Zajac-Gibbons
Coleman-Boyle-Hayes
Greene-Severson
Moore-Vatanen
Butcher-Lovejoy
2. In his return to the lineup, Zacha had three shots, played 16:03 and registered an assist.
3. Keith Kinkaid made his 10th start of the season and finished the night with 34 saves on 39 shots.
4. The Devils and Rangers have now split the first two of four games they will play this season. New Jersey won back on Oct. 14 at MSG, before posting a loss on Saturday night.
5. Brian Gibbons nearly tied the game 1-1 early in the second period when he fired a puck on Henrik Lundqvist. The shot beat the Rangers' netminder, who was far out of his net. As the puck trickled along the ice it was swept away at the goal line by Ranger Mats Zuccarello.

6. Damon Severson got the Devils on the board at 13:45 of the second. The defensemen's shot from the right point beat Lundqvist point-blank, as Severson notched his fourth of the season. The goal also ended a season high seven-game pointless drought for Severson, who cut the Rangers' lead to 2-1.
   Tweet from @NJDevils: ���������������� #NJDvsNYR pic.twitter.com/XBU1Bv63Ly
   7. The Devils' power play continues to struggle, as the team has gone scoreless on the man advantage in the last four games, including Saturday night against the Rangers. The Devils failed to capitalize again against the Rangers, going 0 for 3. The last time the Devils scored on the power play was back on Dec. 1 at Colorado.
   8. Miles Wood got the Devils within two early in the third period after being down 3-1 to start the third. Wood scored the Devils' second goal of the night, connecting with Zacha who earned his first assist since Nov. 27. Wood now has seven goals and 13 points this season.
   9. For the first time this season the Devils have lost back-to-back games in regulation. It's the first time this season New Jersey has failed to collect at least a single point in consecutive games. The Devils have allowed five goals to their opponent for the third time in their last four games.
   10. The Devils will have a day off Sunday to get ready for a busy week. The Devils will host the L.A. Kings on Tuesday night, stop in Montreal on Thursday and host the Dallas Stars on Friday.