GAME STORY: Rangers 3, Devils 0

NEWARK, N.J.- The Devils and Rangers kicked off the upcoming four-game Hudson River Rivalry Week series with a bang. The opening round featured plenty of intensity, plenty of hits, plenty of bad blood and a couple bouts.
What wasn't aplenty was goals.
Only three were scored in the game, both by the Rangers, as New York shutout the Devils, 3-0, at Prudential Center Tuesday night.

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WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils head across the Hudson to MSG to face the Rangers in the second game of the Hudson River Rivalry. You can watch on MSG+ and listen on the Devils Hockey Network,
including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com.
Game time is 7:08 PM ET.
"We had some opportunities. Goalie played well, but at the end of the day, we've got to get guys there and get pucks there," captain Nico Hischier said. "We were close a couple times but it was frustrating it didn't go in."
Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin stopped all 27 shots against for his first shutout of the season. Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich scored the goals for New York.
The Devils outshot the Rangers 27-20, but couldn't get one to go.
"This seems like a broken record, but we'll talk about the great chances," said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff, who called the team's lack of finish "frustrating."
The two teams will meet again Round 2 Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
"The emotion didn't lack out there," Hischier said. "It was intense, a good rivalry game. It's going to be the same way on Thursday. Those games are fun. Looking forward to playing these guys again."
Here are some other observations from the game…
* The Devils, and Hudson River Rivalry Week, needed something to ignite this upcoming series. Defenseman Damon Severson obliged. A mere 87 seconds into the contest, Severson dropped the gloves against New York's Chris Kreider. Severson had the better of the bout and as Kreider lay on the ice, Severson screamed to his bench. That should set the tone for the upcoming week.
Speaking of fisticuffs, that carried over into the second period. The Rangers' Brendan Smith had a late shove on Nick Merkley. Immediately, Michael McLeod jumped in, and around an obstructive linesman, and scrapped with Smith.
Not to mention a lot of hits thrown back-and-forth between the clubs. There is certainly no love lost between these two teams.
"It brings emotion up, changes momentum," Hischier said of the fights. "The crowd gets going, the players get going. If you have high emotion, it's fun to play. I like those games."
* Hischier played his first game since suffering a frontal sinus fracture on Feb. 27. The 22-year-old pivot made his presence felt from the game's opening shift. He read an open lane for a streaking Miles Wood. Hischier, who wore a full cage in the game, threw the puck ahead knowing that Wood would negate the icing with his speed. Wood did just that and found Jesper Bratt in the slot for a great scoring chance.
* Wood had himself a game, both in terms of creating havoc with his speed and getting involved physically. He twice cheated up ice on Rangers' line changes to get great chances. The first was a breakaway, and the second a 2-on-1. Both were stopped, but he was definitely creating. Wood was also in the middle of several post-whistle gatherings. He was a handful for the Rangers.
* The Devils suited up four left-handed defensemen and two right-handed defensemen in the game. Although it's not ideal to have a blueliner playing on his weakside, New Jersey had little option. Will Butcher served as the swingman on the right side.
The alignment may have led to the game's opening goal. Butcher found himself in his normal position at left D as Ryan Murray drifted to the right side with the puck in the Rangers zone. As the Rangers broke out, Murray pursued the puck toward the left side, vacating his right position. That left an entire open lane for New York's Mika Zibanejad, who would score on a breakaway.
I'm not sure if Murray knew that Butcher had assumed Murray's spot on the left side, thus he scrambled to get back into position. Had he known Butcher was there he probably would have stayed on the right side and it would have negated a scoring chance (and goal) against.
* What's also unfortunate about the Rangers' first goal was it came just seconds after Blackwood stopped Artemi Panarin on a breakaway. Blackwood made another spectacular save on Zibanejad on a 2-on-1 seven minutes into the third period to keep it a 1-0 game. He certainly did his part for the cause.