GAME STORY: Rangers 6, Devils 3

NEWARK, NJ -The Devils fell behind early by a score of 2-0 but battled back to tie it on goals by P.K. Subban and Mikhail Maltsev but the Rangers were able to recover, regain the lead and ulimately pull off a 6-3 win at Prudential Center on Saturday afternoon.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
WATCH LIVE NOW
Watch the Devils Post-Game Show with Chris Wescott and Matt Loughlin for analysis, interviews, highlights and more!
POST-GAME VIDEOS
Full Game Highlights
Amanda Stein Wraps Up the Game with her Post-Game Report
Subban post-game interview
Devils head coach Lindy Ruff gives his thoughts after the game
GAME STATS CENTRAL
Game Summary
Event Summary
Time on Ice - Devils
Time on Ice - Rangers
Full Game Play-by-Play
Shot Report
Face-Off Summary
Face-Off Comparison
NHL.com's Shift Chart
Roster Report, Scratches & Starting Lineups
MORE
View Photo Gallery
NHL.com's Game Center
Look back at the In-Game Blog
WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils head out on the road for a game against the Boston Bruins Sunday. You can watch on NBCSN and listen on the Devils Hockey Network,
including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com.
Game time is 5:08 PM ET.
"We probably played our worst defensive game of the year. Guys skated by us,"
fumed Devils head coach Lindy Ruff after the game. "Our puck play was horrendous. You play like that, you're not going to win hockey games."
Ruff added that despite giving up six goals to the Rangers for the second consecutive game, there was a big difference between today and Thursday.
"It was a totally different story from the previous one," he said. Our puck play wasn't good. Our attention to detail wasn't good enough."
Ruff added that as the Devils continue to look for answers, now having lost eight of their last nine, players need to persevere.
"You have to find that inner will. I know some guys are discouraged because we lost the amount we lost going in but we've got to dig in. You have to find a way to make a difference."
Sami Vatanen got his stick up high on Brendan Lemieux 90 seconds into the game, drawing blood. Result was a double minor and four-minute Rangers power play.
Thirty-three seconds into the man advantage, the Rangers scored. After skating coast-to-coast, Adam Fox got in behind the Devils defense and fired it five-hole on Mackenzie Blackwood to put the Rangers on the board. Devils still had two minutes to kill on the Vatanen penalty but did so without problem.
With 12:45 to go in the first, Rangers made it 2-0. Ryan Strome took a backhand feed from Chris Kreider and backhanded the puck high over Blackwood to double the Rangers lead. Devils had tried to clear the puck but Kreider intercepted it.
"In some ways, I think we sometimes put ourselves in tough positions but it's part of the learning process. For us to get out of this funk we're in right now, details are so important," noted P.K. Subban.
"Teams are getting better as the season goes on. We have to realize that and improve our game."
Subban teed up a shot from the right point that flew over the blocker of Rangers starting goaltender Alexandar Georgiev just inside the post to put the Devils on the board with five minutes to go in the first.
Seventeen seconds later, Nate Bastian made a nice backhand feed to Mikhail Maltsev, who roofed the puck on the fly to tie the game up.
Rangers got that goal back less than two minutes later, regaining the lead at 3-2. Chytil backhanded the puck across the crease to Kevin Rooney, who quickly fired the puck past an outstretched Blackwood to put the Rangers up.

"(We tied the game) 2-2, (then) we let guys skate right by us, gave them another odd-number situation," noted Ruff.
After one, shots on goal were 14-5 for the Rangers.
Just over a minute into the middle frame, a screened wrist shot from the point by Libor Hajek found its way past Blackwood to regain the Rangers' two-goal lead.
Devils woes continued on the next shift as Dmitry Kulikov was called for holding, putting the Rangers back on the power play but the home team was able to kill it off. Ty Smith then took a penalty for tripping up Adam Fox but again, the Devils PK unit came up big.
K'Andre Miller tripped Pavel Zacha to give the Devils their first power play of the game with 8:27 to go in the second.
Devils took the momentum from that power play to tilt the ice in the final minutes of the period, outshooting the Rangers 7-2 over the final six minutes of the middle frame.
Shots on goal in the second were 12-9 for the Devils; 23-17 Rangers overall through 40 minutes.
Chytil had the puck at the hashmarks and backhanded the puck by Blackwood to move the Rangers in front by three with 11:22 to go in the third.
Nate Bastian's shot from the left circle beat Georgiev short side to draw the Devils within a pair of goals.
Ruff was very happy with the play of Bastian and Maltsev, who each had a goal. Bastian with two points.
"Maltsev, Bastian, they were trying to find a way to dig in and make a difference," Ruff said. "And those were the guys who didn't play as much as the other guys but some of our young guys were trying to dig in and make a difference."
Strome added an empty-net goal to make the final 6-3.
"We need our defense to play better," stated Ruff. "Our defense had a really tough night. It started with our puck play, puck movement, reads where we let guys in behind us.
"Our play away from the puck was awful."