Here are some observations from the game:
• The Devils power play was clutch for the team against the Rangers. The unit went 2-for-4 and no goal was bigger than the first.
The Devils badly outplayed the Rangers in the opening 15 minutes of the game, outshooting the Blueshirts 11-1. But New Jersey found itself trailing 1-0 after Gavrikov opened the scoring at 15:20. It was a deflating moment. But the Devils power play (and the captain Hischier) responded to even the game just 54 seconds later to give the Devils a jolt of life.
A bumper shot from Brown actually went off the crest of Hischier and he batted the airborne rebound out of the air baseball style and into the net.
Hischier: "It bounced on my hand and was right in front of me. I wasn't trying to hit it all the way up in the net. I was just waiting until it comes down. I got good wood on it and it went in."
• Gritsyuk had the puck late in the first period in his own zone. Instead of chipping it out safely, he attempted a lateral pass that forced the Devils to retreat into their own zone. The result was the Rangers hemmed in a tired Devils team in the final minute of the opening period. The situation was perilous as New Jersey desperately attempted to regain the puck and get it out.
With 49 seconds remaining, Gritsyuk intercepted an attempted pass to the point while at the half wall. This time, he took care of business himself. He pulled the puck off the wall and toward the middle of the ice away from the outstretched stick of New York’s Adam Fox. From there, he accelerated past Fox and up ice to create a 2-on-1 opportunity with Lenni Hameenaho. As he entered the zone, instead of cutting to the net, he drifted away and to the left faceoff dot. From a long distance and at an impossible angle, Gritsyuk snapped a shot over the shoulder of goalie Jonathan Quick and just under the crossbar.
Keefe: "That goal was big time. The shot is one thing, but the way he explodes out of his own end and through the neutral zone to separate and get his hands free to get a clean shot. Underrated part of that goal was Lenni driving the back post which gets Quick's attention enough to give a little bit of space there. Grits is so good on that shot."
Gritsyuk’s mistake could have been costly. But he made up for it and then some by turning a negative into a positive. His tally in the waning seconds of the period allowed New Jersey to steal a 2-1 advantage after 20 minutes.
• Hughes’ puck skills were on full display as he set up Brown for the Devils’ third goal. Hischier was under pressure when he pushed the puck to Hughes above the circles in the Rangers zone. Hughes caught the pass and pivoted his skates to change directions, carrying the puck backwards at full speed. In one fluid motion, he dragged the puck away from the reach of Will Cuylle. He then flipped his edges to propel himself forward at full speed. Drawing the attention of two Rangers defensemen, Hughes perfectly feathered a pass through them and to the stick of Brown, who finished the play with one swipe.
• Speaking of Hughes’ skating, again it was on full display with his goal. He was darting, dangling, starting, stopping, weaving through traffic and stick handling through a mine field. He capped the entire sequence with a heavy slap shot into the goal.
• Paul Cotter and his filthy hands come through again for the Devils. As Gavrikov was attempting to clear a puck from just inside the Rangers blue line, Cotter knocked the pass down out of midair, through the legs of Gavrikov and then spun around him to get in alone on goal. Though his shot did not convert, Meier followed up and buried a shot for the tally to make it 4-2.
