Here are some observations from the game:
• It wasn’t a great night overall for the Devils. However, let’s start with the highlight of the game: a goalie fight!
After New York’s Igor Shesterkin covered a puck, he was knocked over by the continuous follow through skating of Paul Cotter. Shesterkin and the entire Rangers corps took exception and everyone – including Shesterkin – went after Cotter. With the Rangers goalie engaged in the scrum, Jacob Markstrom skated the length of the ice to challenge his opposing netminder. Blockers and gloves were dropped and fists were thrown. Shesterkin landed a few blows to the back of Markstrom’s head. But the Swedish tender absorbed them and came back to land a heavy blow himself.
Markstrom: “Tough game, tough score. … I felt like I needed to do something. It’s frustrating letting in four goals. You stand back there and you want to hit someone, you want to get involved, you want to do something. As a goalie, that’s not really my job. Paul bumped into him, he sold it, and I saw him go after the huddle. We’re down 4-1, I just tried to get a spark and do something.”
• The Devils undoing tonight was their inability to protect the front of the net. New York had a theme on every goal they scored and it was a net-front presence.
On the opening goal, Tye Kartye took a shot from the blue line that Conor Sheary tipped in with JT Miller in the crease. New York added to its lead with a power-play goal by Miller, once again standing at the crease. The Rangers scored their third goal when Braden Schneider threw a puck at the net from the blue line with two Rangers crashing, one being Jaroslav Chmelar who would score on a rebound. For New York’s fourth goal, Gabe Perreault had the puck above the left circle and shot/passed it to Zibanejad doing a fly by at the crease for a tap in.
• The Devils power play dominated the Rangers all season long, and tonight was no exception. In three games against New York, the Devils clicked at 6-for-10, a 60-percent success rate. Tonight, New Jersey went 1-fo-3 with Brown scoring a man-advantage tally.
• Devils forward Dawson Mercer set the franchise record for consecutive games played tonight, appearing in his 402nd straight contest. He surpassed Travis Zajac (401) while appearing in every single game since the opener in 2021-22.
