Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be at Prudential Center on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TBS, SN360, TVAS2, MSGSN, MSG).
Though the Devils had more shot attempts (67-45), shots on goal (28-23) and a better face-off winning percentage (52 percent to 48 percent), it didn't matter. The Rangers dominated on special teams, going 2-for-3 on the power play, and blocked shots (23-12) on their way to a convincing 5-1 victory in Game 1 on Tuesday.
Most troubling for the Devils was their power play. They had no shots on goal on four opportunities to become the seventh team since the stat was first tracked in 1997-98 to have as many power-play chances and fail to record a shot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I think we were looking for the perfect play," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said Wednesday, "and we are and have been all year a unit that is set up to look for certain plays and we've been able to capitalize on those plays, but I thought our puck play wasn't good enough. You look at the first three shot attempts on the power play … we missed the net, so when you look at the power play as a whole, it didn't generate enough momentum for us."
RELATED: [Complete Devils vs. Rangers series coverage]
The Ottawa Senators were the last team to have no shots on four power plays, a 6-5 double-overtime win against the Rangers in Game 2 of the second round April 29, 2017. The most power plays without a shot in one playoff game is seven by the St. Louis Blues in Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal, a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on April 10, 2004.
"No shots on the power play is unacceptable," said Devils forward Miles Wood, who is part of the second unit. "We need to get more traffic in front of (Rangers goalie) Igor Shesterkin and 5-on-5 as well. He's a good goaltender. He plays out and it's up to us to keep him back in the crease and get in front of him."
Experience may have also been a factor.
"We could always use more intensity," Wood said. "It's a first playoff series for a lot of guys on the team but the nerves are out now. I think we need to be harder on their defense, and we hope to do that."
The Devils are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2018 first round, a five-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and playing their second playoff series since 2012.
"We talked about [experience] this morning with the team, but you got your first taste," Ruff said. "We talked about the emotions before the series started, about how to put away wins, how to put away losses. You got to take what you can from losses, you got to take what you can from the wins, and you got to move on."
Forwards Jack Hughes, Nathan Bastian, Dawson Mercer and Jesper Boqvist each made their NHL postseason debut. Forwards Nico Hischier (six playoff games) and Miles Wood (six) and defenseman Damon Severson (five) have had six or fewer games of playoff experience.
"I think we got a lot of young guys, a lot of jitters, and I think it might be understated how nervous you are to start," Devils defenseman Ryan Graves said. "You don't expect stuff like that, so it's definitely tough, but you learn from it, improve on it and find ways to kill momentum to try to tilt the ice the other direction."
The Devils have added players with postseason experience the past two years: forwards Ondrej Palat (139) and Erik Haula (62) and defensemen Brendan Smith (56) and Dougie Hamilton (55 games), who had 309 games of playoff experience between them. Forwards Timo Meier (36) and Tomas Tatar (41 games) also have playoff games on their resumes. They helped New Jersey set team records of 52 wins and 112 points this season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division,
"New York forced us to play a game that limited our rush opportunities in Game 1," Ruff said. "The fact that they had the lead, helps them with that. But the mood is great in the locker room. That's the one thing we guaranteed ourselves ... we're going to put the game away and focus on the next game.
"We've been a group that has been resilient, that has been up for every challenge. We're not the only team that's being challenged in the League and not the only team that has had a disappointing loss, so you look at it, you move on, and you go get Game 2."
