3 Keys: Devils at Rangers, Game 4 of Eastern 1st Round

(2M) Devils at (3M) Rangers
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 4
Rangers lead best-of-7 series 2-1
7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, TVAS2, MSG, MSGSN

NEW YORK --Jack Hughes let everyone know how excited the New Jersey Devils are to play Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
"We're back in this thing and we're excited," the Devils center said Saturday, moments after defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored at 11:36 of overtime to give New Jersey a 2-1 win. "Now we're really pumped to play the next game."
Now it's here, and the Devils will try to even the best-of-7 series 2-2 in what would be the fourth straight victory by the road team.
New Jersey was third in the NHL in road victories during the regular season with 28 and New York was tied for ninth with 24. Road teams have won eight consecutive games and 17 of 28 overall in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"You look at the two teams involved in this series and both of them had excellent road records," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "I don't think it matters where you play."
RELATED: [Complete Devils vs. Rangers series coverage]
The Devils proved that in Game 3 by playing better than they did in Games 1 and 2 at home. New York won each game at Prudential Center by identical 5-1 scores, but New Jersey responded with a more diligent and smart effort in Game 3 to get the victory.
In particular, the Devils' penalty kill was 5-for-5 after allowing the Rangers to score four power-play goals on 10 opportunities in the first two games.
Goalie Akira Schmid, New Jersey's 22-year-old rookie goalie, was as poised as a veteran in making 35 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut.
"I think we played the exact game we wanted to play and now it definitely got us some confidence," Devils captain Nico Hischier said. "We feel good right now."
New York doesn't feel it executed as well as it did in Games 1 and 2.
"I think we can raise our level," Rangers center Barclay Goodrow said. "We played well but we just weren't as sharp connecting on plays as well as we had been for Game 1 and Game 2. We know they're going to raise their level too. They don't want to go down 3-1. It's obviously a very pivotal game and we just need to raise our level."
Teams that go up 3-1 in a best-of-7 series are 299-31 (.906) winning the series, including 3-1 last season.
Here are 3 keys to Game 4:

1. Devils discipline

New Jersey was perfect on the penalty kill in Game 3 and allowed only six shots on goal. It was better at guarding the top of the New York power play, getting in shot lanes and taking away forward Chris Kreider in front of the net.
Kreider scored four power-play goals off redirections and deflections in Games 1 and 2. The Rangers got opportunities on one-timers in the middle or in the face-off circle in Game 3, but Schmid either stopped those or they went wide.
But the Devils gave their opponents five power-play opportunities, including two that were a result of offensive-zone penalties. Give the Rangers five power plays again, and odds are they will not be held scoreless.

2. Bother the rookie

New York needs to challenge Schmid with a stronger netfront presence and more pucks going his way.
The Rangers felt they didn't get the puck to the net enough in Game 3 despite their 36 shots on goal and 69 total shot attempts, of which 17 were blocked. They felt there were more opportunities to at least funnel it to the net, but they instead looked for the extra pass.
"Maybe he gets rattled, maybe he doesn't," New York center Vincent Trocheck said. "Try to get in his face, try to get a little more traffic in front of him. Shoot more pucks."

3. Five alive

New Jersey has scored one 5-on-5 goal in the series -- Hamilton's in overtime. It's hard to imagine the Devils coming back to win the series without more production at even strength.
Part of the reason for that is the Rangers have been good with the puck. They're not turning it over often, which is preventing the Devils from using their speed to turn turnovers into rush chances.
If New York isn't going to help fuel New Jersey's offense, the Devils have to find other ways, such as getting the puck below the goal line and trying to generate from there by getting the defensemen involved as well, as they on Hamilton's overtime goal.

Devils projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt
Erik Haula -- Jack Hughes -- Ondrej Palat
Tomas Tatar -- Michael McLeod -- Dawson Mercer
Jesper Boqvist -- Curtis Lazar -- Nathan Bastian
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves -- John Marino
Kevin Bahl -- Damon Severson
Akira Schmid
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Brendan Smith, Luke Hughes, Miles Wood, Yegor Sharangovich, Mackenzie Blackwood
Injured: None

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Patrick Kane
Artemi Panarin -- Vincent Trocheck -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Alexis Lafreniere
-- Filip Chytil -- Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey -- Barclay Goodrow -- Tyler Motte
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba
Niko Mikkola -- Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak
Scratched: Ben Harpur, Jonny Brodzinski, Jake Leschyshyn, Libor Hajek
Injured: None

Status report

Each team held a morning skates Monday; the Rangers at their suburban training facility and the Devils at Madison Square Garden. … Neither team is expected to make lineup changes from Game 3.