Devils score five in second period to defeat Rangers

NEWARK, N.J. --The New Jersey Devils scored five unanswered goals in the second period to defeat the New York Rangers 7-4 at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

They were down 2-0 after the first period.
"Being down by two you know you have to have a strong start when you come out [for the second period]," Devils forward Dawson Mercer said. "I remember [coach] Lindy [Ruff] saying, 'Let's go out there and win this game, skate.' I really think we did that. We skated well, ended up finding the back of the net, and we came out with a lot of smiles after the second."
Ryan Graves, P.K. Subban, Mercer, Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich each scored in the second, Jack Hughes had two goals 70 seconds apart in the third period, and Nico Daws made 31 saves for New Jersey (23-35-5), which ended a three-game losing streak.
"I think the sign of a good team is the fact they can bounce back," Ruff said. "You can't win every period. There are going to be periods where the other team is the better team. Can you make an adjustment? Can you play a better period? … We went to a more aggressive forecheck, we stressed our transition game and I thought it led to a lot of opportunities."

New York (40-19-5) was coming off back-to-back weekend road wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes, and had won four of five games.
"You play those two big games on the road and you win both of those games, and the Carolina game we didn't play well but we won, so it was two big emotional wins," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "You come in here, a team that's not in the playoffs, they're a young team, they're a talented team, a skilled team. They've had trouble winning games. They've had so-called goalie issues, but the kid [Daws] played well tonight and he played well against us the last time we played. And we just weren't mentally sharp from what I saw."
New York goalie Igor Shesterkin made 19 saves but allowed at least four goals for the third time in five starts since March 10 after not giving up more than three goals in 18 straight starts from Dec. 31-March 6. Alexandar Georgiev made five saves in relief in the third period.
But the Rangers didn't blame Shesterkin.
"We had a great first, everyone was in a good mindset, and I think it was just mental errors, some stupid hockey by everyone," forward Ryan Strome said. "Just mistakes that cost us. Weak hockey and soft hockey."
Andrew Copp had two assists in 17:39 in his first game after the Rangers acquired the forward in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.
Tyler Motte played 13:06 and had four shots on goal and three hits in his Rangers debut. They got the forward from the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.

Defenseman Justin Braun, also in his first game with New York after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, played 17:30.
"I thought those guys worked incredibly hard, hit the ground running," Rangers forward Chris Kreider said. "I think collectively we just got away from the things that we did well the last couple of games. We had a good first period and then just fell asleep at the wheel."
Mika Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 7:10 of the first period, and Adam Fox made it 2-0 at 13:55.
Graves started the second-period rally at 7:12, scoring from the left point to make it 2-1.
Subban tied it 2-2 at 8:30, beating Shesterkin with a one-timer from the right point.
Mercer gave the Devils a 3-2 lead at 12:40, and Tatar made it 4-2 at 13:13.
Jesper Bratt had a goal taken off the board 42 seconds later because the Rangers challenged for offside and video review showed that Dougie Hamilton preceded the puck into the zone.

New Jersey increased the lead to 5-2 at 18:07 on Sharangovich's goal from the top of the left circle.
"You never want to see that [goal taken off the board], all that hype is up there," Mercer said. "But then the guys go back out there and before we come back [for the intermission] we get another goal. I think we just carried on with that momentum."
Strome scored at 3:46 of the third period to cut it to 5-3.
Kreider had an opportunity to cut it to 5-4 on a shorthanded 2-on-1 less than six minutes later but passed to Zibanejad after the center set him up for a shot.
"I always shoot that, every practice whenever he gives me that, so no idea why I tried to give it back to him," Kreider said. "That could be the difference between a one-goal game and a three-goal game."
Hughes scored on a rush the other way at 9:36 to push New Jersey's lead to 6-3. It was his 20th goal, the first time in the NHL he has reached the milestone, and 100th NHL point.
Hughes scored his 21st to make it 7-3 at 10:46 before Kreider scored his NHL-leading 22nd power-play goal at 14:56 for the 7-4 final.
NOTES:Rangers forward Artemi Panarin didn't play the final 8:21 of the third. He played one shift after leaving the ice momentarily following a face-to-face collision with Sharangovich at 7:50. … Zibanejad has scored six goals in his past 10 games and has 499 NHL points. … Hughes has scored 101 points (39 goals, 62 assists) in 160 games in three NHL seasons. … Bratt had two assists to give him for 41. He is the first Devils player with 60 or more points and 40 or more assists in a season since Taylor Hall in 2017-18. … The Devils scored seven goals in a game for the sixth time this season. … New Jersey plays at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.