Elusive New Jersey Devils Defense Disappears Back Into The Pine Barrens

From the desks: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS  &  THE BRICK CITY STYX

BATTLE OF THE HUDSON

Series Tied; 2-2

I - NJD 4; NYR 3

II - NJD 5; NYR 2

III - NYR 6; NJD 1

IV - NYR 6; NJD 3

Bad Just Got Worse For The Devils; Ice Cracking Beneath Their Skates

Straight out of the Pine Barrens ... Newark's defense has been as elusive as the mythical New Jersey Devil itself.  Having lengthened their losing streak to five, they are now losers of eight of eleven games since returning from COVID quarantine, over which time they've been outscored by a 40-27 margin.

The visiting Rangers over the last two games account for twelve of those goals; six on Thursday and six more Saturday afternoon.  Six goals are the most rendered this season by the Devils to any opponent through 20 games, much less in consecutive games.  

Talk about problems of the macro/micro variety ... New Jersey couldn't keep Chris Kreider (hat trick) from loitering around the net two days ago and appeared stuck in the Pineland muck as Adam Fox went endzone to endzone and scored just 2:06 six into Saturday's game.

Trailing 2-0 in the first, P.K Subban scored at the 14:54 mark.  Just 0:17 seconds later, Mikhail Maltsev tied the game at two.  But outside of Nathan Bastian's inconsequential goal at 17:48 of the third, Newark went missing for the final forty minutes of play.

Mackenzie Blackwood was faced with killing five Rangers' power plays.  He allowed one goal and made five saves.  Blackwood otherwise allowed four even-strength goals while making 17 saves, and 22 saves in 27 shots overall.  The Rangers' sixth goal was into an empty net.  This comes on the heels of getting yanked early in the third period of Thursday's game, in which he yielded four goals on just 15 shots.

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Victories Over Buffalo And Newark Are Little To Write Lester Patrick About, But The Kids And Grown-Ups Are Finally Learning How To Play Together

The 21-year old Filip Chytil, since returning from injury three games ago, is a plus-four with a goal and two assists.  It's worth noting he went scoreless in his first game back, which really gives him three points in his last two games.  Chytil was the primary assist on Kevin Rooney's goal late in the first period helping the Rangers regain a 3-2 lead.  Filip then scored at 8:38 of the third, giving the Rangers a more comfortable 5-2 lead.  It's his third goal in only eight games played this season and his first since Jan. 22 at Pittsburgh.  

Meanwhile, Mike Zibanejad was a minus-one with just one shot on goal in back-to-normal shifts and time on ice.  However, he appeared to be in some discomfort during the closing minutes of the game.  Bruised or not, I would again urge Coach to start Filip Chytil on the first line.  There's no sense in disrupting Ryan Strome's role on the second line, not coming off two goals on Saturday and four points in these last two games against the Devils.  He's planted his flag with eight goals and 17 points through 22 games.  Therefore, I say put Mika Zibanejad on the third line for a spell.  Everything Coach Quinn does is already transient in nature.  This would be no different.  Sometimes the best decisions start out being the most unpopular ones.  Otherwise, the Rangers received four goals from their centermen against the Devils on Saturday.

Just 1:33 into the game, Sami Vatanen was whistled for a mindless high-sticking penalty against Brendan Lemieux - not the other way around!  Enter Adam Fox, who at 0:36 into the power play, goes end-to-end, splitting the Devils PK unit straight down the middle, and scored unassisted sans his goalie Alexandar Georgiev.  Cycling back to Lemieux, I'm copacetic with his 12:49 minutes at even strength and a fleeting moment on the power play.

Playing in his first game since Feb. 18, Kaapo Kakko assisted on Ryan Strome's first-period goal.  Also, with an assist, Chris Kreider now has twelve points in his last nine games.  Likewise, with an assist, Pavel Buchnevich now has five points in his last three games.

Similar to the way New jersey started the first period, just 1:05 into the second session, they again commit one of the cardinal sins in hockey when Rangers' blueliners K'Andre Miller and Libor Hajek catch Newark napping.  Hajek converts a Miller feed for only his second goal in 45 career games as a Ranger.  In fact, Blueshirt defensemen contributed two goals and four points.  Even Jack Johnson administered five hits and committed no penalties, and Brendan Smith led the team with four shots on goal.

Still, minus Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba, the Rangers are now winners of three straight.  These last two victories against the Devils just happen to be the Rangers' ninth and tenth wins of the season. 

Getting the start in place of the injured Igor Shesterkin, Alexandar Georgiev stopped all but three of 27 shots; two saves on special teams.  Georgiev will have a quick turnaround as the Rangers take on the Penguins at Pittsburgh on Sunday.