‘Twas a beautiful Saturday Afternoon in January. The sun was shining for what felt like the first time in forever, it was the kind of day that almost had a spring fever sort of tease to it while remaining just cold enough to remind you it’s winter. The Rangers and Devils faced-off at 1pm for a little matinee hockey, vibes going into this one were immaculate, what could go wrong? Despite a strong start, the Rangers fell off the tracks in the third period and allowed the Devils to tie the game up and take the extra point out from under them after a costly turnover in overtime. Certainly one of the more frustrating games of the season as up until the third period, it seemed that the Blueshirts were playing fine enough to take those two points and pass New Jersey in the standings but alas, Jack Hughes and the Devils had other plans.
The Rangers wasted no time getting after it in this one as not even two minutes into play, Jimmy Vesey let a nice shot go in the slot that beat Vitek Vanecek to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead early. In hindsight, should have known to place your bets on Vesey getting on the board. Between recently signing the extension and playing against one of his former teams, it was easy money seeing as he is beginning to have a tendency of performing well against old friends. Nevertheless, play continued and despite the Rangers having the lead, the Devils grossly outshot the Rangers but thankfully, Igor Shesterkin was up to the test. Stopping all 19 of the Devils shots that almost doubled the Rangers tally, Shesterkin showed right from the start that he was locked and ready to stand on his head like he has in the past. The Rangers took two penalties in the span of about thirty seconds which left them with the task of killing off a 5-on-3 advantage.
With help from Igor, the Rangers penalty killers chewed off the Devils power play but with less than a minute remaining, they weren’t really able to immediately build off that momentum. Three and a half minutes into the second however, Adam Fox made a subtle, yet incredibly skilled move to get the puck up to Julien Gauthier who took the puck in on a partial breakaway to beat Vanecek and make it a 2-0 for his sixth of the season. You have to love what Julien Gauthier, who people forget did not make the team out of camp, has done this season. While mainly in a fourth line role, he has finally begun to contribute offensively and find ways to finish which was without a doubt the biggest concern to his game in the past. Safe to say, he has fit it on that fourth line quite nicely and should be a candidate to move up in the lineup if needed.
The Rangers held onto the lead for the first half of what became a much more even period as shots were 14-13 in the second with Igor once again standing tall, keeping the Rangers in it. Miles Wood took an interference penalty not long after Gauthier got on the board which would have been a great opportunity for New York to begin running away with this one. Alas, the Devils penalty killers held them off and as the game went on, Vitek Vanecek started to dial in more and more. An awful turnover by Barclay Goodrow led to Jack Hughes wheeling right on by Ben Harpur, who definitely isn’t an ideal matchup, to tuck one past Shesterkin, putting the Devils on the board to cut the lead in half.
I saw a lot of comments on Twitter about how the Rangers were outcoached in this one and that Gerard Gallant should have been much more aware of his matchups, especially in moments like this. At the same time however, Barclay Goodrow needs to be held just as accountable for lack of awareness in this situation, especially as a veteran presence. While his reasoning for attempting this pass was a result of his line having to get back onside, he needs to know that Jack Hughes, whose speed is just as lethal as his overall play, is within strides of intercepting that pass. Goodrow could have made a quick pass to Gauthier who could have sent it back to Schneider on the opposite side or better yet, just dumped the puck right back in. Regardless, a bad shift that led to the Devils being within one of tying it.
Thankfully, it wouldn’t be too long before Chris Kreider, who people swore would never again score anywhere close to the pace he did last year, found himself putting away a shot right on the doorstep to regain the two goal lead for his team. Kreider now has 19 goals on the season which is just two behind where he was this time last season. That’s not to suggest he’s going to have another 50 goal season however, it is another reminder that he was worth every penny of that extension he signed in 2020. The score would remain 3-1 for the rest of a pretty uneventful back half of the second period before heading into the Rangers worst period of the night and one that would inevitably force this game to overtime.
The Rangers would again have the chance of putting this game further out of reach when Dougie Hamilton got sent off for hooking Vincent Trocheck. The Rangers power play unit couldn’t convert and not long after the teams returned to even strength, Kaapo Kakko was sent off for slashing. As the tide turned, Jesper Bratt sent a rocket off a shot past Shesterkin that came out of the net just as quickly as it went. Just like that, the lead was cut in half and the Devils had the momentum. The Rangers had the majority of the shots in the third period but the Devils made the most of their opportunities and about halfway through, Jack Hughes had his second on the night off a heck of a one-timer from the right circle. At one point prior to the Devils tying the game up, Shesterkin did take a hard shot to the head, you have to wonder how much (if at all) that affected his otherwise outstanding performance.
Sure enough, this game went to 3-on-3 overtime which as the season goes on, the more the Rangers seem to struggle. Looking at the sport as a whole, I feel like 3-on-3 OT is starting to lose its luster a bit. It’s becoming more of a contest of who can make the best line change and play keep away the best more than it is back and forth action. Low and behold, as a bit of back and forth started to pick up, Alexis Lafreniere turned the puck over in the Devil's zone and Damien Severson went the other way with it, putting a shot right past Igor to give the Devils the extra point. As soon as this game went to overtime, the Rangers lost the ability of taking second place from the Devils but regardless, the extra point would’ve been very helpful.
Between the scratching and now this costly turnover from Lafreniere, there’s been a lot of chatter on the young player with the majority of it containing doubts and uncertainty. There’s no question he has to be better but at the same time, he is 21 years old, give. Him. Time. He’s not a bust, he’s not getting traded right now, he’s not getting sent to Hartford, just trust the process and hope the coaching staff can handle it. One of my main concerns following the turnover was whether this would lead Gallant to panic change his lines again but as I finish writing this piece on Monday afternoon, it appears the practice lines are the same as they have been so hopefully all is well on that front. The Rangers are back at it tomorrow (Tuesday) Night as the Minnesota Wild come to town. We’ll see some familiar faces on the other end of the ice but rest assured the most important part of this game will be ensuring the Rangers walk away with two points.
Chris Feldman
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