Score line:
Devils 2 – Rangers 1 (OT)
Shots – Devils 24, Rangers 27
Saves – Schneider 26, Lundqvist 22
How it happened:
The Rangers came out flying and Stepan scored the first goal off of a terrific feed from Lindberg. It seemed as though it would be all Ranger’s the rest of the afternoon and that Hank could have the day off. Corey Schneider had other ideas. The first period ended with fisticuffs between Kevin Klein and Kyle Palmieri.
The second period seemed to show that the momentum had shifted from the Rangers to the Devils. The Rangers were outshot 11-8 in this period and a brutal turnover by Marc Staal led to a Henrique jam-in goal.
The third period presented many chances for the Rangers to take the lead and finish off the Devils. However, Schneider said no.
The overtime period was all Rangers. The Devils had two chances and they made the most of a 2 on 1, which was the game winner. The Rangers had several chances to win. Two in particular that I can think of and both of which Stepan had something to do with. The first was the slap pass to Nash down low and Greene saving the day before the puck slid over the line (below).
Devils 2 – Rangers 1 (OT)
Shots – Devils 24, Rangers 27
Saves – Schneider 26, Lundqvist 22
How it happened:
The Rangers came out flying and Stepan scored the first goal off of a terrific feed from Lindberg. It seemed as though it would be all Ranger’s the rest of the afternoon and that Hank could have the day off. Corey Schneider had other ideas. The first period ended with fisticuffs between Kevin Klein and Kyle Palmieri.
The second period seemed to show that the momentum had shifted from the Rangers to the Devils. The Rangers were outshot 11-8 in this period and a brutal turnover by Marc Staal led to a Henrique jam-in goal.
The third period presented many chances for the Rangers to take the lead and finish off the Devils. However, Schneider said no.
The overtime period was all Rangers. The Devils had two chances and they made the most of a 2 on 1, which was the game winner. The Rangers had several chances to win. Two in particular that I can think of and both of which Stepan had something to do with. The first was the slap pass to Nash down low and Greene saving the day before the puck slid over the line (below).
The other was the heavy wrister from Stepan that led to the Devils game-winning goal. This shot put a new meaning to ringing the pipe, it was like a pin was dropped in MSG - a very loud pin that is.
Analysis:
It is the Rangers and nothing is ever easy. Instead of stepping on the Devils throats, they let them hang around – all due to the effort of Corey Schneider. The Rangers could have and should have been up 3-0 by the end of the first.
In my opinion, the Klein fight really shifted the momentum of the game and woke the Devils up. The Devils have maybe 2 or 3 skilled players. Seriously, the Devils might as well be a Men’s league team – and they might not even have success then. They just happen to have one of the top goaltenders in the show. They play not to lose.
Unfortunately, the Rangers are playing hot goalies and not getting any puck luck whatsoever. The compete level is there but some things just aren’t going their way. Hank has put up numbers are better than any year that he has had thus far. Small sample size, I know but the great news for Rangers fans is that the Hank has playing like a super human. He makes saves a normal goalie shouldn’t but the Ranger faithful know he isn’t a just any run of the mill goalie.
The Rangers special teams – at opposite ends of the spectrum. Can you guess which one has been great? HINT – not the power play. The penalty kill has been phenomenal while killing off another 3 penalties today, with a 1:56 2-man advantage. The power play didn’t score – again (I feel like I should just in automatically assume this will be the case in future games). Stop the talk about getting good looks and start executing, it’s fairly simple. They’re now 5% on the PP this season – my college team was better with 7%....
Please get rid of Boyle. He doesn’t do anything on the power play. Insert McIlrath instead to get the kid playing as Boyle is an extreme liability out there. I keep saying Klein and Yandle on the PPer, now AV just do it. Its not like the PPer can get worse…