Devils Outclass Rangers in Impressive 6-3 Win
For the second time this season, the New Jersey Devils outclassed the Rangers in a dominant 6-3 win.
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The New Jersey Devils’ playoff odds remain remarkably low, but they are playing arguably their best hockey of the season over their last nine to ten games. The New York Rangers may not be any good, but Jack Hughes and co. dominated en route to a 6-3 win over their Hudson River rivals.
Hughes always shows up for games against the Rangers, but that was a full team effort last night. They dominated the Rangers at five-on-five, and the final score should not have been as close as it was.
Jack Hughes Puts the Rangers Away
Even though the Rangers scored the opening goal of the game, you could tell they were going to be in for a rough night. Shots were 12-1 Devils when Vladislav Gavrikov scored to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead, but it didn’t last long.
Nico Hischier scored on the power play to tie the game at 1-1. Then, with less than a minute left in the first period, Arseny Gritsyuk forced a turnover, dusted Adam Fox off the rush, and ended up sniping one past Jonathan Quick for a 2-1 lead heading into intermission. It was arguably Gritsyuk’s finest goal of the season:
From the second period on, Hughes took over. He had a couple of odd-man rushes and/or breakaways that he wasn’t able to convert on, whether it was him shooting the puck or facilitating for one of his teammates.
But eventually, he broke through. It started when Hughes made a beautiful pass to Connor Brown on the power play to give the Devils a 3-2 lead. Timo Meier would give the Devils a 4-2 advantage, but the Rangers found a way to claw back in it and made it a one-goal game again.
But there was Hughes to silence the Madison Square Garden crowd, as he made a ridiculous spin more around a couple of Rangers defensemen at the blue line en route to his goal that gave the Devils a 5-3 lead.
Hughes said after the game that he wanted that goal badly for his team because he had so many chances that he didn’t bury earlier in the game.
Hughes would cap off his night by picking up another assist on Jesper Bratt’s goal that gave the team a 6-3 lead. He now has six points in two games against the Rangers this season.
When all was said and done, Hughes finished with five shots on goal, six scoring chances, and two high-danger chances. He also totaled an expected goals share (xG%) of 80.33 percent at five-on-five. His teammates got the ball rolling in the first period, but he dominated and finished off the game in impressive fashion.
Devils Offense Continuing to Thrive
I know the Rangers are one of the worst teams in the NHL, but that was a clinical offensive performance from the Devils.
The Rangers were fortunate to be trailing only 2-1 entering the first intermission, and they were fortunate it was even a one-goal game in the third period. That’s because they had no answer for the Devils’ rush attack.
As has been the case over this 7-2-0 stretch, the Devils were having no trouble creating threatening chances off the rush and in transition. As mentioned above, they had a couple of good looks off odd-man rushes in the first period that they couldn’t convert on.
Of course, not all 39 of the Devils’ shots on goal came off the rush, but they’re certainly getting more looks that way. Getting healthy is very much part of the reason, but Sheldon Keefe opening up the team’s offense has them finding life to close the season.
As Hughes said after the game, they have to stay hungry because it’s not over until it’s over, even though their playoff odds remain an incredible long shot.
Luke Hughes Also Impressed
Jack Hughes wasn’t the only Hughes to have an excellent game. Luke Hughes also had one of his best performances of the season, even though he didn’t find the scoresheet.
Yesterday, I wrote about how Luke needs a strong close to the season, and yesterday was a good starting point. Part of it is that he needs to show he can drive a defense pair on his own, and he did that last night.
The Devils finished with a 26-8 shot attempt advantage with Luke on the ice at five-on-five, as well as a 16-1 edge in shots on goal. They also controlled 92.79 percent of the expected goals.
I thought Hughes’ decision-making was terrific, and he’s doing a lot of heavy lifting in transition, which he’s been doing plenty of since returning from injury. Hopefully, he can maintain this level of performance against stronger competition in the coming weeks.
Quick Hits
It’s been a tough season for Johnathan Kovacevic. Part of that is injury-related, too, but last night was easily his best game of the season. He finished second in xG% behind Luke Hughes at 80.58 percent and wasn’t on the ice for any of the Rangers’ three goals. The Devils need more of that from him to close the season.
I won’t fault Jacob Markström for the first goal he gave up because there was zero chance he saw the puck through multiple screens, and it may have gone off Dougie Hamilton, too. Hamilton may have committed a terrible turnover on the Rangers’ second goal, but that’s one Markström absolutely has to have. He gave up three goals on 2.00 expected goals, which matches the eye test. Fortunately, giving up more than expected doesn’t matter as much when the team is scoring six goals. Still, Jake Allen should probably start against the Washington Capitals tomorrow.
The Devils’ power play is white hot right now. After going 2/4 against the Rangers, they are 10/24 on the man advantage over their last nine games, a success rate of 41.66 percent. That probably isn’t sustainable for the rest of the season, but a healthy Jack Hughes shows how lethal their power play can be.
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