Rangers problems on full display in bedeviling loss.

After spotting their rivals with a blistering opening five minutes, the Rangers were outskated the rest of the way, as the surging New Jersey Devils rallied for a spirited 5-3 victory in front of a red-clad Madison Square Garden crowd on Monday night. The loss was New York’s third straight and dropped them to 10-9-4 while the division-leading 19-4-0 Devils tied a franchise record with their 10th straight road win.

Pregame, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant commended New Jersey, saying they reminded him of what made his team so lethal in their run to the Eastern Conference final.
“They’re a fast quick hockey team. They’re not lucky: they deserve to be where they are.” “If there’s a team I want our guys to play like, it’s this team.” They did that in the opening five minutes, grabbing the lead with two early tallies.

The first one came a minute and 20 seconds in, when Artemi Panarin broke his 12-game goal-scoring drought, depositing a two-on-one pass from new linemate Filip Chytil into the net. It wasn’t flashy as his previous one back on October 30th in Arizona, when he scored despite Shayne Gostisbehere’s close defense, but he’ll take it nonetheless.

Less than three minutes later, the Rangers established their offensive forecheck, which kept the puck in the zone and led to a point shot, ultimately creating net-front traffic where Mika Zibanejad was there to tap it in to double the Blueshirts’ lead. Up to that point, the Rangers were tactically and figuratively outsmarting their rivals. But akin’ to what we saw against Edmonton, that satisfactory feeling didn’t last long, as the team failed to play a complete 60 minutes yet again.

New Jersey would get going and dominated the frame’s last 15 minutes, where they squeaked two by Igor Shesterkin on goals by Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharengovich, squaring the contest. While you could blame the second tally on Jacob Trouba failing to get the puck out of the zone, Shesterkin seemed to overplay Tatar’s backhander, and it beat him seven-hole, giving the Devils and their fans life.

The trend continued in the second, where New York’s level of play dipped, and New Jersey feasted off their mistakes. With 15:16 left, Dawson Mercer scooped the puck out of the defensive zone ahead for Jack Hughes, who used his speed to beat Ryan Lindgren to the puck before slipping it between Shesterkin’s legs to give Jersey the lead. With the Devils looking for insurance, Michael Mcleod banged home a rebound, increasing the Devils’ lead to 4-2.

That last one marked the eighth goal Shesterkin has given up in the past two games, and it elicited sarcastic chants of his name from the grand Devils contingent in the stands. As fans, we’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt thus far, and he most certainly earned it after he forayed the Blueshirts with his

Vezina-trophy season last year. But it’s safe to say the current version of NO31  won’t help matters anytime soon, and it’s likely due to the team’s continuous defensive lapses taking their toll on him.
Monday night was a prime example of that, as he seemed to be overanalyzing situations and anticipating cross-ice passes that never came. Igor is at his best when he simplifies plays, which has made him stand out in his career thus far.

The story of the third period was the Rangers’ inept power play. The Devils were giving New York almost every chance to get back into the contest as their tight 2-1-2 trap defense, implemented by coach Lindy Ruff, suddenly unraveled, and they took three penalties in five minutes.

However, the Blueshirts power play looked lifeless and overmatched, clearly unwilling to peel away from their patented freedom of setting Zibanejad up for a one-timer which is precisely what the Devils were anticipating. On paper, the Rangers are a more talented team than the Devils.

Still, New Jersey has succeeded because of the continuity between their young talents, led by Jack Hughes, who now has more than double the career points(134) of his 2019 draftmate Kappo Kakko(66). New York, meanwhile, has lacked consistency from their stars, and the youngsters haven’t been doing them any favors either.
Then with 6:42 left, the fourth time was the charm as Vincent Trocheck recorded his eighth goal of the season, bringing the Blueshirts within 4-3.

The final few minutes were frantic, with New York throwing everything they had on the net, but Vitaek Vanacheck stood tall, even robbing Trocheck of another one with an impressive stick save as part of a 35-save night. Alas, with 16 seconds remaining, the Rangers’ fate was sealed as Sharangovich hit the empty cage to give the Devils a hard-fought road win.