The winger pounced on the loose puck off a Michael McLeod rebound to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead at the 11:44 mark in the first period. Aside from that mishap, the Rangers controlled the first period, tactically clogging the middle of the ice to neutralize the Devils’ speed. However, although they sent 14 shots toward Vitek Vanecek’s way, they didn’t crash the net for rebounds, an area they ranked 27th in the regular season.
New Jersey also iced the puck an abundance of times, but their 18-11 edge in faceoffs over the first 20 minutes, quickly negated those returning to haunt them. New York received a late power play when Nathan Bastian was penalized for boarding Ryan Lindgren, but that ended quickly when Adam Fox got boxed for roughing. Nevertheless, the Rangers knew the opportunities would continue to arise if they stuck with their game plan. All it needed was better execution, and they would take off just as they did in game one.