Rangers hammer Devils, take 2-0 series lead back across the Hudson.

The New York Rangers’ first-round game one win was so nice they decided to do it twice. Once again, Vladimir Tarasenko got them on the board, Chris Kreider tipped home two power-play goals, and goaltender Igor Shesterkin kept the high-octane New Jersey Devils at bay. The result was their second straight 5-1 victory on Thursday, for a 2-0 series lead, which they’ll take to a raucous Madison Square Garden for game three on Saturday night.

As expected, the Devils changed their lineup and began the contest looking to cause havoc using their physicality and trademark transition game. Prudential Center erupted when Erik Haula pounced on a loose puck for a power play goal and a 1-0 Devils lead, but it was all Rangers from there. Patrick Kane, who admitted, “People should expect more from me,” after a sluggish game one despite recording an assist, registered a goal and two assists in game two. His breakaway goal in the third period extended New York’s lead to 4-1, serving as the backbreaker.

It’s no secret this Devils team is younger and inexperienced when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs, which was a card fans played following game one. However, there was no simply no excuse for Thursday’s debacle. “This team looks petrified,” a Devils season ticket holder said. “I don’t know what they must do to change things, but they got to figure it out quickly.”

This series isn’t over yet. But for one that was expected to go the distance, we’re now in a position where it’ll be over by Monday, should the Rangers take care of home ice.

“There’s a long way to go,” Rangers Captain Jacob Trouba said. “I think everybody knows that. It’s a pretty even-keeled, level-headed group in here. That’s a fun game to be a part of, so I think you got some smiles and energy out of that. But after tonight, turn the page, worry about tomorrow, and prepare for Game 3.” The film portion of that preparation should stay within game two.

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.

The Rangers began the period taking the play right at a Devils defense that didn’t have Jonas Siegenthaler, as the $3.4 million defenseman was scratched for the physicality of Brendan Smith. At the 5:53 mark, Adam Fox, who had four assists in game one, dropped the puck back for Vladimir Tarasenko, whose wrist shot got his team going for the second straight game.

Vincent Trocheck took advantage of a poor decision by Kevin Bahl to wrap the disc behind the net and around the boards for Ryan Graves instead of going tape to tape. Vincent Trocheck kept the puck in the offensive zone and found Artemi Panarin down low, who fed Ryan Lindgren at the point before Fox and Tarasenko worked their magic. A few minutes later, Miles Wood went off for slashing, which gave the Rangers a power play and set the stage for the Chris Kreider show.

THE CHRIS KREIDER SHOW:
After two tip-in goals in game one, Chris Kreider didn’t want to discuss much else aside from Thursday’s game two. “Game two is the hardest one to win after your win game one,” he said. After another two-goal game on Thursday, he amended that statement and said game three. That’s who Kreider is. His mind is always forward, never backward. That may be one of the reasons why he’s incredible at net-front deflections. The first one came at the 9:57 mark of the second period when he tipped home an Artemi Panarin shot to give the Rangers the lead for good.

Then, following a holding call against Timo Meier, Kreider deflected Patrick Kane’s shot past Vanecek for New York’s third goal in 10:07.

“He touches everything that comes in, so it’s tough to cover that on the power play,” Kane said. “You don’t ever really see defensemen tie up with the net-front guy, so if there are lanes to shoot it, we want to shoot it because it’s a good chance he’s going to deflect it one way or the other.” The two tallies made Kreider the first player in NHL history to score four power-play goals in a series, extending his franchise record to 38 playoff goals.

SHOWTIME SHOWED UP:

After recording assists on both of Chris Kreider’s goals, Patrick Kane took matters into his own hands and netted one himself. Up to this point, he had been alright but didn’t exactly take over games as he did even in his last days with the Chicago Blackhawks before the February 28th trade that brought the three-time Stanley Cup champion and former Conn Smyth winner to Broadway. Those doubts quickly subsided for at least one night when Showtime stripped the puck away from Jesper Bratt, and roofed it over Vanecek on his trademark backhand, increasing the Rangers’ lead to 4-1.

Feeding off of the momentum, Filip Chytil set up Kaapo Kakko to bookend the scoring.