Devils 2, Rangers 1: Back in the series

The Devils fought tooth and nail to grind out a crucial win in Game 3.

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A few notes following the New Jersey Devils’ overtime victory in New York:

Earned, not given

Realistically speaking, the Devils would’ve lost any chance of advancing to the second round with a loss in Game 3.

Given the way Igor Shesterkin is playing, and how difficult it is to create high-end chances against him, being forced to win four in a row would’ve been too extreme of an ask.

It certainly showed in the team’s effort. They played with real urgency and never stopped fighting despite facing plenty of adversity along the way.

They squandered another early power play opportunity, which had to be a tough pill to swallow given how it performed in the first two games (and the importance of playing from ahead against this Rangers team). The Devils conceded the first goal and fell behind the 8-ball again, sending MSG into even more of a frenzy.

They spent 5:30 longer killing penalties than the Rangers did, thanks in part to questionable calls like the ‘cross check’ Ryan Graves landed in front of the net.

Timo Meier took a healthy shot to the head and there was no penalty. New York scored its only goal perhaps a minute later, when the Devils could’ve been on the man advantage. The list goes on.

A lot of things happened that could’ve caused a team in a 2-0 hole to get frustrated, unravel, and essentially hand the series over. The Devils didn’t do that.

They kept playing. In my estimation, the Devils got better and better as the game progressed. They did what they had to do on the penalty kill and played perhaps their best game at 5v5.

Led by the Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt line, the Devils were way better at full-strength than in previous games. They were much more dangerous off the rush, their team speed was noticeable, and they actually found a way to adequately test Igor Shesterkin.

The Devils were outshot at 5v5 but high-danger chances were 15-5 Devils and they controlled more than 56% of the expected goal share. They were legitimately good.

All of the boxes for a good road game were checked. That’s why the Devils now have a fighting chance in this series.

Akira Schmid was excellent