Rangers 3, Devils 1: The last straw

The losses continue to pile up for the Devils at a time they need to be at their best.

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A few notes following another disheartening performance against the Rangers:

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy

The Devils were Sloppy with a capital S against the Rangers, putting forth one of their worst offensive performances of the entire season.

The Rangers have a massive game against the Hurricanes tonight and it showed in their performance on Monday. It honestly felt like they were trying to preserve energy and anything they were able to get from last night’s game was a win.

New York played simply from start to finish. They chipped pucks in, they cycled, and they never took unnecessary chances.

They weren’t going to hand the Devils easy offense. They were going to make them earn it; something the Devils showed absolutely no ability to do.

The Rangers simply relied on their structure and waited for the Devils to make a mistake and give the puck back. It very rarely took long for that to happen.

The Devils were as out of sorts as I can remember, which is saying something given how the season has gone. It felt like a struggle for them to complete more than a couple of passes on any given possession.

Whether they skated themselves into traffic, forced passes into lanes that weren’t there, put pucks out of reach of teammates, or bobbled the ones that did come their way, there was absolutely no flow.

They simply couldn’t stop making mistakes and turning pucks over. It was truly unbearable to watch.

Even on the power play, with extra time and space to work with, the Devils mustered up absolutely nothing.

Headlined by a five minute opportunity, the Devils had well over nine minutes to work on the man advantage. They generated three shots on goal and one high-danger chance, which somehow feels generous given how poorly it looked.

I know some guys are playing at well under 100% but there is simply no excuse for a talented group, that should be desperate, to look so lifeless.

A strong first impression