Rangers 5, Devils 1: An early dud

The Devils were slow out of the gate and never recovered in the series opener.

Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey, and everything else, with our writers and subscribers.

---

A few notes following New Jersey’s disappointing Game 1 loss to New York:

Adam Fox killed the Devils

A case could be made for Fox as the best blueliner in the NHL. He certainly looked the part in the opening game of the series, flexing his muscles on the Devils from start to finish.

His in-zone passing was clinical across all situations. If a teammate was open with space to work, Fox consistently found them; often in dangerous scoring areas. He registered four assists in this game, three of which were primary.

Fox also consistently broke out of the defensive zone with success and was fantastic off puck. His gap control and ability to defend the line in the neutral zone was a factor; the Devils struggled to pick up speed and gain the offensive zone with possession the puck. When they did, opening lanes was an issue.

While Fox is always going to make some sort of mark on the game, the Devils didn’t make his life difficult enough. They didn’t make it difficult at all, in fact.

In the playoffs you take a bite out of your opponent every chance you get; especially vs star players.

There should be very few instances where a player of Fox’s caliber has the puck and isn’t hit, slashed, or forced to skate through some sort of contact. Well, there were a million of them in Game 1.

Fox was one of three Rangers to log more than 20 minutes of ice. He took exactly one hit taken in that time. One!

To say that’s inexcusable is an understatement. How many times did we see Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and co. given a rough ride and hit the deck? Constantly. And the Devils barely laid a finger on New York’s most important skater.

This isn’t some excuse where the Devils don’t have enough physical players. Erik Haula, Timo Meier, Ondrej Palat, and the entire 4th line all play heavy games. Put the puck in Fox’s corner and lay the body on him. Make him work.

Life was way too easy for Fox last night and the Devils paid the price for it. They need to be all over him in Game 2.

The special teams were a disaster