The Devils & Their Fans Take Over the Prudential Center East

Last night marked the first matchup of the Hudson River Rivalry for the 24-25 season. The Devils were looking to get their first win vs the Rangers since game seven of their first round matchup in 2023. Last season the Devils went 0-4 against them allowing 4.25 goals against per game and scoring 2 goals per game. Heading into the game the Devils had allowed 10 goals combined in the past two games with three power play goals against on Saturday and the Rangers just wont their first game in over a week vs the Habs. This game was another test for this team to see how they have improved from last season and it only took eight-seven seconds for the team to answer the call.

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The Devils came out looking to use their speed to punish the Rangers who have struggled with their rush defense and within the first two minutes the Devils capitalized on a two on one which started at our own blue line. Bratt came in with his blade closed and his head looking over at Jack. Igor is processing all this information and is expecting Bratt to pass or fake the pass, then shoot.

Instead, Bratt opens the blade quickly to shoot with the stick ending in the closed blade position. This move caused Igor to pick up the shot a split second too late, and the puck went in under Igors right pad before he could seal the ice. In his post game presser Bratt talked about how his first insitinct on a odd man rush  with Jack is to look to get him the puck and that he “saw Igor probalby had the same thought, that I was going to make that play to Jack”.

Six minutes later Dawson Mercer extended the Devils lead to 2-0 on the teams fourth shot on goal. The play started with a great stick by Luke to interecept a pass on our blue line, where he then carried the puck into the Rangers zone. After a little give and go with Dawson, Luke got the puck back on the point and had his shot blocked. Mercer picked up the loose puck and used his speed to ger seperation from Trocheck before putting a no look shot on goal that snuck under Igors right pad again. These two goals are shots that we would expect Igor to stop but the ability to put the puck on net, with a no look shot that were hard and on the ice hindered Igors ability to read it cleanly. Jack looked to go instagram famous on our very next shot on goal, where he tried to beat Igor on breakaway by pulling off a Forsberg  but was denied.

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While going up by two early was huge, the major turning point in tonights game was the gutsy penalty kill effort on the Rangers first powerplay. In the span of thirty eight seconds, Brett Pesce, Erik Haula and Jesper Bratt all sacraficed their bodies to make five huge blocked shots in a row. This was immediately followed up by Markstrom making a split save off a back door tip by Kreider. This powerplay may have sparked some momentum for the Rangers who went out to outshoot the Devils 7-2 for the remainder of the period but it was a moment that the Devils of last season would have folded and allowed the Rangers to get a goal back.

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The second period was a battled of special teams as there were nine penalties in total called for the period. The Rangers had the better of the chances early forcing Markstrom to make a big save off a shot in the slot and Kreider fumbling the puck on a shorthanded 2 on 0 breakaway. The Rangers were called for a hooking minor shortly after and the Devils went to work on a two man advantage. Hughes found Hamilton with a cross-ice pass where Dougie buried it short side under Igors arm to put the Devils up three to nothing. It was all Devils for the next three minutes as they peppered Igor with five shots on goal before the Hughes brothers connected. Jack defllected Lukes shot on goal and grabbed the rebound as he spun around on one skate and extedned the lead to four. The Rangers finall got on the scoreboard on their thirtyith shot of the game on the powerplay. The Rangers used this as momentum and two minutes later had a chance to cut the lead down to two while shorthanded.

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Mika Zibanejad came in on a partial breakaway aftrer a Markstrom giveaway, faking the shot and pulling the puck across his body from forehand to backhand.Mika got the shot up just at pad height but Markstrom extended out in a full split and stopped the puck with the very top of the pad. Minutes later after coincidental minors and an interferece call, the Devils went on a rare 4 on 3 powerplay. The Rangers decided to let Jack walk down broadway untouched where he unleased a wicked wrister that forced Igor to guess the wrong way and found the back of the net.

The Devils seemed to take their foot off the gas in the third period, only mustering two shots on goal and allowing nine. While the Rangers outshot them, the Devils did a great job protctecting the net front and forcing the shots to come from the outside. The players themselves were not happy with the performance in the third but it was all that was needed to perserve the four goal lead and the win. As the period began to wind down, many Woo’s and Let’s Go Devils chants rang out in the Prudential Center east. As the buzzer hit zero, the cheers were heard loud and clear from the Devils fans there and the team walked away with a very convining win.

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My Key Stats/Takeaways of the Night:

-          Jack now has the most goals by anay acive player vs Igor and now has 15 points in 14 games vs NY

-          Luke is starting to turn up and is averaging 0.78 PPG in his last 7 games

-          Markstrom stepped up to the task and out played Igor, making 38 saves and having a +3.24 GSAx

-          Bratt & Hughes might be the deadliest combo in the NHL right now