3 Rangers takeaways after another brutal start sets stage for 5-1 loss to Devils
Several New York Rangers players accentuated the positive after a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. But make no mistake, this was not a tough-luck loss where the Rangers deserved a better result.
A miserable start yet again buried the Rangers, this time against a quality opponent and key rival. If you can’t be ready to start a game against the Devils, especially coming off your first win in six games this past weekend, then what games will the Rangers get up for?
There was pushback from the Rangers — they actually out-shot the Devils 12-7 in the first period despite trailing 2-0, fired 18 shots at a sharp Jacob Markstrom in the second and finished with 39 shots on goal, their most since Nov. 3 against the Islanders (40).
But it’s easier to fire away when you’re desperate and chasing the game, as Chris Kreider pointed out postgame. The Rangers were down 4-0 before Kreider scored a power-play goal in the second period and 5-1 entering the third, when they out-shot the Devils 9-3 in the final stanza.
Simply, the Rangers were not sharp enough nor good enough against the Devils, a team they were a perfect 4-0-0 against last season, which seems a long time ago right about now.
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3 takeaways from Rangers 5-1 loss to Devils
Here are three takeaways from the game Monday.
1. Starting late … again
Once again, the Rangers weren’t good to go when the puck dropped shortly after 7 p.m. Devils captain Nico Hischier had a good scoring chance off the rush in the opening minute and shortly thereafter Jesper Bratt got behind Artemi Panarin — who was caught floating in the offensive zone — and buried a left-wing shot off a 2-on-1 rush against Igor Shesterkin at 1:27.
Boom! Another inauspicious start for the Rangers, one of many in their current 8-10-0 funk.
“I hate the first goal,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said postgame. “We talk about not giving up odd-man rushes from the offensive zone and we did. You leave the first period and you’re down 2-0, that’s not the way you want to start a division game against the New Jersey Devils. It’s not good. It’s not where we want to be.”
It became 2-0 when Dawson Mercer beat Shesterkin from the slot with a shot against the grain at 7:10. Then there was a breakaway from Jack Hughes less than a minute after Mercer’s goal, which Shesterkin stopped. Then another breakaway by Bratt, that sailed wide of the net a few minutes later.
Really, it should’ve been 4-0 midway through the first period. Yes, it was that bad before the Rangers pushed back. Mercer hit the post at 14:55, one of three clanks of iron for New Jersey in the game.
Maybe against a lesser team, the Rangers pushback could’ve led to a better result, or at least closer game, given the fact that the Devils couldn’t quite pull away in that first period. But it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Devils — now 8-0-0 when leading after one and 15-0-0 when ahead after two — finished off the Rangers after the home team’s awful start.
2. Have a seat
Laviolette didn’t seem thrilled with the new line combo of Filip Chytil between Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. That trio found themselves bolted to the bench for a stretch in the first period, with Panarin playing just one shift in the final 10 minutes of the period.
In the end, Panarin had 16:43 TOI on Monday, roughly three minutes less than the stud forward averages per game this season (19:35). Only 10:36 of that ice time was at even strength; Panarin played more than six minutes on the power play and did assist on Kreider’s power-play goal.
Chytil logged just 11:47 TOI and Lafreniere had about a minute more ice time. That line with Panarin had a 27.69 xGF percentage 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick. Chytil fared far better when reunited with regular linemates Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko. Panarin and Lafreniere looked better when they rejoined Vincent Trocheck.
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3. Vincent Trocheck’s resurgence continues
After scoring in consecutive games, Trocheck did not land on the score sheet Monday. But the Rangers center was probably their best all-around player, putting forth a vintage performance right out of his 2023-24 playbook.
Whether centering Kakko and Cuylle, or later Panarin and Lafreniere, Trocheck was on top of his game against the Devils. He led Rangers forwards with 23:27 TOI and had a team-high seven shots on goal and five hits. Trocheck also won 20 of 25 face-offs (80 percent) and had some glorious chances snuffed out by Markstrom, especially a pair of neat power-play deflections in the second period.
It’s no wonder why Trocheck was stressing the positives postgame.
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