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The Jonas Siegenthaler game: Devils beat Rangers 3-1

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The New Jersey Devils tied their playoff series against the New York Rangers with a convincing win on enemy ice. The unlikely star of the game? It’s ya boi Jonas Siegenthaler with a goal and an assist.

Jack Hughes scored on a beauty of a breakaway early in the first period. After a scoreless second, Vincent Trochek tied the game, snatching a big rebound two minutes into the third period. But Jonas Siegenthaler caught a crisp cross-ice pass and ripped a shot to the far side to make it 2-1 Devils. Ondrej Palat sealed the deal with an empty-net goal.

Devils win! Series tied 2-2.

  • So now both teams lost both games on their home ice.
  • This was New Jersey’s best game of the series in a bunch of ways, and Jack Hughes set the tone early with his third goal of the postseason. If you look carefully at the start of the clip, you’ll see Jonas Siegenthaler shovel the puck out of the crease and directly to Hughes. More on him in a moment.

  • The Devils still have a penalty problem, going shorthanded three times. None of those three calls came in the offensive zone, so that’s progress. Either the Devils were great on the PK or the Ranger’s PP was just plain bad, as New York converted zero times.
  • Actually, I think I know the difference-maker: New Jersey goalie Akira Schmid, who fended off four scoring chances and 0.5 expected goals. His workload was much lighter at even-strength.
  • I was feeling really good about the Devils’ chances going into the third period, which you can see from this transcript from the RMNB Discord. You can guess when Trochek scored.
  • A lot changed after that second period. After New Jersey confidently controlling their own blue line for a while, New York all of a sudden was generating rush chances and getting offensive-zone faceoffs. I’m sure the Rangers, down a goal, were motivated, but it was dispiriting for a bit to see the Devils play like they did in the first couple games of this series (i.e. badly).
  • Jonas Siegenthaler is obviously a favorite in these parts. His goal was marvelous – the ping sounded beautiful – but the pass from Nico Hischier was even better. He made New York goalie Igor Shesterkin move laterally, which gave Siegenthaler the window to aim glove side and find a gap.

  • I shared the video above of celebrities at the game with the caption “MJF the king.” I was referring to Michael J. Fox, beloved actor and philanthropist. You probably know I’m a pessimist about a lot of real-world stuff, and that’s definitely how I feel about a lot of charities, but the Michael J Fox Foundation is the way it should be done: a pure cash funnel for research, irrespective of profit and tax breaks. I got a lot replies about how there’s a pro wrestler named MJF, and once that dude raises a billion dollars I promise I’ll learn more about him.
  • Starting to wonder when Timo Meier is gonna score. I get the feeling he’s banged up, but head coach Lindy Ruff appears to be losing patience; Meier was demoted in the third period.

I’m not going to tell you anything you don’t already know, but the Capitals really beefed it when they signed and played Zdeno Chara over Jonas Siegenthaler. Chara is a legend, but Siegenthaler is a special player whose best years were – and still are – ahead of him. Washington got a third-round draft pick in exchange for a player who just tied this playoff series.

Headline photo: @SeanMullany_35

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