The New Jersey Devils advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a decisive game-seven win over the New York Rangers on Monday night. It was never in doubt. [Note: I’ve been covering the Devils for the postseason. Looks like I’ll be doing it a bit longer.]
After a scoreless first period, Michael McLeod scored a shorthanded goal after Ondrej Palat did some excellent forechecking. Tomas Tatar made it 2-0 by taking a genius pass from John Marino. Erik Haula made it 3-0 with a quintessential New Jersey rush goal. Jesper Bratt got the empty-netter.
The Devils have eliminated the Rangers in seven games. The Devils advance to the second round.
- Calm and composed, the Devils simply dismantled the Rangers. They were better through neutral, they were better along their own blue line, they were way better on attack. New York’s best line was surfing around 20 percent of shot attempts (like 30 points below even) after two periods. If a team spent six months in a laboratory plotting how to beat the Rangers, I don’t think they’d do much better than this.
- Oh, except for the penalties. The Devils committed four minors in the first half of the game, and they were all justified. The Rangers did nothing with those opportunities. They’ve had one power-play goal in the last five games, which might as well be the series right there.
- Meanwhile, poor Jack Hughes was mauled a few times without a whistle. Jesper Bratt got high-sticked three feet from a ref, looking directly at him, but there was no call. Timo Meier has been a punching bag all series, even before Jacob Trouba hit him in the head. No penalty on that hit, which is the precise kind that should not be permitted in the league.
Another look at Jacob Trouba's huge hit on Timo Meier #NYR | #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/feRXfNrvd8
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) May 2, 2023
- In the end, Timo Meier recorded no goals and no assists in this series. Jesper Bratt didn’t have a goal until the final four minutes. The Devils did this without a lot of depth scoring.
- Devils goalie Akira Schmid had a relatively easy workload, 18 shots after two periods, but he did manage to make big saves when asked. I’m kind of a skeptic on glove saves. Seems like the flashier they are, the more that’s an indication that the goalie had to move a lot to make the save.
Schmid with a save against Zibanejad on the power play to keep the game scoreless pic.twitter.com/4GMosLQdIR
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 2, 2023
- Whatever, he got the shutout. Breakout hero of the loffs.
- This will be New Jersey’s first time in the second round since 2012, when they made it to the final.
- It just occurred to me that the Rangers’ elimination should mean less Mark Messier on my television. Thank you, Satan.
Check out this one; I love that the Devils have an official skincare partner.
Let’s gooooo!!!! pic.twitter.com/C7WzOnC9Qb
— Genucel Skincare (@Genucel) May 2, 2023
It took mishaps and accidents and bad luck for this series ever to be close. The Devils were the clearly better team in six of seven games, but little things cost them two wins – and bad coaching cost them a third. By the end of the series, they were playing like they’re supposed to: fast, rushing offense with quick passing across the slot. It’s a fun brand of hockey, and we’re going to see more of it in the second round.
The Carolina Hurricanes are a very, very good opponent– even missing two talented forwards in Teravainen and Svechnikov. It’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks. I can’t wait.
Headline photo: @ThatGuyBry31
