Despite a late surge and good effort by their prospects, the Devils fell to the Rangers with a final score of 5-4. Let’s take a look at the game with this recap.
The Result: The New Jersey Devils lost 5-4 to the New York Rangers.
The Game Stats:
The Game Highlights:
What I Was Watching For:
After Jeremy Brodeur’s great performance last night, I was interested to see how Isaac Poulter would perform. The 23-year-old goaltender, who signed a two-way entry-level contract in February, posted an impressive 0.911 save percentage for the AHL Utica Comets last season. I wanted to see how Poulter, and the rest of the Comets, would stack up against a starter-heavy lineup for the Rangers. Guys like Daniil Misyul, Kevin Lebanc, and Brian Halonen all had strong games last night so how would they fair against real NHL competition tonight?
First Period
The boys did not disappoint. The Devils had their legs going early in the opening period. The defense was able to make crisp breakout passes and connect on some stretch passes to create good scoring opportunities within the first two minutes of play. Brian Halonen and Nathan Legare were the recipients of two such passes and both had strong shots on Rangers starting goaltender, Igor Shesterkin. Xavier Parent beat Shesterkin with a laser of a snap shot later in the period, but the puck hit the crossbar and deflected out of play.
That shot may have been the wakeup call for the Rangers because they started to regain their legs and create more offensive zone pressure from that point on. The line of Brett Berard, Jonny Brodzinkski, and Kaapo Kakko created defensive problems for the Devils all night. Within a minute of Parent’s shot, Kevin Lebanc failed to backhand a rolling puck out of the Devils’ defensive zone. The flip attempt was intercepted by Rangers defenseman Zac Jones, who put a shot on the net that was tipped by Kakko passed Poulter.
The Devils would respond quickly. Less than a minute later, the Devils displayed some more good passing through the neutral zone, which led to Jakub Zboril driving to the net. After putting a low hard shot on Shesterkin, Zboril kept skating to the net front, beat three Rangers defenders to the puck, and ripped the rebound home.
This game was representative of the Hudson River Rivalry and the first fight of the night kicked off between Devils defenseman Jackson Van De Leest, who is listed as six foot six inches tall by ESPN, and Bo Groulx of the Rangers. The fight started with an awkward hit at the Devils’ blue line, which I thought Van De Leest got the worst of, but he made up for it in the donnybrook, easily handling Groulx. There were two other fights in the later periods, but neither resulted in much action.
One of the more notable events of the game for the Rangers occurred in the first period when Artemi Panarin exited after just two minutes and twenty-five seconds of ice time. It was reported that Panarin was dealing with a lower-body injury and would not return.
One observation from the first period was the physical play of Matt Rempe. NHL.com lists Rempe as six foot nine inches tall, which creates advantages and disadvantages in his game. In the first period, Rempe crunched a Devils player into the boards with a strong hit. I have no issue with big hits, but when hitting the smaller player, Rempe’s elbow appeared to collide with the opposing player’s head. No penalty was called and play continued. If the NHL is going to take head injuries seriously, Rempe and the Department of Player Safety are going to need to monitor where he connects with opposing players. He may even need to begin bending his knees when making checks.
It was a strong effort in the first period for the Devils’ players vying for more playing time in the NHL. Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette even acknowledged the hard play of the Devils during an in-game interview on the TNT broadcast. Poulter played well between the pipes for the Devils, fighting off shots through traffic as the period progressed. The first period ended with the game tied 1-1.
Second Period
The second period started differently with the Rangers showing that they had indeed found their legs and were ready to push the play. From the start, the Rangers, particularly the Kakko line, were able to apply more sustained offensive zone pressure and made it more difficult for the Devils to break out of their defensive zone.
With just over 14 minutes remaining in the period, some crisp passing by the Rangers and a bouncing puck found Adam Edstrom behind the Devils’ defenders. Poulter was able to stop Edstrom’s initial shot, but Edstrom backhanded the rebound over the goaltender’s shoulder and into the net.
The Devils were being heavily outshot at this point in the game and the Rangers were applying all the pressure. Devils forward Kevin Lebanc decided to step up and had a couple of his better shifts in the game at this point. Lebanc displayed his excellent shot throughout this game and put two good shots on net in his next shift. With just under 11 minutes remaining in the period, Lebanc took the puck in the neutral zone, drove to the slot, and unleashed a hard wrist shot on Shesterkin. Shesterkin gloved the puck but dropped it and in the chaos that followed, the puck was deflected into the net off of Lebanc’s body, who had continued to drive to the net.
Unfortunately, the Devils suffered a collapse at the end of the second period, giving up two goals within a minute. Rangers defenseman Victor Mancini skated the blue line, worked his way down the right circle, and wristed a perfectly placed shot over Poulter’s shoulder. Poulter had been looking around a Devils defenseman toward the perimeter and the shot was precisely placed on the opposite side of the defender toward the middle of the ice surface. The fourth and final goal of the period resulted from a low to high pass from behind the Devils’ goal line. Rangers defenseman Connor Mackey received the pass and wristed another perfectly placed shot off the pipe and in.
All things considered, Poulter had played well to this point in the game. In the second period, the Rangers spent a lot more time in the Devils’ defensive zone and put a lot more traffic in front of the net. I think Poulter would want another chance at those two goals to end the second period, particularly the fourth goal. The second period ended with the Rangers up 4-2.
Third Period
In the third period, the Devils replaced Poulter with Tyler Brennan and the Rangers replaced Shesterkin with Dylan Garand. The Devils started the period with a good penalty kill, applying good puck pressure in the defensive zone. Unfortunately, a couple of minutes later, Devils winger Dylan Wendt caught his stick in Rangers defenseman Chad Ruhwedel’s skate, sending Ruhwedel into the boards awkwardly. Wendt was called for a trip and the penalty kill was tested again. Ruhwedel was clearly in some discomfort on the bench and the Rangers did not like the play, going after Wendt briefly after the whistle. Rempe was on the ice for this exchange and one might think this would be where Rempe would force someone to answer the bell for the hit, but that did not happen. Ruhwedel would return.
In the ensuing penalty kill, the Devils’ defenders gave Vincent Trochek too much room to operate and he buried a wrist shot from the high slot area. 5-2. The penalty kill for the Devils had looked good again until that point, but killing what amounted to back-to-back penalties against the Rangers’ power play is a difficult position to be in.
About eight minutes into the period, the Devils began to gain some traction. Rempe was called for a holding penalty and Lebanc had an opportunity to show off his shot again. After a failed clearing attempt, Lebanc caught a pass, skated to the left faceoff dot, and blasted a nasty snap shot over the Garand’s glove. 5-3.
This power play is a microcosm of what Lebanc brings to the table for the Devils. Moments before his goal, Lebanc had a turnover that led to a shorthanded scoring opportunity for Trochek. On the other hand, wow can he shoot the puck. It would be interesting to see Lebanc put that shot to use with the Devils’ top talent setting the table for him.
The Devils were able to build momentum as the game went on. Head coach Kevin Dineen pulled the goalie with four minutes remaining in the game, still down two goals. With 34 seconds left, Lebanc fed Brian Halonen a soft toss pass at the left circle, which Halonen one-timed home. 5-4.
Despite fighting to the end and making a late push, the Devils fell short and lost 5-4.
I thought there were a lot of positives to take away from this game. Against a Rangers team playing starters like Shesterkin, Trochek, Kakko, and K’Andre Miller, the Devils were in it to the end. Yes, they had a lull in the second period and got outshot 14 to eight, but they continued to battle. As discussed throughout the recap, I thought the line including Mike Hardman and Kevin Lebanc had a strong game. As did the line containing Brian Halonen and Xavier Parent. I liked the way Nathan Legare played as well. They forechecked hard against some of the Rangers’ top talent and, for portions of that game, had success. On the defensive end, Jakub Zboril and Daniil Misyul moved the puck well and created scoring chances by jumping up on the rush or with stretch passes, particularly in the first period. Several players earned themselves some looks should the opportunity arise at the NHL level this season.
Your Thoughts:
Who caught your eye in tonight’s game? Do you think Kevin Lebanc did enough? How are you feeling with one preseason game left to go? As always, leave your comments below. Thank you for reading and GO DEVILS!