Following a solid defensive effort against the Penguins, the Devils face the Rangers in a Monday matinee from The Rock. Let’s take a look at the matchup in this preview.
The Essentials
Matchup: New York Rangers at New Jersey Devils
Date: December 23, 2024
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Broadcast: MSG, ESPN+
Listen: Devils Hockey Network
The Last Devils Game: The Devils shut out the Penguins on Saturday 3-0. If you missed it, check out John’s recap of that game.
The Last Rangers Game: The Rangers lost to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday 3-1. Check out NHL.com’s recap.
Recent Momentum: The Rangers have had all sorts of problems recently and have only won two of their last seven games. New York holds a record of 16-16-1. More on this in a minute. Meanwhile, the Devils have won four of their last five.
The Last Time: On December 2nd, the Devils defeated the Rangers 5-1. If you missed that one, check out Chris’ recap and NHL.com’s highlights.
Lineups
New Jersey Devils
Per Amanda Stein, the Devils practiced with the following lines and pairings.
As the #NJDevils look to spark some secondary scoring, HC Keefe shuffles the lines at practice today, spreading out his top offensive talent.
Only line that remains the same from last night is the Hischier line.
Lazar skating as extra D. pic.twitter.com/R4kGSupr4w
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) December 22, 2024
As stated in the post on X, head coach Sheldon Keefe is looking to generate scoring from the depth forwards. I don’t anticipate Keefe deploying these exact lines on Monday. I would expect Bratt, Hughes, and Palat to continue to play as a line. The same goes for Nico Hischier’s line, including Stefan Noesen. Keefe is right to search for offensive production outside of the first two lines. More on that below.
New York Rangers
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers deployed the following lines and pairings against the Hurricanes on Sunday.
Forwards
Alexis Lafreniere – Vincent Trocheck – Artemi Panarin
Brett Berard – Mika Zibanejad – Reilly Smith
Jimmy Vesey – Sam Carrick – Adam Edstrom
Will Cuylle – Filip Chytil – Chris Kreider
Defense
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
Braden Schneider – Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen – Chad Ruhwedel
Goalie
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin has started the last three games for the Rangers, but this is a rivalry game and the final game before the holiday break. I anticipate Shesterkin will start in goal against the Devils.
Recent Transactions
New York has been shipping players out left and right in December. First, the Rangers traded Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft. More recently, the Rangers sent Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen, a third-round pick in the 2025 draft, and a sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft. Neither Trouba nor Kakko had positive things to say about their former team, especially Trouba, who said the Rangers’ front office basically threatened him to accept a trade. According to Elliott Friedman, general manager Chris Drury wants to take a “big swing” after clearing Trouba and Kakko (per 32 Thoughts: The Podcast). Who wouldn’t want to play for an organization that treats players like that? Anyway, none of these recent transactions have improved the current roster the Devils will face on Monday.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Scoring and defending have been issues for the Rangers. In the last month, New York has scored more than two goals in a game three times. They scored three goals in the games against Carolina and Montreal at the end of November and then five against Seattle at the beginning of December. In the remaining 13 games over the last month (since November 21st), the Rangers have scored two goals or fewer (per ESPN). Since November 21st, the Rangers have scored 35 goals, the 3rd worst in the NHL over that span (per Natural Hat Trick). That puts a lot of pressure on Shesterkin and the defense to win games.
The Rangers’ defense has not handled that pressure well. In their last 16 games, New York has given up three or more goals 14 times, including a 6-2 loss to Edmonton and a 7-5 loss to Seattle. Since November 21st, the Rangers have allowed 56 goals, the fourth most in hockey during that time (per Natural Stat Trick). All of the pressure has been on Shesterkin, who, according to Natural Stat Trick, has recorded a .912 save percentage with 9.70 goals saved above average (GSAA).
Need for Depth Scoring
It has been painfully obvious why Sheldon Keefe is on the hunt to find depth scoring. After a productive opening couple of weeks, Paul Cotter has gone cold. Per NHL.com, Cotter has only recorded two points since November 12th. Erik Haula hasn’t tallied a point since November 25th (per NHL.com). Since November 25th, Dawson Mercer has produced two goals and two assists. Two of those points came in a good game against the Blackhawks. Tomas Tatar. Nothing in the last five games. You get the point. Keefe needs to find a third line that can produce some offense. I’d like to see Keefe give the line of Tatar – Haula – Mercer another look. According to Natural Stat Trick, that line combination has just under 16 minutes of ice time together and produced a Corsi for percentage (CF%) of 62.96. The sample size isn’t enough to draw any significant conclusions. Tatar and Mercer were on a line with Nico Hischier in 2022-2023 that had success. Maybe they can recapture some of that magic. I wouldn’t be opposed to bumping Justin Dowling up instead of Haula to ignite a spark, but realistically, the Devils need Haula (and the rest of these depth forwards) to produce.
Holiday High
All that talk about the Rangers’ struggles aside, this is a rivalry game, and anything can happen. The Devils cannot take a struggling New York team lightly and must keep the pressure on their vulnerable defense. A win against the Rangers would be a great holiday gift for any Devils fan! Let’s get two points and go into the holiday break on a high note!
Your Thoughts
Will you be watching this Monday afternoon game? How can the Devils spark some offense from the third or fourth lines? Let us know in the comments below. Wishing everyone a happy holidays! Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!