This first-round playoff series between the Rangers and Devils is now a blank slate.
The 10 goals the Rangers scored between Games 1 and 2? Meaningless.
The feel-good momentum built from a two-game series lead? Gone.
The Devils saw to that when they marched into Madison Square Garden and grinded out two wins, including the 3-1 win over the Rangers Monday night, to reset this series at two games apiece as it heads back to their territory in Newark for Game 5 on Thursday.
For 40 minutes, the Blueshirts skated with zero urgency, zero regard for the possibility of losing their grip on this series and as a result, produced zero goals to the Devils’ one.
It wasn’t until the third period that even a fraction of the Rangers who dominated in the first two games showed up. Vincent Trocheck knotted the game at one-all and pumped some life into the Garden, which has had a lot more fun hosting the Knicks this past week than the Rangers.
Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler then took a cross-ice feed from Nico Hischier and sniped it past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin for the go-ahead goal later in the final frame.
The fully-loaded top-six the Rangers assembled by way of two big-name acquisitions at the trade deadline left their dynamic play in New Jersey. Since the first two games, the Rangers have only gotten two goals — one in each contest — from their top two lines.
From feeling confident in themselves and their game to head coach Gerard Gallant making mid-game line changes, the Rangers have gotten far away from what made them so dominant at the start of the series.
The only answer the Rangers had for Jack Hughes came from the stands.
Every time Hughes touched the puck, Rangers fans booed the Devils star center relentlessly. That sure happened a lot since Hughes had the puck a lot. It did not seem to faze him.
Here’s a player who has a mere 20 career games against the Rangers, including the four in this year’s playoffs, and he’s already drawn the ire of Madison Square Garden without even a dirty play to blame.
His only offense? Taking it to the Rangers and spearheading the Devils series comeback.
Hughes finished with a goal and five shots on goal in Game 4, and now has three goals in the series.
The Rangers power play also remained dormant.
After going 4-for-7 to begin the series, it is now on an 0-for-11 skid dating back to Game 2. It didn’t generate much Monday night, failing to score on three opportunities or generate any momentum throughout the game.
It was all Devils in the opening period.
The Rangers put forth arguably their worst 20 minutes of the series, which resulted in a 1-0 deficit heading into the first intermission.
After Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko nearly capitalized on their two-on-one chance, Hughes was sprung for a breakaway the other way and Hughes buried it less than three minutes into the game.
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