Entering Tuesday’s game with the Rangers, the Devils had not played a game for over two weeks due to a team-wide coronavirus outbreak. Thirteen players in the Devils’ lineup had recently come off the COVD-19 protocol list.
Their goalkeeper Mackenzie Blackwood, one of the first Devils players to ignite the COVID-19 domino effect, made his first start in almost a month.
But it was the Blueshirts who came flat-footed, sidelined and eventually were eliminated in the third period to drop their fourth game in a row in a 5-2 loss at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday-evening.
The Rangers should have been the team that was loose, the team that was sharp. However, the Devils turned out to be all those things for the full 60 minutes, despite only having one practice to prepare since their last game on January 31.
Entering the third period it was 2-2 – without Jacob Trouba taking an upper body injury in the second – the Rangers watched as the tired must have been. Devils refused to hesitate while making the most of their chances.
A deflection from Yegor Sharangovich turned out to be the game winner, before Nicholas Merkley knocked the puck out of the air for insurance. Mikhail Maltsev’s empty net poured some salt into the open wound of the Rangers.
Rookie netminder Igor Shesterkin kept the Rangers alive in the first period, stopping all 16 shots he came across to keep the game scoreless. He averted breakaways from Kyle Palmieri and Andreas Johnsson, including a series of five consecutive shots at 12 minutes, before ending the night with 32 saves on 36 shots.
The Rangers opened the middle frame on the penalty kill, the Rangers woke up after accumulating a handful of shorthanded opportunities and throwing six unanswered shots on target to start the period.
With Zibanejad in the penalty area after giving Nathan Bastian an elbow, Pavel gave Zacha the Devils the 1-0 lead at 7:37. It was the first power play goal the Rangers conceded in seven games, ending a 22 out of 22 streak on the penalty kill.
Colin Blackwell ended the Rangers’ scoring drought that spanned four bouts, dating back to Saturday’s shutout loss against the Bruins, when he sniped a past Blackwood out of the right circle at 11:32 AM for his fourth run in his first six games as a Ranger. .
The Devils took the lead again at 5:14 PM after a shot from Will Butcher that appeared to deflect Trouba. But just over two minutes later, Pavel Buchnevich tied it back up with a snipe from the left circle.