Devils Fall to Rangers, 3-1. Rempe Ejected in Second Straight Game Against NJ

The Devils are in the fifth wild card spot with 66 points.

The New Jersey Devils suffered their third loss to the New York Rangers this season on Monday night as New York beat New Jersey, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

With 12 minutes remaining in the first period, the Rangers beat Kaapo Kahkonen for a 1-0 lead. Alexis Lafrenière fed the puck to Artemi Panarin, who shot the puck past the Devils' netminder. The Devils' coaching staff immediately challenged the goal for offsides, and after review, the goal was taken away from New York.

After 20 minutes, the teams were deadlocked at zero. New York outshot New Jersey 13-6.

For the 47th time this season, the Devils surrendered the game's opening goal. Mika Zibanejad scored his 20th of the season on his sixth shot of the night 12 minutes into the second period. Chris Kreider picked up the lone assist.

The Rangers extended their lead to 2-0 courtesy of Erik Gustafsson. Matt Rempe, who stands at 6-foot-7, got position in front of Kahkonen. Gustafsson's wrist shot beat the Devils goaltender with less than a minute remaining in the period.

Zac Jones and ex-Devil Jimmy Vesey earned the assists on Gustafsson's sixth goal of the season.

In the waning seconds of the middle frame, Rempe went in for a hit on Jonas Siegenthaler. Before contact was made, the Rangers forward lifted his elbow, which made contact with Siegenthaler's jaw.

Kurtis MacDermid attempted to immediately go after Rempe, but the referees kept the two apart.

Rempe received a five-minute major for elbowing and game misconduct, while MacDermid received a 10-minute penalty. Siegenthaler did not come out with his team for the third period and missed the remainder of the game.

With a little over three minutes remaining in the third period, Simon Nemec fired the puck past opposing goaltender Jonathan Quick for his third goal of the season. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier collected the helpers, extending their respective point streaks. It was Hischier's 50th point of the season. 

Vincent Trocheck sealed New Jersey's fate, hitting the open net a little over a minute after Nemec's goal for a Rangers 3-1 victory.

Kahkonen played well in his Devils debut making 23 saves on 25 shots, finishing the game with a .920 save percentage.

UP NEXT: The Devils will play the Dallas Stars on March 14 at American Airlines Center.

LINES:

Ondrej Palat - Nico Hischier - Timo Meier

Jack Hughes - Erik Haula - Jesper Bratt

Chris Tierney - Curtis Lazar - Dawson Mercer

Kurtis MacDermid - Tomas Nosek - Alexander Holtz

Jonas Siegenthaler - John Marino

Kevin Bahl -Brendan Smith

Luke Hughes - Simon Nemec

Kaapo Kahkonen

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