The New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on Monday night. Erik Gustafsson scored the game-winning goal for the Rangers with :52 seconds left in the second period.
The New York Rangers held on to defeat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on Monday night.
Erik Gustafsson scored the game-winning goal for the Rangers with :52 seconds left in the second period -- and :22 seconds before Matt Rempe received a game misconduct.
Jonathan Quick was the winning goaltender for the Rangers, stopping 20 of the Devils' 21 shots. Kaapo Kahkonen made 23 saves in the loss for New Jersey.
Artemi Panarin thought he scored to give the Rangers an early lead in the game, but New Jersey challenged it. The goal was called off for being offside.
Both teams had chances on the power play in the first period but failed to convert. The Rangers failed to score on two attempts and the Devils did not convert on their lone power play.
The game was scoreless after 20 minutes. The Rangers more than doubled the Devils shots, as they led New Jersey in shots 13-6.
Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring tonight with 7:35 left in the second period. It’s Zibanejads first 5-on-5 goal since Dec 23 and his 20th total on the season.
The Rangers got to work down low with Jack Roslovic throwing a hit in the corner. The puck found Chris Kreider who fed Zibanejad in front.
Zibanejad made a silky move around Kahkonen and slid the puck on his backhand into the net. Kreider was given the only assist.
New York added another goal in the periods final minute. With Matt Rempe in front screening the goaltender, Gustafsson rifled the puck from the right point into the net.
Assists were given to Zac Jones and Jimmy Vesey to double the Rangers lead with 51.1 seconds on the clock.
With 30 seconds left in the second, Rempe was ejected for elbowing Jonas Siegenthaler.
After two periods the Rangers led the Devils in total shots 20-13. The Devils started the third with 4:30 of power play time on the clock.
The Devils did not score on the major power play.
With 2:36 to go in the game however the Devils made it close. New Jersey finally found the back of the net. Simon Nemec walked the blue line into the slot and sent the puck on goal, putting the puck past Quick. New Jersey had the net empty and an extra attacker on. The assists went to Jack Hughes and Nico Hischer.
Nursing the one-goal lead, the Rangers iced the game with 1:13 to go on an empty net goal. Vincent Trocheck’s 24th of the season made it 3-1 and secured the Rangers victory.