Late Effort Not Enough for Devils in 2-1 Loss to Rangers

Joseph Blandisi of the Devils attempts to skate with the puck as he is challenged by the Rangers defense. Photo Credit: NHL.com

EAST HANOVER, NJ – Travis Zajac scored short-handed late in the third period to bring the New Jersey Devils to within one, but it wasn’t enough. They surrendered the first two goals of the game and then ran out of gas at the end in a 2-1 defeat against their rivals in the New York Rangers on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

It seemed hopeless when Andy Greene was called for hooking with just 2:39 left in the final frame as the Devil’s (26-21-7) trailed by two. Then, the Rangers (30-18-5) made a costly mistake near their blue line to give New Jersey a fighting chance.

Keith Yandle and Dan Girardi were playing catch as it appeared New York was simply killing time on the man-advantage. Then, Adam Henrique jumped in to intercept the puck sending the Devil’s off on a two on one opportunity. Henrique fed Zajac, who beat Henrik Lundqvist short side to make the score 2-1.

Lee Stempniak had a great chance with the Devils still down a skater. He collected a bouncing puck in the slot and fired a hard shot that Lundqvist kicked out with his right pad.

With time winding down, Corey Schneider was pulled for an extra skater but New Jersey simply ran out of time in their desperate attempts to stuff the puck into the cage.

It appeared the Devils were not ready to match the intensity of their cross-town rivals. They surrendered 17 shots in the opening period alone. If not for the heroic play of Schneider in the first, the game could have been well out of reach early on.

Schneider surrendered the first goal of the contest in the second period when Kevin Klein snuck into the left slot and blasted the puck off a one-timer. J.T. Miller gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead when he wristed a shot that snuck through the pads of Schneider at the beginning of the third.

The Devils were called for five penalties through 60 minutes of play, but were able to kill off all of the Rangers chances.

The unveiling of the Martin Brodeur statue took place earlier tonight at the Prudential Center in a pre-game ceremony that included a viewing party of the game. Brodeur’s no. 30 banner will be raised into the rafters tomorrow night, before the Devils host the Edmonton Oilers (21-28-5) at 8 p.m.