Tonight was the third and final meeting between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. In a season where just about everything has gone wrong, games against the Rangers were an oasis in a desert. New Jersey had won the previous two meetings by identical 6-3 final scores, and each contest was about as lopsided as those scores would indicate. But tonight was a different story, as the Devils just could not get anything going in a lifeless 4-1 loss at Madison Square Garden.
I’m sure when the
NHL scheduled this game all those months ago, they envisioned two bitter rivals jockeying for playoff position, setting up a contest with a ton of juice. Needless to say, that did not materialize. The Rangers were the first team in the Eastern Conference to be eliminated from playoff contention, while the Devils have been effectively eliminated for a while now. As a result, there was just no electricity in this game whatsoever. I suppose the Rangers had a tiny little pep in their step (which is way more than they had in the previous two matchups), but nothing to write home about. The biggest source of energy tonight came in the third period, when we saw an honest to goodness goalie fight. Paul Cotter ran Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers skaters all jumped him, and Shesterkin swooped in and threw a punch of his own at Cotter. This enraged Jacob Markstrom, who skated all the way down the ice and dropped the gloves blocker and mitt to tussle with Shesterkin. Markstrom definitely lost the fight, though he did get a couple decent hits in himself.
Honestly, I respect Markstrom’s decision to go for it. Cotter was the second Devil Shesterkin took a swipe at tonight (more on that below), and Markstrom had finally had enough. It backfired obviously, but a part of me does admire Markstrom standing up for his guy. So credit to him for that.
Respect aside, the fight was just a small part of an overall bad night for Markstrom. He allowed those four goals on 22 shots, a dismal .818 save percentage. He once again allowed a goal on the very first shot he faced, and frankly I don’t know how he keeps doing that. Markstrom has an uncanny ability to put his team behind the eight ball immediately, which I’m sure is a huge psychological strain on his team. Granted, that first shot was a tough deflection, but it was definitely a stoppable shot. I won’t blame him too much for the second or fourth goal he allowed, which were the results of shoddy defense that Markstrom truly had no chance on. But the third goal the Rangers scored was the direct result of yet another room service rebound by Markstrom, allowing something called “Jaroslav Chmelar” to score easily.
In all, Markstrom was terrible tonight. He’s been terrible for much of the season, and he’ll probably be terrible the rest of the way. And in case you forgot, his two-year, $6m AAV extension kicks in next season. There’s just no defending it at this point, not that there was ever any defending it at any point.
All that being said, even if Markstrom was prime Martin Brodeur this evening, it still would’ve been tough for New Jersey to win. That’s because, as mentioned, the team just did not have any jump at all. The offense was lethargic, the defense was lax, the transition game sputtered, and the decision-making was bad. Other than that, things went great.
I don’t know if I would say any Devils skater had a good game tonight. Jack Hughes did some classic Jack Hughes things, but he also got pinned in his own zone several times, including getting victimized on the Rangers’ fourth goal. Connor Brown scored the lone goal tonight, a power-play tally that, at the time, got the Devils back in the game at 2-1. But as part of Hughes’ line, he had most of the same problems as Hughes tonight. Nico Hischier had the assist on Brown’s goal, and while I thought he didn’t have as many bad defensive shifts as the Hughes line, I didn’t think he moved the needle much. Simon Nemec was active on offense, which was nice, but he too had plenty of poor shifts. Brenden Dillon wasn’t bad either, but I definitely wouldn’t say he was outright good.
No, I don’t think any Devil had a good game tonight. The season is over of course, so it makes sense that the team would have less motivation at this point. Still, this is a rivalry game against one of the few teams that New Jersey is decidedly better than. You would think that the team would get up for this, but apparently they couldn’t be bothered.
We’re about to enter the final month of this season. Tonight’s game was yet another reminder of why it can’t end soon enough.
The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats
The Game Highlights: Courtesy of NHL.com
Congrats
Even though tonight was pretty miserable overall, I would be remiss if I did not tip my cap to Dawson Mercer.
Tonight, Mercer played in his 402nd consecutive game. That officially breaks Travis Zajac’s franchise record of 401 straight games played, making Mercer the organization’s new iron man. Many of us have criticisms of Mercer’s game, but as the saying goes, availability is the best ability. Mercer has proven himself to be remarkably durable through the first five seasons of his career.
Congratulations Dawson. Here’s to continued good health for you in the many years of your career to come.
What Can Brown Do For You?
With his power-play goal tonight, Connor Brown is now up to 10 points in his last nine games. After getting bumped up to the first line (as a result of Jack Hughes personally requesting it, no less), Brown took a little time to gel with his new linemates. But as time has gone on, he’s settled in and actually served as a nice compliment to Hughes and Jesper Bratt. Since March rolled around, Brown has been trending way up, finding ways to contribute both at 5-on-5 and on special teams.
I still think the Devils need a better third wheel than Brown to play with Hughes and Bratt, but credit where it’s due. Brown has acquitted himself well on the first line in recent weeks. And tonight, he was the entire offense for New Jersey.
I’m Getting Sick Of It
Igor Shesterkin is one of the best goalies in the league, and there is no disputing his immense talent.
But he’s also a whiny little baby who fills his diaper at the tiniest little slight.
Shesterkin going after Paul Cotter tonight was the most predictable thing ever. I don’t even think it was 100% unjustified, as Cotter did knock him down during the run of play. That being said, plenty of other goalies get knocked down without punching people afterwards, and this is clearly a pattern with Shesterkin now. He not only took a swipe at Cotter tonight, he also took a swipe at Nick Bjugstad earlier in the game because Bjugstad was digging at a rebound after a breakaway attempt. Can you imagine that, a player trying to get at a loose puck? What an egregious breach of hockey etiquette, I hope Shesterkin will be able to overcome the trauma of such a deeply wounding experience.
Heck, go back to 2023. We all remember Shesterkin throwing cheap shots at Timo Meier in the first round playoff series because Meier had the gall to battle in front of Shesterkin’s net a lot. Again, I don’t even think Shesterkin was out of line for getting frustrated. But overreacting the way he did was big loser energy, and Meier deserves credit for getting so deep into Shesterkin’s head.
I’m just so sick of watching Shesterkin throw temper tantrums because players came a little bit too close to him. There’s being feisty, and then there’s being a brat. I’ll give you one guess where I think Shesterkin falls on that spectrum. He’s a great player, one who is capable of winning (another) Vezina and leading his team to great heights. But sometimes he’s his own worst enemy with how embarrassingly soft he is.
Next Time Out
The Devils are back at it on Thursday when they return home to play the Washington Capitals. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm.
Your Take
Leave your comments below. As always, thanks for reading.
