NHL Playoffs: Devils win Game 2 at MSG; Tie streak against Rangers

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The New Jersey Devils tied the New York Rangers by winning Game 4 3-1 Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

The visiting team won each of the four ties in this first-round playoff.

“We played a tough game defensively,” said Devils coach Lindy Roof. We were good in all three areas. »

Used as the starter for New York’s second straight outing, rookie goaltender Akira Schmid excelled again, stopping 22 of the Blueshirts’ 23 shots.

“Last year was a tough season. It showed me what I had to work on to get to this level,” said the Devils goalkeeper.

The 22-year-old goalkeeper has allowed just two goals on 58 shots taken in two games. Last season was a good one for Schmid to learn.

“We wanted to win our stick fights and block pucks,” said Schmid. The work in this aspect has been exceptional in the last two matches. It opened my eyes to what I have to work on to be at this level. »

Jack Hughes opened the scoring early in the first period with a separate goal.

It was his third goal of the playoffs, making him the third player in Devils history to score three goals in a series before turning 22.

The Devils held the lead until the beginning of the third period. Vincent Troschek scored his first goal of the playoffs, putting everyone back to square one.

Rangers only benefited from this equalizer for a few minutes. Jonas Seigenthaler scored the winning goal for New Jersey with less than 12 minutes left in the game.

“It’s really disappointing,” said Rangers coach Gerard Gallant. It’s not even close to being good. It was very frustrating to watch. »

Niko Hischer got into a violent clash with Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin midway through the third period. The New York goalkeeper stayed on the floor for a while, but resumed play after a few moments.

Ondrej Palat completed the scoring into an empty net, 19:34 into the final third. On the line, Jesper Bratt caught his third assist of the series.

After the match, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant admitted that he did not like his team’s work.

“We didn’t introduce ourselves. We didn’t play hard enough. We didn’t compete enough,” Gallant explained. “All we did was complain when the referees kicked us out of the ring.”

Rangers have only scored two goals in the last two matches, having scored five goals in each of the first two matches of the series.

“We have to pull ourselves together and play hockey as well as we can,” said Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad. It’s now a best of three match. »

Game five of the series is Thursday night in New Jersey.