In Newark, the visiting New York Rangers posted another six-spot on Saturday afternoon in a 6-3 thumping of the Devils.
Ryan Strome had two goals for the New York Rangers
Ryan Strome had two goals including an empty-netter to seal the victory.
The Rangers moved over.500 for the first time this season at 10-9-3.
Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves for the win, and kicked in an assist on a goal from Adam Fox for a 1-0 lead in the first period.
“If you’re going to have a chance (to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs), you’ve got to string together wins,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said. “You got to go on some sort of streak and some sort of run. And we really hadn’t done that up to this point. You want to continue to gain momentum and move forward.”
After the Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the opening frame, the Devils replied with two goals in 17 seconds, from P.K. Subban and Mikhail Maltsev to tie it 2-2.
“We probably played our worst defensive game of the year,” Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said. “Guys skated by us in the neutral zone, they skated by us exiting the offensive zone. … I’m embarrassed how badly we passed the puck tonight and some of the puck decisions we made. I’m just flat-out embarrassed.”
Nathan Bastian also scored for the Devils, when he scored late in the third.
“Regardless of whether it’s at home or on the road, we’ve got to play the right way and do that consistently,” Subban said. “We got a big road trip coming up (beginning at the Boston Bruins on Sunday), some really good teams that are playing well right now. At the start of the season, whenever we played better teams, we elevated our game so that’s what we’re looking to do right now.
“We’re in control of that how hard we work, and we have to bring maximum effort for this road trip to have success.”
Kevin Rooney restored the Rangers lead with a strike before the end of the third period.
“Just to get one by [Blackwood] was pretty cool; I was his teammate for four years,” Rooney said. “We kind of came up together through [the American Hockey League]. He’s a really special goalie; to get one on him was great.”
Filip Chytil put the game out of reach when he scored early in the third period for a 5-2 Rangers lead.
“Today was a pretty solid effort,” Strome said. “I think all-around, we got to be pretty pleased with the contributions of everyone.”
Libor Hajek closed out the scoring with his first of the season to make the final, 6-3
Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves in the loss.
“I know some guys are discouraged because we’ve lost the amount we’ve lost,” Ruff said. “But you got to dig in. … You have to find a way to make a difference.”
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