The defense and Jack Hughes dominate the Rangers in MSG

After the home defeat against the Washington Capitals on Saturday, the New Jersey Devils immediately needed a comeback game. With their rival game against the Rangers on Monday, they set an example with a confident 5-1 win.

A major reason for the Devils’ win was their defense. The physical presence was there, as the Devils blocked 27 of the Rangers’ 39 shot attempts. Jesper Bratt, Jonathan Kovacevic and Brendon Dillion each blocked four shots. Brett Pesce blocked three, all on the Rangers’ power play early in the first period. On the hitting side, the Devils called up Nathan Legare and he had an excellent first game with six hits. He was joined by Paul Cotter, also with six goals.

If you’re a Devils fan on social media every time you play the Rangers, you’re probably familiar with the clip of Ranger fans at MSG cheering that the Devils took Jack Hughes and the Rangers took Kaapo Kakko in the 2019 NHL Draft have. Since this clip, Jack Hughes has played very well against Igor Shesterkin, scoring 11 goals against him in that match. He scored two more goals tonight, one of them on the power play. Jack had a 3-point night.

However, Bratt had an even better night with a goal and three assists. Dougie Hamilton scored a power play goal at 5-on-3 and Luke Hughes had two assists. Another player who needed a goal on Monday was Dawson Mercer as he hasn’t scored a single goal in the last few weeks and luckily for him this was the perfect night to do it.

While most of the team needed the win, no one needed it more than Jacob Markstrom; Like his last two games, Markstrom allowed a total of seven goals to both the St. Louis Blues and Capitals, with some of the goals he conceded being terrible. Markstrom played well against a Rangers team with excellent shooters like Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, allowing just one power play goal to Chris Kreider. Overall, it was a solid game that the Devils won, one they needed against their division rival.