Devils Knocking Off The Rangers Shows The Hudson River Rivalry Is Alive And Well

Any sentiment that the Hudson River Rivalry had lost its flair was derailed Saturday night when the Devils rose above their cellar-dwelling status to upend the Rangers 6-4 at Madison Square Garden.

For a Rangers club on the brink of wild-card contention, the loss itself was painful. The fact that it was none other than the Devils to deliver a pivotal blow to their chances was an additional figurative twist of the knife.

“We talked about before the game that they’re probably licking their chops to make it hard on us,” said Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. “When we play those guys and teams like the Islanders, it always needs more.”

Even with both teams in fundamentally different spots – the Rangers chasing the playoffs and the Devils in the early stages of a rebuild – the 249th edition of this matchup had no lack of intensity, which is unique considering how many players on both clubs entered this season new to this rivalry.

The Devils are a young team with a lot of new faces. As Devils interim coach Alain Nasreddine pointed out before the game, a handful of his players were participating in their first game at MSG Saturday. That coupled with the fact the Devils seasonal struggles could have made for a lesser contest. It didn’t, and Rangers coach David Quinn didn’t expect it to either.

“Any time you have new players, they’re here to prove themselves,” Quinn said before the game. “They’re fighting for jobs and fighting for their careers. We kind of went through that a little bit last year. Every game is important, regardless of where you are in the standings. Your career is at stake.”

As Quinn points out, this rivalry is immune to outside forces. The Devils have been hot of late, grabbing 27 points in their last 20 games. But still, they entered Saturday with a win probability of 28.9 percent, according to The Athletic. And with the odds stacked against them, they revved up enough juice to knock off the Rangers, an impressive feat alone based on the momentum the Blueshirts were riding one game earlier from Mika Zibanejad’s five-goal masterpiece against the Washington Capitals.

“We owe them one,” said Devils forward Travis Zajac. “And, it’s an important time for them in the season, so it makes it sweeter for us.”

By owing them one, Zajac is referring to the two other wins the Rangers picked up against the Devils this season. However, it seems this matchup, in particular, could prove most valuable as the Rangers continue the chase a wild-card spot. They’re currently trailing a playoff berth by three points, with the Columbus Blue Jackets also in front of them fighting to get in.

Ultimately, the Rangers were felled by sloppy play and rusty goaltending. Both Zibanejad and Staal emphasized a need to tighten things up in their joint post-game press conference. Shesterkin made his first start Saturday since being injured in a car accident two weeks ago.

What possibly hurts the most is the Rangers anticipated their enemy. Staal referenced it after the game, but Quinn made a mention of it when addressed the media beforehand as well.

“Like I said, they’ve played very well lately,” Quinn said. “This isn’t a fluke either. It’s not like they’ve been on a two-week stretch where they’ve played well. They’ve played well for a while. And we certainly understand that we’re going to have our hands full tonight.”

Lost in the shuffle was that this was the second matchup between Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko, forever bound by their selections as the first and second overall picks in last June’s draft. Neither picked up a score in the contest, and both have underwhelmed on their massive expectations coming into this season (Hughes and Kakko are currently sitting on 21 points each). But still, the pair flashed glimpses of why they’ll carry this rivalry on their shoulders in years to come.

“They’re both going to be great players in this league, but man being 18 years old and developing and learning in the National Hockey League is not an easy task,” Quinn said.

For now, the Rangers have to realign their focus. There are 28 potential points left to be picked up, and they will need everyone to survive this race.

“Our season is not over by any stretch of the imagination,” Quinn said. “We gotta get over this and get ready for Dallas.”