GAME DAY
Box Score
Advanced Stats
In-Game Highlights
Photo Gallery
POST-GAME VIDEO
WATCH:
Full Highlights
REWIND:
All Knotted Up
INTERVIEWS:
Hughes
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Haula
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Palat
POST-GAME PODIUM:
Schmid & Siegenthaler
WATCH:
Head Coach Lindy Ruff
WHAT'S NEXT
The series moves back to Prudential Center for Game 5 on Thursday night at 7:30
Here are some observations from the game...
- Lindy Ruff didn't want to let Jack Hughes' play away from the puck go unnoticed tonight. When asked about Hughes rising to the occasion of the big-stage in the postseason, the Devils head coach was quick to point out, aside from his goal, the other areas of significant growth:
"He's a fun player to watch, night in, night out he's doing special stuff. I think his play away from the puck tonight deserves a lot of credit too because he was up against some seasoned guys that he knew he had to be good defensively (against) and he really was."
- The play that lead to Jack Hughes' breakaway in the first period, leading to the first goal of the game, was a move of quick instincts. After Akira Schmid stopped Alexis Lafreniere's shot, the puck trickled behind him and through the blue paint.
It was Jonas Siegenthaler who was able to react quick enough and cleared the puck from the blue paint and straight to Jack Hughes who was sprung in alone on Igor Shesterkin for a breakaway tally, his third goal of the post-season.
- The most goals any Devil player has ever scored in a single playoff series against the Rangers is five, when Patrik Elias hit that mark in 2005-06. On two other occasions a player has had four goals: Elias, again, in 2007-08 and Claude Lemieux in 1991-92.
- Hughes has been given extra special attention by the Madison Square Garden fans, booed nearly every time he touched the puck, the sign of a true superstar!
- It is remarkable to see the turnaround of the Devils penalty kill after the first two games. In Game 3 the Devils went 5-for-5 and again tonight going 3-for-3.
It's important to learn from your mistakes.
"I don't want to say too much because I know how dangerous they are," Erik Haula, a top Devil penalty killer said. "We have to be happy with how we executed coming in here and we've definitely gotten better."
- After success in the first two games on the Rangers power play, it was understandable to hear the frustration by Rangers fans at Madison Square Garden booing their team after they failed to convert on their third power play midway through the second period.
- There was less of a physical nature to Game 4 which played right into the Devils game and style of play. While they've held their own on the physical level, Game 4 was a North/South game, where at times it was the Rangers who looked disjointed. What the Rangers were able to get away with in the opening two games, while the young Devils were getting their feet wet with post-season play, they no longer had the same options.
In the opening two games, the Rangers and Devils sat at completely different ends of the giveaway spectrum. The Rangers had three and six in Games 1 and 2, and 19 in Game 3 for 28 total, while the Devils had 13 giveaways in Game 1, 15 in Game 2 and another 15 in Game 3 for a total of 43.
In Game 4, the Devils were victims of just five giveaways while the Rangers had 13.
- The Devils road game has been their bread-and-butter all season long and they proved it again over these past two games. Now it's time to head back to Prudential Center and execute in the same way. Haula was asked if the road game can translate on home ice:
"I would hope so, Game 3 was great for our team. Sticking with it, playing the same way for 70-plus minutes. And we did the same thing today. It showed a lot of growth today I thought when they tied the game and they get their crowd into it and we stayed calm, stuck to our gameplan, made the next great play and scored."
