Devils Expect Rangers 'Best Game' in Game 5 | NOTEBOOK

The Devils and Rangers series continues on this week with Game 5 and Game 6 officially on the docket.
Thursday night the Devils will host the Rangers in Game 5 and with the series tied at two, one team will take the pivotal third win of the series, putting the other on the brink of elimination.
With that in mind, New Jersey returned to work today, after a much deserved - and needed - day away from the rink on Wednesday. Batteries recharged and a big opportunity in sight.
"We've got the home-ice advantage now," captain Nico Hischier said of Game 5, "so we've got to take care of business tomorrow."
"We are going to see (the Rangers) best game," head coach Lindy Ruff added, "There is no doubt, by far we will see their best game."
Over the course of the opening four games, there's been a sense of maturity developing in the Devils game, returning to a style that had made them successful enough to finish as the league's third best team this season.
"We've been playing a lot more mature hockey," Jesper Bratt shared, "We're taking better decisions with the puck, and without the puck we're stay above. They don't get those scoring chances they way they did in Games 1 and 2."

M.I.A. Maintenance

Damon Severson was the lone player missing from today's practice session, taking a maintenance day which is not a-typical particularly during the post-season. Head coach Lindy Ruff did not seem to have any concern, sharing that Severson will be ready for Game 5 tomorrow night.

In the meantime, during the practice session, Brendan Smith and Luke Hughes shared a multitude of reps on the third defensive pairing with Jonas Siegenthaler as the place-holder during practice. When the team switched over to working on special teams, Hughes took Severson's spot on the second wave of the power play.

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Fearless

In Games 3 and 4 Ondrej Palat and Timo Meier swapped places on power play units, with Palat moving over to the first unit with Dougie Hamilton, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, while Meier joins Erik Haula, Tomas Tatar, Dawson Mercer and Damon Severson.
Palat has been parking himself in front of Igor Shesterkin, trying to take his eyes away, as they say. And it's a job not everyone has in them, explains Lindy Ruff, it requires a certain sense of fearlessness to execute that role.
"Fearless," Ruff answered, asked about the qualities it takes, "there are some pretty hard shooters, whether it's one-timers, whether it's the quick release wrist shot. Guys are shooting the puck hard, so there's a good chance you can get hit. You look at the game last night (Sebastian Aho) took one in the mouth and they end up scoring a goal.I think it's that type of fearlessness that is important if you want to have a good net-front guy."
The goal last night Ruff was talking about was in the late game between the Edmonton Oilers and L.A. Kings when Zach Hyman had a puck bounce in off of his helmet, as the net-front presence on the Oilers power play. Evan Bouchard took a slapshot from just below the blueline towards the Kings net and the puck ended up hitting Hyman off the helmet and changed directions to beat Kings netminder Pheonix Copley.

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Best-of-Three

The Best-of-Seven has turned into a Best-of-Three series with both teams squared up at two wins. Home ice hasn't been much of an advantage for either team, with both the Devils and Rangers losing their two games at home. So now things really begin to tighten, as the margin for error becomes even smaller and Game 5, or as Lindy Ruff said 'Game 1 of a mini-series' is a big one for both teams.
It's another one of the new experiences this team will go through, another opportunity to rise to the occasion.
"It's big," Curtis Lazar said, "you look at the things that you need with experience: we've won a game, we've won a game in overtime, came back in a game, we've done all these things. Winning on home ice is the next thing we're going to check off. We've done all this work, just to get back to square one."
Square one because it's back to even, but the Devils have a little more experience ammunition in their back-pocket as they return home for Game 5.
"It's a must win, each team knows it," John Marino said, "it's going to be a huge game, an important game. It's going to be a fun game to play in and I'm sure everyone is excited for it."

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Inside the Locker Room:

Have a look at the latest interviews from inside the Devils locker room today!
WATCH:
Jesper Bratt
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John Marino
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Nico Hischier
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Lindy Ruff

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