Devils score three in third period, defeat Rangers in return

NEW YORK --The New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers 5-2 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in their first game in 16 days because of a pause to comply with NHL COVID-19 protocols.

Yegor Sharangovich broke a tie with the first of three straight goals in the third period by New Jersey, which was playing its first game since a 5-3 win at the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 31.
"We talked in length about the opportunity we had, that we had lots of excuses for maybe not playing well, and I told the team we've got to find a reason to win," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "We came out well and played a strong game, a very tight game."
New Jersey had as many as 19 players on the COVID-19 protocol list during its pause. Seven games were postponed.
Janne Kuokkanen had three assists, and Nick Merkley had a goal and an assist for the Devils (5-3-2). Mackenzie Blackwood made 37 saves in his first game since Jan. 19.
"At the start it was a little bit of a getting your feet back in the pond and playing, so there's a little bit of a jump right in the fire," Blackwood said. "Kind of no time to think about it, just play, so that was good. The less thinking and more playing sometimes is better. I really like that. It was a tough game. It was first one back and I battled my energy a little bit, but it's part of playing a lot, so I was happy with it overall. I think it's a good building step."

Colin Blackwell and Pavel Buchnevich scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 32 saves for the Rangers (4-7-3), who have not won in four games (0-3-1).
"For the majority of the game they outhit us, outskated us, outworked us, won more battles," New York forward Chris Kreider said. "They flat-out wanted it more. It's unacceptable."
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said desperation was an issue, especially in the third period after they tied it 2-2 in the final minute of the second period.
New York coach David Quinn answered "yeah" when asked if he felt effort was a problem. Quinn said that issue will be addressed before, during and after practice Wednesday, and before the Ranger plays at the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
"A lot of things that happened tonight, you wonder why," Quinn said. "We're in a situation where we haven't won an awful lot and we've got to understand the difference between winning and losing and what you need to do to do it. You would think we would generate some momentum getting that goal at the end of the second. It just didn't happen. A lot of things didn't happen tonight for us."
Sharangovich scored on a deflection of P.K. Subban's shot to give the Devils a 3-2 lead at 10:43 of the third period. Merkley made it 4-2 with a one-timer from the right circle at 14:09.
Mikhail Maltsev scored his first NHL goal into an empty net at 19:39 for the 5-2 final. It was his second NHL game.
"We really need to do battle through the tiredness," Kuokkanen said. "We had to be smart in the right spots and put the puck deep when we needed to, and we were lucky to get a couple of calls and that helped a lot."
The Rangers did not have a power play for the first time this season.
"That's probably a result of the things I said earlier, of waiting to skate, of losing battles, of not being physical," Kreider said. "There were some shifts where we were buzzing in the offensive zone a little bit … but obviously it's not enough. To go 60 minutes without drawing a power play means we're not doing the right things away from the puck to support each other, to put each other in positions to draw penalties."
Pavel Zacha scored the first of four goals in the second period to give the Devils a 1-0 lead at 7:37. He beat Shesterkin on the power play from the right circle. It was the first power-play goal the Rangers allowed in seven games, ending a 22-for-22 run on the penalty kill.

Blackwell tied it 1-1 at 11:32, ending the Rangers' streak without a goal at 100:46.
Will Butcher, playing his first game in 364 days (Feb. 18, 2020), gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 17:14 with a shot that went in off Jacob Trouba's left leg. Buchnevich scored from the left circle to make it 2-2 at 19:27.
"The most upsetting thing is we got away from the things we were doing well," Kreider said. "We were listless and lifeless and it's unacceptable."
NOTES: Trouba didn't play after the second period because of an upper-body injury. Quinn said he would know more Wednesday. … Buchnevich scored his 156th point to tie Sergei Zubov for third among Russia-born players in Rangers history behind Alexei Kovalev (330) and Sergei Nemchinov (225). … Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith had four hits in 18:01 after missing four games with an upper-body injury. … The Rangers were 2-3-2 on a seven-game homestand. … Ruff won his 741st NHL game, tying Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice for sixth in history. Ruff is 741-557-127 with 78 ties.
NHL.com staff writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report