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The New Jersey Devils snapped a three-game losing streak in fine fashion on Tuesday night as they picked up a big 5-2 win over the New York Rangers.
The Devils scored first then conceded a pair of goals but managed to fight back and pot four unanswered en route to a much needed win.
The Good
- The Devils had a rough first few shifts to start the game but they controlled play for the vast majority of the time. They had a lot of sustained offensive zone time and generated a ton of good looks as a result. At 5 v 5 the Devils out chanced the Rangers 25-14 (12-6 in terms of high-danger). They deserved the win.
- Following a couple quiet games I thought Joseph Blandisi was excellent in this one. He was very confident with the puck and showed great patience waiting for lanes to open up before making plays with the puck (see Kyle Palmieri's PP goal). He finished the night with two assists, three scoring chances and four shots. Blandisi also tied a game-high with a plus-6 shot attempt differential at full-strength despite not starting a single shift in the offensive zone.
- I thought Cory Schneider did an excellent job of holding down the fort and allowing the Devils to get their feet back under them after falling down 2-1 early in the 1st period. He didn't face a ton of rubber but he was good when called upon and came up with a save-of-the-year candidate in the process.
- By all accounts Sergei Kalinin played an excellent hockey game. He tied Blandisi for 1st on the team with a plus-6 shot attempt differential, was very physical tallying four hits on top of his fighting major, and he also chipped in offensively with a multi-point effort. It looked like he had the time of his life doing it, too. He's been a real fun player to watch this season.
- The only penalties the Devils took were off-setting (Kalinin for fighting, Blandisi for diving).
The Bad
- The Boucher - Zajac - Palmieri line was out attempted 14-6 at a game where the Devils were the better team at full-strength.
- As a whole Jon Merrill played a pretty good game but he was burned pretty bad on the Rangers' 1st goal. Viktor Stalberg was coming down the wing with speed, Merrill tried to stay in front of him and then Stalberg cut towards the middle of the ice while Merrill was still backing off. Stalberg had a ton of space to work with as a result and he made the Devils pay.
- The Devils allowed a lot of odd-man rushes against the Rangers. They're one of the fastest teams in the league so they're bound to get their chances but the Devils will have to clean that up.
Stat Of The Game
All 18 Devils skaters had at least one shot attempt against the Rangers. Only Andy Greene didn't register a shot on goal.
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