The New Jersey Devils completed a massive sweep of their two-game road trip to Madison Square Garden to even up their series with the New York Rangers on Monday night. Akira Schmid was lights out, New Jersey found some offensive consistency and the Rangers looked lost at times. On Tuesday’s edition of "Daily Faceoff Live," hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed whether the Devils seized all of the momentum in the series with their rivals.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The road teams won every game in the Battle of the Hudson River, Frank. For the New Jersey Devils, an unexpected hero has stepped up. Akira Schmid has been absolute nails for this Devils team with a .961 save percentage and has allowed just one goal in each of the games he has started. They have shut down the New York Rangers. What’s been the most impressive part of this Devils turnaround?
Frank Seravalli: Well Schmid has been a big part of it; 57 saves on 59 shots is bonkers. A 22-year-old without a lot of NHL experience to hang his hat on won both games in Madison Square Garden to even this series. Two years ago he was playing for the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL; this is a guy that has gone a long way in a short period of time.
The Devils have also played a lot better in front of him. Jack Hughes has been really good, and this team’s speed has been on full display. But the more concerning part for me is not what the Devils have done — it’s what the Rangers haven’t done.
You heard them get put on blast by their coach Gerard Gallant, who really questioned their effort and compete level. The best way for me to explain what I’ve seen from the Rangers in the last couple games is that it looks like pond hockey. Their star players are constantly blowing the zone and blowing coverages, not coming back the other way. They’re always sort of looking for the home run, the easy exit, the stretch pass. That might work in the regular season, but I’m concerned that it might not in the playoffs.
A team like the Devils that just is a little bit more detail-oriented are creating and causing havoc for the Rangers with the way, frankly, that New York hasn’t played.
Tyler Yaremchuk: You mentioned Gerard Gallant, and how about this comment from today’s conference call with the media. He said, “For me it’s the top-six forwards. They’ve got to be a lot better. They’ve got to be more productive. In this business, as we all know, it’s not what you’ve done yesterday, it’s what you’re going to do in the next game.” [Artemi] Panarin, [Mika] Zibanejad and [Vincent] Trocheck have combined for five points in this series. It’s just not enough. We talked about whether the Kid Line could provide enough depth scoring for this team, but Frank, it’s the big guns that have been quiet.
If they don’t turn this thing around, it’s over for New York.
Frank Seravalli: I think it’s premature to say that. This is a series a lot of people saw going the distance. We’re four games in, and the Devils have drawn even. They need to prove they can win on home ice, which hasn’t happened yet. For the Rangers, it feels like a matter of time before their top players will get going. Patrick Kane has lived up to his billing so far, and I think there’s still a lot of time for the Rangers to find it. I just have more questions about their total game that have stood out for me more so than the lack of production from their stars.
You can watch the entire episode here…
More must-reads: