*Photo from the Morganton News Herald*
Series tied 2-2
Down for the count? Yeah, nice try. Jonas Siegenthaler had a goal and an assist, Jack Hughes scored, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers with a 3-1 victory on Monday night in Manhattan.
Through 4 games this series, the home team is 0-4 after the Devils won both games in New York, leaving the series tied 2-2 and a game 6 guaranteed. Siegenthaler's goal and assist made him the only multi point scorer for the Devils, with 6 other skaters recording a point.
Hughes said of tying the series that "They took two in our building so we wanted to come in here and even the series up. We've been a really good road team all year. We're going to bring that same effort and come back and have a really good Game 5 at home."
The only goal of the first period came from Hughes, who scored on a breakaway 2:50 into the game, making it 1-0 Devils with Siegenthaler getting the assist. After a scoreless second period, Vincent Trocheck got the Rangers on the board 1:42 into the 3rd period, tying the game with Patrick Kane and Chris Kreider assisting.
It didn't stay tied for a long time. At the 8:22 mark of the 3rd, Siegenthaler scored the eventual game winning goal, making it 2-1 Devils with assists going to Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton. With the net empty and 26 seconds left on the clock, Ondrej Palat sealed the Devils win, making it a 3-1 score with assists from Erik Haula and Jesper Bratt.
Haula said of the Devils tying the series that "We've taken a couple really good steps. That Game 3 was really good for us as a whole, learning how hard it is to win, what you need to do to win, and same thing in Game 4. We stuck with it, and everyone is doing the right things."
After getting the win in game 3, Akira Schmid was back in goal for the Devils in game 4, once again winning to tie the series. Schmid stopped all but one of the 23 shots he saw from the Rangers, which was good for a .957 save percentage.
Starting opposite Schmid was Igor Shesterkin for the Rangers, taking his second loss in a row in net. Shesterkin made 20 saves out of the 22 shots on goal that the Devils had, posting a .909 save percentage in the loss.
Trocheck said that "I think we were playing hard; I mean, their first goal was sitting in the crease in their end, and it looked like it was going to be 1-0 us and they get a break. Hughes in the neutral zone, they get a flip for a breakaway, and you give him a breakaway he's probably going to score. We just need to get a few more chances and bear down."
Up next, game 5 of the series is on Thursday as the series shifts across the Hudson River back to New Jersey. With the series tied, both teams look to take a 3-2 series lead and move one win away from the second round.
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