It looks like we might be in for a long series. After the Devils’ third-period collapse on Monday, they bounced back nicely in Game 2. The Rangers burned them on two of the Devils’ four penalties, but New Jersey was resilient and found a way to come back and win in a nail-biter.
With the Devils’ 3-2 victory, the series is tied at 1-1 will head to New Jersey for Game 3 on Saturday (1pm ET, NBC).
Here’s some interesting notes:
- There was a rather lengthy delay in the second period due to what I’m going to term as technical difficulties related to the penalty box door. Once they finally felt confident in their ability to open and close the door, New York’s Chris Kreider promptly scored a power-play goal.
- Kreider and Eddie Mazur are the only two NHL players to net four playoff goals before participating in a single regular season game. Mazur took part in three playoff runs with the Montreal Canadiens from 1951-53 before making his regular season debut in the 1953-54 campaign.
- Marian Gaborik’s bad clearing attempt late in the second period led to the New Jersey Devils’ second goal of the game. It’s probably not a coincidence that Gaborik didn’t get a shift in the third period until there was only 8:40 remaining in regulation time.
- The Rangers blocked another 16 shots on Wednesday. A lot has been made about their shot-blocking abilities, but it’s worth noting that their self-sacrificing efforts are nothing new. As John Shannon pointed out, we’ve seen an average of 31 blocks per game in the 2012 playoffs, compared to 33 per contest in the 2011 postseason.