It wasn’t the most exciting game the two teams have ever played, but Monday night’s tilt in Madison Square Garden felt like a playoff game between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils.
Coming in, the Devils had been lurking near the back of the pack of teams chasing the second-place Rangers. The blue shirts, meanwhile, had begun to heat up. Even without Ryan McDonagh and Rick Nash, the Rangers had begun to find their grove and play like the team that was one of the NHL’s best to start the season.
For much of the game, it was a goaltending battle.