Goalie Henrik Lundqvist and defenseman Kevin Klein (left) defend against Devils wing Miles Wood in the first period Sunday of the Rangers' 3-2 shootout victory.
They didn’t take the initiative until 40 minutes had already gone by the board and they didn’t press the issue against a mentally fragile team until it was almost too late. The Rangers didn’t do either of those things Sunday night at the Garden against the Devils.
And yet, this team that blasted out of the gate to a 13-4 record riding the wave of offensive production that was unsustainable is now an imposing 23-10-1 following a 3-2 shootout victory off of yet another night of signature excellence in nets and in their own end of the ice.