Lias Andersson had a big first game in New Jersey and Neal Pionk has been the same steadying and creative presence in two preseason outings as he was during his Broadway run late last season. But none of the young Rangers has taken a bolder step forward toward earning a spot on the opening roster than Vinni Lettieri did on Monday at the Garden against the Devils.
Lettieri took advantage of a precautionary second-period shutdown of Jesper Fast to move up to the first line alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider and produced an overall 20:21 of typically feisty hockey before redirecting Kevin Hayes’ beauty of a setup for the 4-3 overtime winner.