New York Rangers win 5-1, Take 2-0 Series Lead vs New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils flew into Game 2 with a mission to claim a home win before going to New York. They did not look good in Game 1 but admitted that nerves played a part in the Game 1 loss at the hands of the New York Rangers.

The Rangers were looking to claim both wins on the road and go back to New York with a convincing 2-0 series lead. They did just that, winning 5-1 in New Jersey.

After the first half of the period had uneventful hockey, the New Jersey Devils got things started at the Prudential Center. Forward Erik Haula scored for the Devils in front of the Rangers net at 11:04 on the power play against Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

The New Jersey Devils were dominated again by the New York Rangers.

The assists on the power play goal went to Michael McLeod and Ondrej Palat. The Devils were on the man advantage because of a minor penalty on Rangers defenseman NIko MIkkola for cross-checking.

Although the Devils managed a goal on the power play, the New York Rangers held a 14-9 shot advantage at the end of the first period. Devils goaltender Vitek Vanecek stood tall between the pipes, turning away all 14 Rangers shots.

The Devils started the second period with the lead, and that would change shortly after the puck dropped. Rangers winger Vladimir Tarasenko would score on Vanecek to pull the Rangers even with the Devils. The assists would go to Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox at 5:53 of the second period.

Rangers forward Chris Kreider would give the Rangers the lead, 2-1, after scoring another power play goal from Patrick Kane and Mika Zibanejad.

The Rangers have scored three power play goals in the series so far, all scored by Kreider. Kreider tipped a shot from in front of the Devils net as the penalty to Devils forward Miles Wood was coming to an end for slashing Artemi Panarin.

At the 15:19 mark, Devils forward Timo Meier was assessed a penalty for holding, sending the Rangers back to the power play. The Rangers and Kreider wasted no time in scoring as they scored their fourth power play goal (all by Kreider) in the series at the 16:00 mark.

Kane picked up his second assist along with Fox. That would be the end of the second period as the Rangers would enter the break with a 3-1 lead over the New Jersey Devils and a 23-14 shot advantage.

The New York Rangers wasted no time again in getting started in the final period. The Rangers’ Kane got his first of the playoffs on the backhand unassisted. This goal made it 4-1 as the Rangers were cruising.

At 13:05 of the final period, Kappo Kakko added his first playoff goal in the series as well, with assists to Filip Chytil and Niko Mikkola. The final is 5-1 and the Rangers have a 2-0 series lead, heading to New York for Games 3 and 4.