New Jersey Devils Upset Rangers On Strength Of Young Core
If there is any silver lining to another Playoff-less season for the New Jersey Devils, it is beating the New York Rangers in overtime in a late March game at The Rock.
No matter how well or how disastrous the New Jersey Devils are doing, it always feels good to beat our Hudson River rival, especially at home. For most of the last three weeks, it has been nothing but frustration in Newark.
Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup versus the Rangers, the Devils had dropped 12 of their last 13 games and had sunk to a bottom-five team in the National Hockey League.
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The Devils are just trying to finish the season on a high note and have some positives to build on for next season. Tuesday night, some of the young guys inspired hope for the future of the team.
Quenneville Worth the Wait
First-year center John Quenneville lit the lamp first for New Jersey, giving the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period off a power play for the first goal of his young career. Quenneville would then assist second-year winger Joseph Blandisi on the game-winning goal off a 2-on-1 breakaway with 54.6 seconds left in overtime.
“Me and Joe are best buddies,” Quenneville said after the game. “We’re such close friends and anybody around here will tell you that and I can’t believe we ended up out there together in overtime and the way that happened was pretty crazy.”
Quenneville, the Devils first-round pick in the 2014 first-year player draft racked up 31 goals and 42 assists last season for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League and was enjoying a solid campaign in Albany racking up 41 points in 53 games this season before his promotion.
Next: New Jersey Devils and Its Fans Must Remain Patient
Blandisi signed on with the Devils for the 2015-16 season as an undrafted free agent and tore up Albany before receiving a promotion in December of that year. Blandisi currently has nine points in 20 games played for the Devils this year after tallying 23 points in 28 games in Albany.
It’s been a process watching general manager Ray Shero rebuild this team since taking the reins for the 2015-16 season but seeing young guys such as Quenneville, Blandisi, Taylor Hall and Miles Wood shine in last night’s bout leave you with high hopes for the future.