New Jersey Devils Vs. New York Rangers: A Playoffs History
New Jersey Devils fans have had plenty to be excited about throughout the 2022-23 season. The “renewal” of the Hudson River Rivalry is one of the best developments of the season. Across the existence of the National Hockey League, the Rangers lead the matchup’s history (regular season + postseason) with a record of 127-106-21-11 throughout a grand total of 265 meetings.
Right now, it looks like the Devils and Rangers will face off once again in the playoffs. This is going to be an amazing matchup.
The best way forward is to take a trip back. Let’s take a look at the previous six series one by one.
1991-1992 Playoffs 1st Round: Rangers Win Series 4-3
The first playoff battle between the two rivals occurred in 1992 with the Rangers being the one seed and the Devils being the four seed in the Patrick Division.
Back then, the winner of the Patrick Division and the Adams Division would compete in the ‘Prince of Wales Conference Finals for a birth to the Stanley Cup Final.
Anyway, the first-ever postseason matchup between these two teams certainly lived up to the hype. After New Jersey took a 2-1 series lead, the Rangers would fire back with two consecutive wins, outscoring the Devils 11-5 in Games 4 and 5.
In Game 6, The Devils did respond with a 5-3 win at Brendan Byrne Arena thanks to a two-goal night from Peter Stastny and three points from Claude Lemieux. However, when the series would return to Madison Square Garden for a Game 7, it would be the Rangers advancing to the Patrick Division Final with their second eight-goal performance in just 3 games. In the rout, Adam Graves tallied four points (two goals and two assists) while James Patrick collected three apples as well.
While the series was well earned, the good feelings would not last long as the ‘Blue Shirts’ would fall to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions in the Pittsburg Penguins in Round 2 (4-2).
Series Standout:
Mark Messier definitely earns the series MVP in this one. In his first playoff series as captain of the Rangers, Messier racked up 11 points in the final six games of the series including a remarkable two shorthanded goals as well.
Series Sufferer:
The Devils offense (aside from Game 4) was never their Achilles heel during this series. What really resulted in their downfall was the struggle experienced by 27-year-old goaltender Chris Terreri. Terreri had a save percentage of .887 and allowed 15 goals during the last three games of the round. We even saw Terreri get pulled in the 3rd period of Game 5 for 19-year-old backup Martin Brodeur. I wonder if he turned into anything.