It’s finally here. New Jersey Devils game day, Stanley Cup Playoffs edition. With so much excitement, how can the Devils take down their Hudson River Rivals, the New York Rangers?
Welcome to New Jersey Devils playoff hockey. After five long years, the Devils are back in the postseason. This one feels different, too. The Devils were just happy to be there in 2018. They secured a playoff berth in Game 81, holding off a surging Florida Panthers team thanks to Taylor Hall and Keith Kinkaid. They were facing the loaded Tampa Bay Lightning, and they ended up with only one postseason win.
This season, the Devils recorded a franchise-record 112 points. On paper, they are legit Stanley Cup contenders. They lead the league in multiple crucial stats, and only two NHL teams (Boston and Dallas) have a better goal differential. They won 51 games, second to the record-setting Bruins for most in the league. This is a great team.
Now, they have to do it in the playoffs. Unfortunately, because of the current playoff format, they have to face the New York Rangers, who were just as good all season. Their strengths and flaws couldn’t be more different. The good news is the Devils seem to have the Rangers number, going 3-0-1 in the regular season, but that could mean nothing in the playoffs. To actually stop the Rangers, they have to focus on stopping their strengths.
New Jersey Devils key to victory #1: Pepper Shesterkin with High-Danger Chances
The Devils faced Igor Shesterkin in all four games this season. He only won one. In those games, he allowed 13 goals on 140 shots. Not great, but definitely not terrible. However, he hasn’t been as good at stopping the high-danger chances. In his first game, the Devils had nine high-danger chances at 5v5 (according to Natural Stat Trick). They scored on three of those chances.
That was back in November when the Devils were at their best, and Shersterkin was far from it. In the second matchup in December, the Devils blitzed the Rangers with 13 HDCF, with the Rangers only recording 3 at 5v5. The Devils only got two past Shesterkin, but it was enough to win. In their January matchup, Shesterkin stole the show. He faced 18 high-danger chances and stopped all but one. He stole this one for the Rangers.
Shesterkin has the best goals saved above average against high-danger chances in the NHL this season. He sits at 18, which is insane. Vanecek is at -5. Shesterkin stops high-quality chances at an incredible clip. The Devils need them early and often. They cannot let the Rangers match their chances in any game.
The most important matchup between these two teams came on March 30th. Despite so many new pieces (Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko for the Rangers, Timo Meier for the Devils), the result was the same. The Devils dominated the quality chances. Only one of the 14 got past the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, but it was enough to take a 2-1 victory. The Devils need to follow this formula in the best-of-7 series to gain victory.