New Jersey Devils 3 Keys To Victory Vs. New York Rangers
By Nick Villano
New Jersey Devils key to victory #2: Stay out of the box
The New Jersey Devils had a great penalty kill this season. They ranked fourth in the league, stopping the man advantage 82.61 percent of the time. However, the Rangers power play is just different. They score 24 percent of the time. In 15 PP minutes against the Devils, they have just two goals. Still, a PP goal can change the series in an instant.
The best way to avoid power play goals is to avoid the penalty kill entirely. This is one of the most disciplined teams in the league, with just 7.7 penalty minutes per game. That ranks 28th in the league. The Rangers are actually 29th, so don’t expect a lot of players in the box.
There’s one key here. The Devils need to avoid this series getting chippy. If the Devils start to attack the Rangers with speed, they could get nasty to respond. Jacob Trouba is known to make a borderline hit when his team needs a spark. That’s where the experience really comes into play. Just like Ted Lasso’s AFC Richmond team in the most recent season, emotions running high isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Lindy Ruff has to preach one thing to this Devils team; stay disciplined. They cannot afford to hand chances to the Rangers on a silver platter. They want to keep this game at 5v5 as much as possible.