The New Jersey Devils walked into Madison Square Garden to face their rival New York Rangers, trying to beat them for a third straight time. It was also the first time Matt Rempe and Kurtis MacDermid faced off following the line brawl that happened in 2024. While the two didn’t spark anything this time, the Rangers pulled through with an overtime winner.
Both teams started out pretty even, with some Grade-A chances both ways. Luke Hughes and Timo Meier hit crossbars, but then MacDermid took a bad offensive zone interference penalty, and the Rangers struck first on an Adam Fox power play goal. Igor Shesterkin stopped all 11 shots in the frame to help maintain the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
A little over four minutes into the second, Jack Hughes did what he does best, which is score goals against the Rangers. He tipped in a Brett Pesce wrist shot to knot it at one. Then moments later, Dougie Hamilton made a big hit on Will Cuylle to turn into a scoring chance, and Jesper Bratt scored his first goal in 10 games to make it 2-1 Devils. But the Devils got themselves into penalty trouble again and Artemi Panarin cashed in this time to level it up.
The two squads entered the third period tied, but the Rangers had the puck in the offensive zone nearly the entire third period. The Devils were able to survive, and the game headed to overtime.
The Devils had a couple great chances but couldn’t convert. Then, Jack Hughes tried to walk through two defenders and turned the puck over, leading to a Sam Carrick game-winning goal.
After the game, Hughes took responsibility, “Two very not good plays by myself…(struggling in overtime) is not a team issue, it’s a personal thing.”
SAM CALLED GAME. pic.twitter.com/Hhp0McxHUx
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 10, 2025
The Devils will be back in action at home on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Rangers also play then, as they head to Vegas to take on the Golden Knights.
