Devils Series Victory A Monumental Achievement; Beating The Rangers Just Made It Sweeter
Having had a tranquil night’s sleep to ponder the ramifications from the Devils’ 4-0 victory over the Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, it would be inaccurate to portray it as an exorcism of demons of sorts for the club and its fan base.
It’s been over a decade since perennial doormat New Jersey had played a game of such magnitude against their rivals and many Devils players like Jack Hughes weren’t even born when New York’s Stephane Matteau broke hearts with his double overtime goal to conclude the 1994 Conference Final, eliminating the Devils in a seventh game at Madison Square Garden for the second time in three years. When Devils center Adam Henrique buried the OT winner off a goal mouth scramble in Game 6 to clinch the 2012 Conference Final, it ensured there wouldn’t be any repeat of those earlier shenanigans.
So let’s curb our enthusiasm as to the meaning of this victory to what it most was: a monumental achievement for such a young team. It would have been cliché if the Devils had gotten caught up in the raucous moments of the environment that come with the whole “Battle of the Hudson” narrative and succumbed to a team that had reached last season’s Conference Final.
The Devils, though, didn’t approach the series with a “Just happy to be here” attitude, even after dropping the first two games at home by unhealthy 5-1 margins. They learned quickly what was required to succeed in the postseason and took it to their more experienced foes by winning four of the next five games behind a rookie goalie in Akira Schmid who went 0-4-2 versus playoff teams during the regular season.
Only four players remain from the Devils squad that last qualified for the playoffs back in 2018, with wing Jesper Bratt dressing for just one of those five games against Tampa Bay. But if any of them happened to speak up in the locker room during this series, the first message that should have been implored was that nothing was guaranteed beyond this season. Between injuries and regression, the Devils were back to the drawing board a year after that shocking run ended with a meek playoff encounter.
This Devils team far outshines the 2017-18 version that was carried by the singular efforts of Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, but the playoff outcome could have easily been the same. Trailing 1-0 in the second period of Game 3, however, these Devils figured it out in the nick of time. Hughes struck on a power play snipe to force overtime, where the Devils were a dominant 11-4 during the regular season.
Ah, but those contests were played at 3-on-3, where New Jersey’s ludicrous speed was difficult to match. The five-on-five playoff overtimes, which extend beyond the five-minute regular season limits, are a different animal and a new experience for the majority of the Devils’ roster, including Schmid. They can be marathons, not just sprints. Fortunately, defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who had seven game-winning goals in the regular season, including a pair in overtime, completed the comeback by beating Rangers All-World goalie Igor Shesterkin 11:36 into the extra session.
That game turned the series around, not only because the Devils avoided falling into an insurmountable 0-3 hole, but for also reinforcing their belief quotient. New Jersey carried the play for large chunks of the next two games before the Rangers found their own sense of desperation in Game 6 at MSG.
Only for this Game 7, Mark Messier was in an ESPN studio instead of torturing Devils fans on the ice. The current Rangers big guns were conspicuously silent for such a big game, forced into not only chasing their faster opponents up the ice, but also the game. New Jersey, meanwhile, received contributions from guys up-and-down the lineup, with Michael McLeod, he of the whopping four-regular season goals, opening the scoring with a nifty shorthanded tally,
It often takes time for young teams to grow into capable postseason performers, with the old adage that they need to learn how to lose before they learn how to win. But not always. My first in-person playoff experience as a fan was with the 1975 Islanders, who, in their third year of existence after a pair of hapless seasons as an expansion team, knocked off the Rangers with J.P. Parise’s goal 11 seconds into overtime of the first round’s do-or-die Game 3. It propelled them all the way to the Stanley Cup semifinals.
For the Devils, who set a league record with a 49-point season-over-season improvement, they can’t solely count on such a carryover effect in Round 2. Carolina will present different challenges than what the Rangers put forth.
No matter the result, however, let’s not lose sight of how remarkable this team’s accomplishments have been this season. The Devils’ neverending rebuild, which I prematurely disbanded in 2018, is now officially over. That they defeated the team I most despise ended up being the icing on the cake.