Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal late in the third period to lift the New York Rangers to a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, in a game that began with a massive 10-player brawl.
Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere each contributed a goal and an assist, and Kaapo Kakko also scored for the NHL-leading Rangers. Igor Shesterkin made 17 saves as New York secured its sixth win in seven games and 11th in its last 14.
“It’s huge,” Kreider said of the team’s 51st win this season. “Division games are important. You obviously saw the emotion. So it’s a big two points.”
Nico Hischier, Ondrej Palat, and Brendan Smith scored in the second period for the Devils, while Kaapo Kahkonen made 37 saves. New Jersey has lost three straight games and remains six points behind Washington for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“The guys stood up for each other,” said Devils’ leading scorer Jesper Bratt, who had two assists. “It’s tough. We played a great game as a whole, considering our situation.”
Trailing 3-2 after two periods, the Rangers tied it on Kakko’s 13th goal of the season at 5:32 of the third period. Kreider then put the Rangers ahead by deflecting Adam Fox’s shot past Kahkonen with 4:57 remaining for his 36th goal.
Panarin, who assisted on Kreider’s goal, now has a team-high 110 points and has scored in 61 of New York’s 76 games this season.
The Rangers completed a four-game season series sweep of the Devils less than a year after New Jersey won the teams’ first-round playoff series in seven games.
Palat scored for the Devils at 2:11 of the second period with his 10th goal, and Smith tied it at 9:53 with his fourth. Hischier led New Jersey with his 25th goal at 11:24 of the middle period.
“It was a good atmosphere and game,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short.”
The game started with physical intensity as all 10 skaters on the ice got into fights immediately after the opening faceoff. Eight players received game misconduct 2 seconds into the game, forcing both teams to play with four fewer skaters for the rest of the game.
“After a situation like that, the rest of the team has to pick up a lot of slack and a lot of minutes,” said Devils forward Kurtis MacDermid, who had a prolonged fight with Rangers rookie Matt Rempe at center ice.
Head coaches Peter Laviolette of the Rangers and New Jersey’s Travis Green were also seen yelling at each other from their respective benches before play resumed. Shesterkin and Kahkonen did not participate in the fighting.
“I have no idea why Peter was upset. Their guys were lining up fights before the game,” Green said. “You’re going to start yelling; you’re going to get it back.”
Laviolette described the incident as “emotions more than anything.”
Smith, a former Ranger, likened the situation to his anticipated fight with Washington’s Tom Wilson in May 2021.
“It was a very similar feeling, same kind of juice,” Smith said. “I would have liked to have started, but that’s how it goes. I think everyone got their dollar’s worth, and it’s an expensive building.”
Panarin scored his team-high 45th goal at 9:22 of the first period to put the Rangers on the scoreboard first. Lafreniere added his 26th with 1:57 left in the first period.
“I thought our guys battled hard and fought hard,” Laviolette said. “Great response in the third period to make sure we got the win. That’s pretty much it.”
Laviolette did not expect the game to start with such a massive skirmish.
“Our guys were reacting to what was happening on the ice,” he said. “I thought they did a fantastic job.”
UP NEXT:
- Devils: At Ottawa on Saturday.
- Rangers: At Detroit on Friday night.
