New York Rangers @ New Jersey Devils
(NY Rangers lead series 1-0)
Game Recap:
Welcome to round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs! Tonight’s matchup features the New York Rangers heading across the Hudson River to take on their arch nemesis and rivals in the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center for game one. From the get go, the Rangers set the tone early and got on the board first thanks to a goal from Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot who roofed it passed goalie Vitek Vanecek for the 1-0 lead. At the 9:30 mark, Chris Kreider created some team history as he tipped in a Adam Fox shot to extend New York’s lead to 2-0 and become the highest goal scorer in Rangers playoff history. The Devils looked good but a lack of getting shots on goal put them behind by two heading into the second period.
The middle frame was relatively quiet with some chances traded between both sides until Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren caught the goalie down early with plenty of room upstairs and fired it in from a sharp angle. Lindgren’s goal made it 3-0 in favor of the Rangers who would take that lead into the final period.
Midway through period three, Chris Kreider tipped in another one on the power play to extend the Rangers lead to four. New Jersey struggled scoring all night until they were awarded a penalty shot where Jack Hughes finally helped the Devils solve goalie Igor Shesterkin to end his shutout bid for his first goal of the playoffs. New York put the game away for good thanks to a Filip Chytil empty net goal and would earn the Rangers a 5-1 victory and early 1-0 series advantage in this best of seven matchup. Both teams get back at it for game two on Thursday night with the Rangers hoping to extend their series lead, while the Devils hope to even things up at one a piece.
Lineups
New York Rangers
New Jersey Devils
Game Highlights
First Period
GOAL (NYR) 4:58- Vladimir Tarasenko (K’Andre Miller, Artemi Panarin)
Power Play GOAL (NYR) 9:30- Chris Kreider (Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin)
Second Period
GOAL (NYR) 16:57- Ryan Lindgren (Adam Fox, Filip Chytil)
Third Period
Power Play GOAL (NYR) 11:07- Chris Kreider (Adam Fox, Patrick Kane)
Penalty Shot GOAL (NJ) 17:14- Jack Hughes
Empty Net GOAL (NYR) 18:02- Filip Chytil (Kappo Kakko, Adam Fox)
Next Up: NY Rangers @ NJ Devils (Game 2), Thursday 4/20/23 7:30pm EST
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