Devils goals to Blake Coleman (3),
Nikita Gusev (3), Kyle Palmieri, (3 power play), Miles Wood (1), and P.K. Subban (1 empty net).
Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 29 saves in net for the Devils in victory.
The Devils will host Vancouver on Saturday afternoon at one o'clock.
Hell Raisers
1) It's a miracle!
The Devils scored on the power play when Kyle Palmieri popped in a second-period goal after a faceoff win.
The power play had been punchless all season and even though Palmieri's goal was the only score in seven attempts, it's still nice to be off the goose-egg for the season.
2) Jack Hughes didn't score his first goal, but he did score his first point when his attempted redirection of a Matt Tennyson shot smacked off the rump of Miles Wood and into the net past Alexandar Georgiev.
Hughes is going to have his struggles, but I have a feeling that once he gets rolling, the points will come in bunches.
3) Nikita Gusev is a defensive liability and it seems that every time I wonder about those problems, Gusev pulls something out on the offensive end that makes me think he's worth it.
In the third period and in the Rangers zone, Gusev stripped the buck from the Rangers big free-agent addition Artemi Panarin and looked to be setting up for a pass.
The Rangers thought so as well and attempted to take away the pass, but in one motion without stopping, Gusev swiped the puck between the legs of Alexandar Georgiev,
As the old TV show Facts of Life once sang- sometimes you take the good with the bad.
4) I hadn't noted it as it occurred after the loss to Florida, but the Devils sent assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald down to the bench to assist John Hynes.
Fitzgerald (I would assume) will work with the special teams and as noted above, New Jersey scored their first power play goal of the season, but the Devils also shut down the Rangers power play, keeping them off the board in six chances.
That's all well and good, but I still have a suspicion that Fitzgerald is also evaluating the coaching staff to be prepared if a change will be in order sometime during the season.
Fitzgerald might even be a dark horse to become the full-time coach if the team would make that change.
5) Taylor Hall didn't appear on the scoresheet except for six minutes (two were given for a lost challenge) in penalties, but his hit on Adam Fox not only sent Hall to the box but Fox to the locker room.
Hall didn't seem to make especially hard contact with Fox's head, but he did hit him high and left his feet to do so and that's a call that officials will make almost every time.
6) You won't see the name Matt Tennyson often on scoresheets, but Tennyson finished the game with two assists despite not really doing much offensively to earn them.
Tennyson did intercept a Ranger pass to earn the secondary assist on Blake Coleman's goal and it was his shot that wound up bouncing off Miles Wood and into the net.
It's always pretty nice when guys that rarely score or are journeymen reach the points sheet.
7) I thought Mackenzie Blackwood played well in net.
Blackwood may not have been spectacular, but he stopped what he needed to (in other words, no soft goals) and was as good as he had to be.
In my opinion, one of the top storylines of the Devils season is this- Can Mackenzie Blackwood show enough to be considered the Devils goaltender of the future?
Cory Schneider still has two years remaining on his contract, so it's not an emergency to replace Schneider now, but a line of succession would be a good idea.
8) Pavel Zacha played well without a point, but he almost had one with Alexandar Georgiev needing to make a nice save against him.
Zacha is developing into a solid two-way player and if he can get his offensive game going, Zacha will be a dangerous player.
It's funny that entering the 2015 draft, Zacha's defense was what was questioned most and in the NHL the opposite has proven to be the case.
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