2019 March

No. 1 pick Nico Hischier scores first two as Devils win again

OTTAWA, Ontario — Nico Hischier got his first NHL goal amid a memorable rally for the Devils. John Moore scored 1:20 into overtime and the Devils used three straight goals to beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in overtime Thursday night. Hischier, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, scored twice for New Jersey. The […]

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Rangers ‘are digging a hole that can’t get much bigger’

Rick Nash shook his head, maybe visualized one of the handful of point-blank opportunities he could not covert in this one or the bushel of point-blank chances on which he has come up all but empty on this season, and kind of smiled. Or maybe grimaced. “Where you’re having a year when everything goes in, […]

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Sharks’ Staten Island native set for hockey homecoming

Kevin Labanc is ready for a homecoming tour. The Staten Island native is coming back to his roots this weekend with the Sharks to play three games in four days against the Devils, Islanders and Rangers. Labanc, who has tallied three goals and two assists through the first five games of the season, will return […]

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Jaroslav Halak continues to dominate Rangers

Jaroslav Halak might not have been perfect, but the Islanders goalie continued to find a way to beat the Rangers. Halak stopped 2-of-3 attempts in the shootout and backstopped his team to a 4-3 victory over the Blueshirts on Thursday night at the Garden. Halak came in with a 6-2 record as an Islander against […]

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A solution to the NHL’s advanced stats problem

During a recent casual conversation with someone who has been intimately involved in the NHL for decades, he jokingly said this: “You ever think that all of these off-ice officials are actually the same people in every arena?” It was a funny take on this gaggle of people in each city who keep the official […]

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Pavel Buchnevich responds to demotion with game he needed

As Rangers coach Alain Vigneault shuffled his lines, talented 22-year-old Russian winger Pavel Buchnevich fell to the fourth line. That has limited Buchnevich’s ice time in each of the past two games, as the Rangers are 1-5-2 to start the season with the Predators coming to the Garden for a Saturday matinee. But Buchnevich’s skills […]

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Rangers can’t will way out of slump no matter how hard they try

Brendan Smith not only didn’t hesitate, he couldn’t even wait for the question to end before answering. “Yes, 100 percent,” the Rangers defenseman said after practice Friday when asked if players have to guard against trying to do too much when they’re in a rut like his team, now with a historically poor 1-5-2 start […]

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Devils’ offense goes dry, while Schneider goes on IR

Even a healthy Cory Schneider might not have made a difference for the Devils. Martin Jones made 28 saves for his first shutout of the season and 16th overall in the Sharks’ 3-0 victory over the Devils at Prudential Center on Friday night. Melker Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi scored and Justin Braun had […]

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Devils have to be happy with the big deal they didn’t make

The Best Deals You Make Are Often the Deals You Don’t Make, Part 4,604: If Kevin Shattenkirk had taken the Devils’ money on a long-term contract this summer, there is little chance Will Butcher would have signed with the club as a Mike Van Ryn-Blake Wheeler-Jordan Schultz-Kevin Hayes-Jimmy Vesey-type free agent. Butcher is the 22-year-old […]

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Rangers finally stop skid with ugly matinee win

The puck bounded down the ice, hit the back of the empty net, and Henrik Lundqvist raised his arms and looked to the wheeled roof of the Garden in complete relief. It was a long time coming, and it surely wasn’t pretty, but the Rangers and their franchise goaltender finally found a way to win. […]

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