It looked like something finally had clicked.
The Rangers were clearly the better team for the opening 25 minutes, the more active, aggressive and in-tune unit. They were more physical, more defensively responsible. They had the game’s first seven shots and 13 of the first 14. They scored first, too, on Rick Nash’s first goal of the season.
It was at that point, the first of four meetings between the Hudson River rivals tilted — in the Devils’ favor. The light switch had been flipped off again, the Rangers again playing uninspired, sloppy hockey. There was little of an attack to speak of, more missed assignments and too many giveaways. They had just five shots on goal over a span of 34 minutes, from the end of the first period to midway through the third. The power play remained powerless, 0-for-3 on Saturday and now 1-for-its-last-14.
The result was another loss, the Rangers’ third straight, a 3-2 defeat to the Devils at the Garden that has them at 1-5-0 through six games, the worst start of the Alain Vigneault era, the Rangers’ worst start since the 1980-81 season.
“It’s been the story thus far of our season, and there’s no one to blame but ourselves, the guys in this room here, the guys in the lineup every night,” captain Ryan McDonagh said. “We know what’s expected of us, and we’re simply not performing.”
The Devils (4-1-0, eight points) responded when the Rangers landed a punch, flattening the Blueshirts, who have just four goals over their past three games, with their response. Backup Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid was mostly responsible for that, making 29 saves, including 14 in a first period where he kept the Devils even despite a Blueshirts onslaught.
“We had it going in the first, then we had it going again in the third,” Nash said. “The problem right now is we can’t put a full 60 minutes together. It’s surprising we couldn’t keep it going.
“It’s easy to point fingers right now, and get on top of each other, but good teams get through things like this, and come out even better.”
Vigneault broke down the issue in simple terms: too many turnovers, leading to the two Devils goals in the second period and hampering the Rangers’ attack. The remedy, he believes, is also simple: Make better decisions.
“We obviously came out real strong, and we made the right decisions with the puck, which enabled us to play a fast game,” the Rangers coach said. “We weren’t able to capitalize on some of our looks. You got to keep playing the right way. If you do, you’ll be rewarded.”
Instead of Nash’s second period goal giving the Rangers momentum, it had the opposite effect. It woke up the Devils, who outshot the Rangers 8-1 the final 14:29 of the period. They got even after a David Desharnais own-zone giveaway below the circles, leading to Adam Henrique depositing a Brian Gibbons backhand feed up high past goaltender Ondrej Pavelec.
Just 6:20 later, another loose Rangers play in their own end led to a Devils lead, when defenseman Ben Lovejoy’s slap shot from just inside the blue line caromed off Miles Wood and past Pavelec.
After a Tony DeAngelo cross-checking penalty, the Devils extended to a two-goal lead in the third period, when Will Butcher set up Drew Stafford all alone along the right wing of the Rangers zone, and he went in uncontested, beating Pavelec with a backhand.
By then, the Rangers were headed to yet another loss. They made a frantic push late, unleashing the final 14 shots on goal of the contest. One got through Kinkaid, a long Kevin Shattenkirk wrist shot with 56.6 seconds left. But it was merely a tease — like the opening period.
“By no means is this group going to quit, I know that for a fact,” McDonagh said. “Hopefully, this is rock bottom here early on and a real gut check time, and understanding what’s expected of us individually and as a group.”