Here in the New Jersey/New York NHL area, there’s no rivalry quite like Devils/Rangers. Dating back arguably to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals way back in 1994 (which broke my teenage heart as the Devils lost in Double Overtime) the Hudson River rivalry is rarely friendly on and off the ice, and often ugly.
Yesterday, the Devils pulled off a massive & much needed come from behind win against the hated rivals, coming from both 2-0 down in the second and 3-1 down going into the third to pull off an OT win 4-3.
“Feels great to take care of our rivals across the river…the atmosphere right from the puck drop was fantastic.” Game- Winner Damon Severson said with the club’s much needed home win, their first since December 6.
Jack Hughes continue his hot season, with 2 goals and an assist while Vitek Vanecek turned away 31 shots in the win. These points puts Hughes at 26 goals & 49 points for the season at the team’s 40th game. The club record for goals in a season is 48 and 96 points Brian Gionta & Patrick Elias respectively. While still half a season left, if Hughes continues his hot run expect conversations about those records to start happening more frequently starting next month.
As a Devils fan in New Jersey, we’ve often been viewed as low class trash in the light of New York City, so wins like this have always been huge. Overwhelmingly the press coverage in this area is out of New York City so the Rangers even at their worst have always gotten attention first (and the Islanders often second), with news anchors openly trolling the Devils despite having the best success of any team in the area since 1990. Most any Devils fan would agree with me on that.
Next up the club travels south to face the first place Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes has quietly lost 3 straight after rifling off a stellar 11 game winning streak (and 15 of 16), including a pair of wins over the Devils during that run. With just 4 points separating the two clubs and the Devils averaging a league best 1.7 points on the road per game this season we’ve got a good one tomorrow as well.
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