Why ‘stress this time of year’ weighs heavily on Rangers’ Hudson River rivals with playoffs near
As the New York Rangers try to scratch and claw their way into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, their Hudson River rival, the New Jersey Devils, have been pretty much locked into a playoff spot for months. But cracks have been showing for a while and it’s not exactly smooth sailing for the Devils down the stretch here.
The Devils are third in the Metropolitan Division and have a six-point lead on the next closest team, which just so happens to be the Rangers. At 80 points (37-28-6) with 11 games to go, the Devils are closer to clinching a playoff berth than losing their hold on third place in the division.
But heading into a clash against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday at Prudential Center, the Devils have dropped three of their past four games, including two straight on home ice.
Following a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, struggling Devils defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic emphasized the need for New Jersey to adopt a playoff mindset now, three weeks out from the start of the postseason.
“We have a pretty home-heavy schedule the rest of the rest of the way here. We got to make this place a hard place to play and a hard place to beat us,” Kovacevic explained. “I think that’s something that we want to take pride in. We’re in a fight, and hopefully that gets us in that playoff mentality 10-11, games out, and we carry that into the playoffs. Obviously the results are tough, but we’re in a fight here, and we’re not going to back down.”
Kovacevic’s postgame comments were not out of the ordinary. With less than a month until the playoffs begin, wins and losses are not the only focus for the Devils; equally as important is tuning up for the postseason.
“I guarantee to you he’s thinking he’s doing absolutely nothing wrong,” Elliotte Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast.
Devils coach Sheldon Keefe disagreed.
“Kovacevic just needs to play better. That would help,” Keefe said, cutting off the reporter’s question postgame Saturday.
Clearly tensions are running high and there’s a there seems to be a disconnect in the Devils locker room as they continue to falter down the stretch, while also dealing with some serious injury issues.
“I think that shows the stress of this time of year,” Friedman observed.
Related: Rangers comeback against Canucks fueled by ‘little bit of yelling in locker room’
Rangers might be more feared opponent than Devils, if they reach playoffs
Barring an unthinkable collapse, the Devils will be one of the eight Eastern Conference playoff teams. However, they are not playing like one of the eight best teams in the east, which could spell an early exit from the postseason.
Their struggles can be attributed in part to the injury bug; Jacob Markstrom went down first and has not been playing his best since returning; Dougie Hamilton is set to miss the rest of the regular season; and Jack Hughes underwent season-ending shoulder surgery on March 5.
That’s their No. 1 goalie, top defenseman and star center.
The Devils have looked mediocre without Hughes, who left their March 2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights with the injury. Including that 2-0 loss in Sin City, the Devils have are 4-6-0 since Hughes went down.
But the Devils weren’t so great with Hughes in the lineup either. They are 13-17-3 since Dec. 28. Once the first-place team in the Metro, they’re now third, 10 points behind the second-place Carolina Hurricanes. As the Hurricanes surge, the Devils sink. And those teams are set to meet in the Eastern Conference First Round.
So, the Devils are in a much better spot right now than the Rangers. But incredibly, if they make the playoffs, the Rangers might be in position to be a tougher out than their Hudson River rivals.
That’s a stunning reversal from where things stood earlier this season, even if the Rangers (34-31-6) currently stand ninth in the Eastern Conference, on the outside looking in at the playoffs.
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