Rangers Recap: Miller Turnover Opens Floodgates in 7-1 Loss to Devils

Back at it for this season's first installment of the Hudson River Rivalry, the New York Rangers paid a visit to the New Jersey Devils. Coming off a big win at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the new and improved Rangers looked for vengeance after going 1-2 against the Devils last season.

The Rangers' lineup featured two changes as Justin Dowling made his season debut with Cole Beaudoin back in Hartford. Jaroslav Chmelar also slotted back in on the right side of the fourth line with Matt Rempe back in the press box.

First Period

It was a unique start to this one as the pace to start was good and the atmosphere in the arena was energetic, but not a whole lot actually happened through the first half of the period. The puck was bouncing a bunch and both teams spent time moving the puck at both ends of the ice without really accomplishing much.

Eight minutes in, the Rangers were credited with the only shot on goal as Jack Hughes may have hit the post for the Devils. Play came to a halt following a huge center-ice hit on Declan Chisholm from Will Cuylle that resulted in Jonathan Kovacevic challenging him to a fight. Cuylle took the majority of the punches but still managed to take Kovacevic down.

Nearing the exact midway point of the period, Dylan Garand shut down a real strong shot from Jack Hughes off the rush, which doubled as the Devils' first official shot on goal. The Devils slowly began coming to life from there and took advantage of Marcus Pettersson losing his stick in the defensive zone. Garand held down the fort, but the Rangers were called for the game's first penalty.

It was Pettersson getting called for holding, but as the whistle blew, a scrum ensued and somehow, the Rangers were the only team to be penalized for it. Noah Laba was also sent off for slashing, which gave the Devils a 5-on-3 advantage for the full two minutes. An excellent effort from the penalty-killing unit helped keep this thing scoreless.

Soon after, the Rangers were sent to the power play as Jonas Siegenthaler was called for tripping. The top unit continued to struggle, which kept the game scoreless. However, with less than 30 seconds to go, the Devils got on the board. A completely inexcusable turnover from J.T. Miller gave Evan Rodrigues an easy break to the net, where he beat Garand, potentially through a screen, to make it 1-0.

It was an almost perfectly fine period as the Rangers looked good for the majority of it, but a careless lapse of judgment from Miller cost them the push. Shots after 20 minutes were 6-5 in New Jersey's favor.

Second Period

Things got rougher to start the second as, just 18 seconds in, a shot from Luke Hughes may have hit some traffic on its way to the net and snuck through the legs of Garand to make it a 2-0 game.

Less than four minutes later, the Devils made it 3-0 as Garand went to go play the puck behind the net but didn't get any help from his defenders. It was a great example of "you don't know what you have until it's gone," as you could definitely tell the Rangers have gotten comfortable with Igor Shesterkin acting as a third defenseman with the way he handles the puck. That resulted in defensive-zone breakdown No. 1, which led to Nico Hischier's goal.

Things got out of hand quickly as Garand was completely hung out to dry by his defenders. The Devils were firing on all cylinders, moving the puck incredibly well. Garand made two strong saves, but the rebound on the second one went right to Arseny Gritsyuk, who buried it from far out. 4-0 Devils.

Spencer Martin took over goaltending duties for the remainder of the game, but practically all the life was sucked out of this one after that fourth goal. The Rangers had just two shots to show for it through the majority of the period, and with three and a half minutes to go, Luke Hughes walked right into the danger zone and made Martin look silly to make it 5-0.

The Rangers would head to the second intermission down bad and were being outshot 20-10.

Third Period

Three minutes into the final period, the Rangers got their second crack at the power play as Timo Meier skated through the crease to earn a goaltender-interference infraction. The top unit looked better the second time around but still couldn't find a way to convert as the score remained the same.

Not long after the teams returned to even strength, the Devils found themselves on an odd-man rush. Stefan Noesen, who cleared waivers in the last week, sniped one past Martin to extend their lead to six.

Third time would indeed be the charm as another Devils penalty sent the Rangers back to the power play. They finally found a way, and it was the guy who needed one most. A shot from Adam Fox took a redirect off the stick of Pavel Dorofeyev to find the back of the net. 6-1 to spoil Nico Daws' shutout.

At the midway point, the Rangers went back to the penalty kill as Pettersson sent the puck over the glass. The Rangers were successful in killing it off, but it wasn't long before they were shorthanded again. Pettersson took Jesper Bratt down after the play, which led to a spirited scrum in the corner. Back to the box he went as the Rangers were forced to kill off another Devils advantage.

After Pettersson rejoined the play, Noesen almost had another as he beat Martin on a break but couldn't beat the post. The Rangers went back to the power play as Kovacevic was called for a cross-check. Cody Glass would pick up a shorthanded goal to make it 7-1 after Fox was blatantly tripped in the neutral zone.

What should have been a Devils penalty resulted in a Rangers penalty as Alexis Lafrenière was given a 10-minute misconduct for "abuse of officials," putting an early end to his night. It was about as brutal of a night as you can imagine from a Rangers perspective as they finally got to the end, falling 7-1 to their division rivals.

The Rangers will take Friday night off as they prepare for another Metropolitan showdown on the road Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.