Rangers prepared for 'stingy' Devils defense, goalie Akira Schmid, but it didn't work
New Jersey Devils goaltender Akira Schmid (40) stops a shot by New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad (93) during the second period of Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Thursday, April 27, 2023, in Newark, N.J. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
NEWARK — With the Rangers having managed just two goals in two games against rookie Devils goaltender Akira Schmid, who replaced Vitek Vanecek after Game 2 of the teams’ first-round playoff series, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant was asked on Wednesday whether his coaching staff had been able to put together a book on the 22-year-old Swiss.
“Book?’’ he asked. “We’ve got to get him some work. That’s the book. Make sure he’s working.’’
The Rangers got 23 shots on Schmid in Game 5, but weren’t able to get a single one past him as the Devils won 4-0 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup series. Game 6 will be Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
“There was a lot more guys around the net,’’ Gallant said after the game. “I mean, [Schmid] made a great save there on Kaapo [Kakko] on the short side there (in the second period). So I thought we had a lot more traffic around the net, and did a lot of things better. It wasn’t good enough, obviously.’’
Schmid, who played 18 games in the regular season and moved past Mackenzie Blackwood in the Devils’ goalie pecking order, has now stopped 82 of 84 shots in three games in the series (.976 save percentage).
The 6-5, 205-pound Schmid was a fifth-round pick by the Devils in the 2018 draft, coming out the Swiss junior league. He was drafted by Lethbridge of the Western Hockey League, but was cut by the team after one game, and ended up playing in the US Hockey League for three seasons before the Devils signed him in 2021.
He spent most of last season with the Devils’ AHL affiliate in Utica, and split time between Utica and New Jersey this season. but this season he outplayed Mackenzie Blackwood over the second half of the regular season and earned the call when coach Lindy Ruff decided to bench Vanecek.
Rangers forward Patrick Kane said the Devils’ defense has been “stingier’’ in front of Schmid than it was in the first two games of the series, when Vanecek was in goal.
“I don’t think there was many great looks in Game 3 and Game 4 as there was in Game 1 and Game 2,’’ Kane said.
At Thursday’s morning skate, Gallant was asked how the Rangers could try and “rattle’’ Schmid in Game 5.
“Well, do what we did the first couple of games, get people at the net, get some screened shots and start playing in their zone a little bit more,’’ he said. “He’s looked very good in net, very comfortable in nets, but again, we’ve got to get more traffic, like everybody says, more ‘compete’ going to their net. Simple things. Got to do it.’’
But they weren’t able to.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
