Rangers, Devils have yet to win a game on home ice
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad checks Devils center Jack Hughes in overtime of Game 3 of the team's NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
Four games into this first-round playoff series between the Rangers and the Devils, and neither team has won a home game.
The Devils’ 3-1 victory in Game 4 on Monday night gave them a sweep of two games at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers won Games 1 and 2 in Newark last week by identical 5-1 scores.
“Yeah, it’s sort of funny,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said before Monday night’s game. “Last year I think was the complete opposite until we won Game 7 in Carolina [in the Rangers’ second-round series].’’
The home team won each of the first six games in the second-round series between the Rangers and Carolina last year before the Rangers broke the string by winning Game 7 in Raleigh to advance to the Eastern Conference final.
(In the Rangers’ first-round series last year against Pittsburgh, the Penguins won Game 1 at the Garden in triple overtime and the Rangers won Game 6 in Pittsburgh before the Rangers won Game 7 at the Garden to advance.)
“I think you look at the two teams involved in this series [between the Rangers and Devils] and both of them had excellent road records, so I don’t think it matters where you play,’’ Gallant said.
The Devils, who won 52 games in the regular season, were 28-9-4 on the road. The Rangers, who won 47 games, were 24-9-8 away from home.
Gallant’s wake-up call
Late in the first period, Gallant wasn’t happy with his offense and tweaked his top two forward lines, switching centers Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck. He put Zibanejad between Artemi Panarin and Vladimir Tarasenko and Trocheck between Chris Kreider and Patrick Kane.
“Trying to wake something up,’’ Gallant said when asked about the switch.
Trocheck scored the Rangers’ only goal, banging in the rebound of a shot by Kreider in the third period.
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.
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