The Devils’ first-round series with the Rangers will bring with it plenty of learning opportunities for the playoff inexperienced team from Jersey. One of the first they’ll have to figure out and apply in Game 2 will be handling the adversity that comes in the postseason.
New Jersey dropped Game 1 on Tuesday night in a matchup that saw the Devils struggle with their special teams. The Devils matched the Rangers’ physicality for the most part, but gave away the puck 13 times compared to the Rangers’ three.
“I think adversity in series, a long series, it’s tough to win four games,” Ryan Graves said after the loss Tuesday night. “It’s one that’s kind of a wash now, but we need to find a way to handle adversity throughout the game and also throughout the series. So we have a day here and we’ll come back better.”
That’s the mentality the Devils have to have after the tough loss, especially when there were moments where New Jersey seemed like it could get back into game.
For instance, the Devils caught a break during the second power play chance for the Rangers had a goal overturned due to a high stick. Only the Rangers responded moments later to make it 3-0 with a goal from Ryan Lindgren.
“Maybe? I think maybe it’s early in the game just they score early and just need to find a way to regain momentum earlier,” Graves replied when asked about that instance by amNewYork.
Head coach Lindy Ruff did say that some of the mistakes and adversity tthey had to go through on Tuesday was a result of the nerves that come along with the playing in the postseason for the first time.
The Devils as an origanization hadn’t hosted a playoff game since 2018. However, Ruff seemed confident that the Devils would be able to turn the corner.
New Jersey did have periods of the game where they controlled the play and did outshoot the Rangers 21-16 in the final 40 minutes.
“You know I don’t think I have to tell them a lot because every time we were backed into a corner this year, we came out and played really good hockey,” Ruff said. “Played tough games, bad games, and we always responded. I don’t think we played a bad game (Tuesday). Gonna give the Rangers a long game, that’s playoff hockey, so we’re gonna find a way to make sure that our special teams are better. But I think the good thing is everybody’s got a game under their belt.”
