Rangers erase 2-0 deficit, outlast Devils 4-3 after New Jersey’s late equalizer

New Jersey built the lead, then lost the rhythm

The Devils did not overwhelm the Rangers by shot count; both teams finished with 22. What New Jersey did better early was make its chances count and keep enough pucks from getting through to carry a 2-0 lead into the third. Stefan Noesen opened the scoring at 8:51 of the first period on a deflection, with Seamus Casey and Lenni Hameenaho earning the assists. Ethan Edwards doubled the lead at 12:09 of the second, finishing a snap shot off feeds from Matyas Melovsky and Ben Steeves.

That gave the Devils a game state they should have liked. They also held the special-teams edge, going 1-for-2 on the power play while the Rangers went 0-for-2. New Jersey blocked 15 shots, more than double New York’s seven, which helps explain how an even shot ledger still translated into a two-goal cushion. Melovsky’s two-assist night stood out as part of that efficient start, and Noesen and Edwards supplied the finishing that had the Rangers chasing the scoreboard instead of setting the pace.

A six-minute swing changed everything

Then the Rangers compressed almost all of their best work into one decisive stretch. Will Cuylle started the turnaround at 3:10 of the third period, scoring on a deflection with Matthew Robertson and Gabe Perreault on the play. Just 2:11 later, Anton Blidh tied it 2-2 at 5:21 on a snap shot set up by Glenn Gawdin and Perreault. What had been a measured Devils night suddenly looked unstable.

The go-ahead goal arrived at 10:03, and it was the kind of contribution that changes how a comeback is remembered. Scott Morrow scored on a backhand, with Cuylle and Matt Rempe collecting the assists, to put the Rangers ahead 3-2. In 6:53 of game time, New York wiped out a two-goal deficit and built a lead of its own.

That burst did not come out of nowhere in the numbers. The Rangers won 57.7 percent of the faceoffs, 30 draws to New Jersey’s 22, and played the heavier game with a 28-14 edge in hits. Noah Laba went 14-for-18 on draws, and Rempe led all skaters with eight hits. Those details do not tell the whole story of a comeback, but they do show a team creating more restarts on its own terms and making the evening physically harder on the Devils as the game wore on.

Lombardi answered, but not for long

Just when the Rangers looked ready to carry their surge cleanly to the finish, the Devils found one more response. Amadeus Lombardi tied the game 3-3 at 18:21 of the third with a snap shot, assisted by Jesper Boqvist and Melovsky. It was the kind of late goal that can completely rewrite a night, and for New Jersey it at least erased the sting of surrendering three straight in one period.

That equalizer mattered because it exposed something true about both teams. The Devils had enough finish to stay alive after their structure cracked, and the Rangers had done enough work to force overtime anyway. The game ended there only briefly. New York still took the extra point with the overtime winner, completing a comeback that was built almost entirely on its third-period push.

Our take: the comeback was real, and so were the warnings

For the Rangers, this was a good result with a useful caution attached. The best part of their night was obvious: three third-period goals from Cuylle, Blidh and Morrow, plus two assists from Perreault, flipped a game that had been flat for two periods. The warning is just as clear. New York still needed overtime because it gave back the lead on Lombardi’s goal with 1:39 left in regulation, and its power play produced nothing on two chances. A team that controls the dots and lands 28 hits would still like cleaner finishing around the edges of a game like this.

For the Devils, the frustration should center less on the final score than on the swing between minute 40 and minute 50. A club that was up 2-0, blocked 15 shots and won the special-teams battle should not have to rely on a late equalizer just to reach overtime. The most obvious areas to revisit are puck management and faceoffs: New Jersey was charged with 13 giveaways and won only 42.3 percent of the draws. Those are not automatic explanations for every third-period problem, but they are concrete places where the Devils gave the Rangers extra opportunities to start with the puck.

The cleanest verdict is that this was a timing game, not a volume game. Shots were even. The Devils were efficient first. The Rangers were explosive later. New York deserves credit for changing the direction of the night, and New Jersey deserves blame for letting a composed first 40 minutes dissolve into a chase. In the end, that difference in third-period execution is why the Rangers left Madison Square Garden with a 4-3 overtime win.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 8:51

   Stefan Noesen Goal (1) Deflected, assists: Seamus Casey (1), Lenni Hameenaho (1)

2. 2nd · 12:09

   Ethan Edwards Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Matyas Melovsky (1), Ben Steeves (2)

3. 3rd · 3:10

   Will Cuylle Goal (1) Deflected, assists: Matthew Robertson (1), Gabe Perreault (1)

4. 3rd · 5:21

   Anton Blidh Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Glenn Gawdin (1), Gabe Perreault (2)

5. 3rd · 10:03

   Scott Morrow Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Will Cuylle (1), Matt Rempe (1)

6. 3rd · 18:21

   Amadeus Lombardi Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Jesper Boqvist (1), Matyas Melovsky (2)

7. SO · 0:00

   Will Cuylle Goal Wrist Shot