Rangers face young, speedy Devils team that's all grown up

Anyone surprised by how good the Devils were this season, coming out of a decade-long rebuild and exploding with 52 wins and 112 points, wouldn’t be if they were watching closely last season, Jimmy Vesey said.

“I know it feels like they kind of came out of nowhere this year,’’ said Vesey, a Rangers forward who played for the Devils last season. “But if you watched last year . . . we were a playoff team, I think, by Thanksgiving. Obviously, we fell out of the standings. [Defenseman Dougie] Hamilton got hurt last year, missed significant time, and we used, I think, nine goalies last year.

“But guys like [Nico] Hischier, [Jack] Hughes, [Jesper] Bratt, I think you could see them kind of taking off last year, and they put it together this year. They’ve got good goaltending.’’

Vesey, as did every other Ranger, said the first-round series between the Devils and Rangers, which begins Tuesday at Prudential Center in Newark, “should be a fun one.’’ And by fun, he means one that likely will be close throughout. The teams seem pretty evenly matched, though the Devils took three of four games from the Rangers in the regular season, including one in overtime.

“They have a lot of speed up front, some pretty dynamic players,’’ Rangers forward Patrick Kane said. “They’re a team that kind of concentrated on their game defensively this year, and it seems like it really helped their overall team game. Their goaltender [Vitek Vanecek] has been great all year as well. So they present a lot of problems.’’

Vanecek, 27, signed a three-year, $10.2 million free-agent deal with the Devils last summer after his old team, Washington, decided to move on from him. He went 33-11-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .911 save percentage this season, helping to stabilize New Jersey’s goaltending situation.

Meanwhile, Hughes, 21, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft, broke out for 43 goals and a franchise-record 99 points in his fourth season.

“He’s one of the best young players in the NHL,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s had a breakout season. You watch him play every night [and] he’s a talented, talented kid. He makes great plays. He’s fast. He does it all. He’s a young star.’’

The biggest weapon the Devils rely on is their team speed. Hughes and Bratt (32 goals, 41 assists) are a threat on breakaways and odd-man rushes whenever teams turn the puck over in the neutral zone, which the Rangers have a tendency to do at times.

“You’ve got to manage the puck,’’ Gallant said. “Any team that turns pucks over at the offensive blue line, it’s going to be trouble going the other way. [The Devils] may be a little bit better at [taking advantage] because they’re really quick and talented . . . So again, you manage the puck while you play in their zone, against their defense, you’ve got a better chance to win.’’

The teams have faced each other in the playoffs six previous times, with the Rangers winning four series, including the classic 1994 Eastern Conference final, when Stephane Matteau’s wraparound goal against Martin Brodeur in double overtime of Game 7 at Madison Square Garden sent the Blueshirts to the Stanley Cup Final against Vancouver.

The last time the teams met in the postseason was the 2012 Eastern Conference final, when Adam Henrique scored against Henrik Lundqvist in overtime of Game 6 at Prudential Center to send the Devils to the Cup Final against Los Angeles.

Of course, the natural geographical rivalry between the teams is always going to be a factor. Prudential Center will be sold out Tuesday, but many of the people in the seats will be Rangers fans.

“I’m sure they’ve got a lot of fans [in the Garden] too,’’ Gallant said. “It’s going to be probably both ways like that.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.