Rangers, Devils total 136 penalty minutes in Game 2
New Jersey Devils' Timo Meier, center, is escorted off the ice for a misconduct penalty during the third period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers in Newark, N.J., Thursday, April 20, 2023. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
NEWARK – As Patrick Kane put it, in the playoffs “it’s not uncommon, in a 5-1 game, with 10 minutes left, to get a little chippy.’’ And that’s what happened in Game 2 of the Rangers-Devils series Thursday at Prudential Center. The Rangers were well on their way to taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series when the trouble started.
The Rangers led 5-1 with 6:40 left in the third period. Then it turned ugly.
First came a fight between the Devils’ Michael McLeod and the Rangers’ Braden Schneider -- an all-offense, no-defense affair -- with both players throwing haymakers in a scrap that lasted a few minutes. Both players got roughing penalties in addition to fighting majors, and then eight players, four from each team – Barclay Goodrow, Jimmy Vesey, Tyler Motte and Niko Mikkola for the Rangers, and Brendan Smith, Nathan Bastian, Miles Wood and Kevin Bahl for the Devils – each got 10-minute misconducts.
All of it seemed to puzzle Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck.
“One guy was fighting, the rest of the guys who were on the ice didn’t really do much,’’ Trocheck said. “I didn’t think there was a whole lot going on. Bahl cross-checks Niko from behind. Other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot going on. But I think (the referees) wanted to get everybody on the ice to the box so that it didn’t get out of hand.’’
Eight seconds later, Timo Meier cross-checked Adam Fox and both players got 10-minute misconducts.
In all, the teams combined for 10 misconduct penalties and 25 penalties overall for 136 minutes.
Blue notes
Fox had two assists and now has six in the first two games of the series. The Jericho native is the first defenseman in Rangers history to record six points in the first two playoff games of a postseason ... Jacob Trouba led the Rangers with eight hits ... Devils coach Lindy Ruff made one lineup change from Game 1. He inserted former Ranger Brendan Smith into the lineup for top-pair defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler. Ruff said he made the change because he wanted the more physical Smith in the lineup … The Devils were charged with having 15 giveaways, while the Rangers had six.
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.
More Rangers
