The New York Rangers face the New Jersey Devils in Game Five of the First Round of what's been an exciting series thus far. The Rangers won the first two games on the road but stumbled on their home ice, losing back-to-back games. The Devils meanwhile stepped up in the last two games to pull off the upsets on the road and tie up the series at two wins apiece. The road team has won every game of this series so far and the winner of Game Five will move one win away from advancing to the next round, making the upcoming game a crucial one in this series.
The Rangers were carried by their offense in the first two games, scoring 10 goals but the unit has fallen flat in the last two games, scoring only two goals. Chris Kreider, Patrick Kane, and Filip Chytil have scored seven goals and eight assists but the rest of the unit has struggled recently. The hope is that Adam Fox can step up from the point as he has six assists in this series but failed to record a point in each of the past two games.
The offense has fallen apart recently but the defense has carried the Rangers in this series, allowing only seven goals in the series. Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren have led the top pairing while K'Andre Miller, Jacob Trouba, and the rest of the unit have also stepped up, creating turnovers in all three zones and limiting shots on the net. In addition, goaltender Igor Shesterkin has been great, saving 95 of the 101 shots on the net.