The New Jersey Devils face the New York Rangers in Game Three in a one-sided series thus far. The Devils entered the series as the favorites but lost the first two games at home and have their backs to the wall in the First Round as they head to the road. The Rangers have a 2-0 series lead with wins on the road and with a win in Game Three, they will be one win away from advancing to the next round. The Devils are looking to crawl back in this series while the Rangers hope to make this series a short one and the upcoming game should be a great one as a result.
The First Round has been a disaster for the Devils with their offense struggling, scoring only two goals in the first two games. Jack Hughes, Erik Haula, and Ondrej Palat have scored two goals and an assist but the rest of the offense has been awful. The hope is that Dougie Hamilton can open up the offense as he added 22 goals and 52 assists from the point this season but has been a non-factor in the series thus far.
The offense has struggled but the defense has also let the Devils down, allowing 10 goals in the first two games. John Marino and Ryan Graves have led the top pairing but the rest of the defensive unit has struggled, allowing the Rangers to control the puck and find open shots on the net. Additionally, goaltender Vitek Vanecek has struggled this series, allowing nine goals on only 52 shots.