Rangers Meltdown in Newark, Giving Goals Away to the Devils

By Daniel Feuerstein | Newark, NJ | October 15th, 2026

The New York Rangers crossed the Hudson River and headed for Newark, NJ, as they were getting ready to face the New Jersey Devils. Everything was going well at the start of the game until one little turnover became a big problem, and they were blitzed inside their own end during the final two periods of the game as they lost their way. For the first time, they gave up a big number on the scoreboard as they helped the Devils get the win by the final score of 7-1.

Strong period till disaster struck

The Rangers had an excellent first period at the Prudential Center, killing off a double minor and playing some strong defense. Everything looked to be a scoreless first period until one fatal sequence put them behind on the scoreboard. IT started back in the Devils’ zone when the puck was in the near corner, and the puck was picked up by a Devils defender when Albert Smits was at the Devils’ blue line and started to skate pinching in to take the puck away. The Devils dumped it all the way down to the Rangers’ end as Dylan Garand played the puck from behind his net, and it went all the way toward the far boards. As J.T. Miller picked up the puck, he made a blind pass that was intercepted by Evan Rodrigues. Then Rodrigues skated to the net and beat Garand at 19:30 of the first period.

Rangers gave up four straight and gave no help to their goaltender.

The Rangers had a meltdown in the second period as they allowed multiple goals to get by Dylan Garand. It was a comedy of errors as Garand looked like he was on an island all by himself, with no help from his teammates either deflecting pucks off their skates, or when Garand played the puck, none of his teammates gave him an outlet to pass it to. Just like the end of the first period, the Rangers handed the Devils free goals to allow them to take the lead. None of the goals that were scored were any fault of Garand in this gam.e

The second period just got underway as the Devils were inside the Rangers’ zone. As the puck was being played around the boards, Timo Meier got it from Brett Pesce, who was around the near boards. As he tried to pass it back, the puck deflected towards Luke Hughes and took a shot outside the faceoff circle. It wasn’t shot that hard, but the puck deflected off the heel of Adam Fox’s right skate and slid past Garand at 18 seconds of the second period.

The Rangers continued to give the Devils free chances in their end of the rink when Garand had possession of the puck, and his teammates gave him no outlet to start moving the puck down the ice. Garand was forced to play the puck off the boards, and it was intercepted by Nico Hischier. Some quick passes to Dawson Mercer and then to Meier, who took the shot, which was a toe-pad save by Garand, but Hischier was forcing his way to get the rebound and found enough daylight to push the puck past Garand at 4:08 of the second period.

The third goal of the second period came 31 minutes later as the Devils were buzzing around the Rangers’ zone. It came from the far point when Dougie Hamilton sent a long pass down low to the near side and set up Jack Hughes for the shot, which was a save by Garand, but he left a juicy rebound and an open net behind him that gave Arseny Gritsyuk a free chance to put the puck into the net at 4:39 of the second period and a four-nothing Devils lead.

A second goal from Jack Hughes as he continued the onslaught in the second period to put the Devils ahead five-nothing when all he did was take the puck, skate around the Rangers’ zone, and when he got toward the far side of the rink, skated toward the net and delivered a solid backhand that beat Garand over his shoulder at 16:34 of the second period. The Rangers allowed five straight goals into their net and couldn’t find a way to threaten the net of the Devils. Mike Sullivan put Spencer Martin in net for the third period, pulling Garand.

Two more against, and snapping the shutout

The Rangers continued to get dominated by the Devils in the third period. Stefan Noesen scored his first of the season at 7:01 of the third, and Cody Glass scored his first of the season Shorthanded at 14:54 of the third. Thankfully, the Rangers weren’t shut out, as Pavel Dorofeyev deflected a shot on the power play to earn his second goal of the season at 8:02 of the third period. Everything was going right for the Rangers in the first period. They killed off a two-man penalty at the same time, held the Devils off, and Garand was superb in net until that one unforced error started the downfall in Newark. Once that poor crossice pass from J.T. Miller was intercepted, the entire hockey game was taken away from the Rangers by their own hands. It’s a tough loss to take, and hopefully early enough in the season to flush it and get ready to head to Columbus, Ohio.

“Well, we just lost ourselves. We didn’t play the game that we’ve been playing for most of this year that’s brought us success. I thought we had a strong first period. We got a great 5-on-3 kill. I thought we did a good job checking forward, taking their speed away. We had some pretty good extended zone shifts. Unfortunately, we gave up a goal late in the first. Right before it, we almost scored ourselves with a really good extended o-zone shift.

You know, we talked about in between periods, just getting back at it. We really liked the effort. We liked the intentions. I thought they scored early in the second period, and we just didn’t capture our game. We didn’t bring the right intentions. We were disconnected in all three zones. We didn’t manage the puck the right way. And, you know, when you mismanage the puck against a team like this, you can see the dynamic offense they have,” said Mike Sullivan

PAVEL DOROFEYEV: Scored his second goal of the season, his first Power Play goal as a Ranger.

ALEXIS LAFRENIERE: Notched an assist on Dorofeyev’s power play goal, extending his point streak to six-straight games (7G-4A). His six-game point streak is tied for the longest such streak of his career.

ADAM FOX: Extended his point streak to three straight games (4A). Among all NHL defensemen this season, he leads the league with nine assists.