The New York Rangers are on a roll. Thanks to the 4-1 triumph over the New Jersey Devils, the Broadway Blueshirts have now won three in a row at home for the first time in the 2025-26 NHL season. The Rangers looked completely different from the last time they met with the Devils, and that wasn’t overlooked by Sheldon Keefe.
“I thought we were outworked for sure,” Keefe admitted postgame, via NHL.com. “I thought they played with more structure. We’ve been playing kind of a pretty loose game. The Rangers came out and played with purpose.”
Hadn’t it been for a late surge against the Chicago Blackhawks (27-34-14), the Devils would be mired in a three-game losing streak. New Jersey has spiraled out of control in the NHL season, just when New York is finding the most success it’s had all year.
Rangers caught Devils by surprise
Keefe and the Devils thought they had the Rangers all figured out. No matter how much they struggled throughout the season, they believed a matchup against the Blueshirts was always going to be favorable. However, New York suddenly showed its teeth and finally answered back against New Jersey.
Mike Sullivan of the New York Rangers.
The loss at Madison Square Garden sends the Devils back to square one. Whatever they thought they had going against the Rangers may be futile now. For Keefe and company, it’s a sad note to end the season series on.
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Rangers finally get one over Devils
It took the Blueshirts until the last Battle of the Hudson, but they finally defeated the Devils in the 2025–26 NHL campaign. The Rangers had already been swept in the season series by the rival New York Islanders and avoided humiliation with a 4–1 win at home over New Jersey.
Had they lost to Keefe and the Devils again, the Rangers would have recorded their first-ever winless year against their cross-town rivals. Still, a 1–6–0 record against teams in the New York metro area is far from the goal for the Blueshirts. At this stage, Mike Sullivan and company are content with their baby steps, but there’s a lot of work left to be done.
Where Rangers, Devils, and Islanders stand
In a shocking turn of events, the Rangers are currently the hottest team in the New York metro area. The Devils’ season is all but over, as they sit 10 points behind the last wild card spot. The Rangers are officially eliminated, but playing with no pressure has led to their most success of the season.
As for the Islanders, they are sitting in a playoff spot but are dangerously flirting with the abyss. The Isles are just one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for third in the Metropolitan Division. If they don’t secure a divisional spot, they will enter the dogfight of the wild-card race, where only two sides out of a six-team battle will make it out alive.
Having lost two in a row, alarms are going off on Long Island. The Islanders will face five teams in playoff position (or on the playoff bubble) in their last six outings of the season. To say they will be playing for their lives would be an understatement.
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