Akira Schmid

The New York Rangers were in the drivers seat against their bitter rival New Jersey Devils, having dominated them in the first two games of their Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series at Prudential Center by a combined score of 10-2. You’d think that heading home to the rocking atmosphere of Madison Square Garden in Manhattan with a two games to none series lead would be a good thing for the Blueshirts.

However, the Devils gave the Rangers a little taste of hell in New York, first defeating them in overtime thanks to a Dougie Hamilton snipe, and then continuing to stifle their offensive attack in last night’s Game 4 and tying things up at two games apiece. Goaltender Akira Schmid has been solid between the pipes, stopping 57 of the 59 shots the Rangers have fired his way since replacing Vitek Vanecek.

For the Rangers to suddenly fall flat on home ice in the postseason is understandably not sitting well with head coach Gerard Gallant, who took his team to task in his postgame media remarks.

“Not good. Not good enough. Not even close to good enough,” a visibly frustrated Gallant said. “Very disappointing.”

Gallant also didn’t care for, as he put it, his players caring more about voicing their displeasure with the performance of the linesman more than their own.

“We didn’t show up,” Gallant said. We didn’t play hard enough. We didn’t compete hard enough. All we did was yap at the linesmen for getting thrown out of the faceoffs. A lot of bad things tonight.”

New York certainly wasn’t aided by their power-play units, which have gone completely dry and are mired in an 0-for-11 slump after initially starting the postseason red hot.

The series now shifts back to Prudential Center in Newark, where the rejuvenated Devils will hope to gain the upper hand on the Rangers by seizing a one-game lead before returning to New York for Game 6.

Game 5 between the two teams will take place Thursday night beginning at 7:30 PM EST.

The New Jersey Devils aren’t out of the Stanley Cup playoffs just yet, but they have dug themselves into a major hole by allowing the New York Rangers to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their first round playoff series.

It isn’t just that the Rangers took the first two games of the series though, it’s also the manner in which they claimed those victories that have the Devils reeling and on the ropes. The Rangers won both Game 1 and Game 2 by a score of 5-1, prompting what appears to be a desperation move from Devils head coach Lindy Ruff.

Although it has not as of yet officially been confirmed, it appears as though Ruff will be injecting rookie goaltender Akira Schmid in the hopes that Schmid can be the difference maker and claw his team back into this series. Our first sign that Schmid would be getting the start came this morning when Schmid was in his own net during the Devils’ morning skate, while both Mackenzie Blackwood and Game 1 and Game 2 starter Vitek Vanacek shared a net.

Schmid would also be the last goaltender to leave the ice on Saturday which further led many to believe that he would be getting the start tonight, and National Hockey League insider Frank Seravalli has now confirmed his belief that Schmid will start while Vanecek will play the backup role.

You can hardly blame Ruff for trying to find an answer here, and given the lackluster performances the Devils received from Blackwood during the regular season he likely isn’t a realistic option here. Furthermore Vanecek has struggled in this series allowing 4 goals on just 22 shots in Game 1 for an .818 save percentage and 5 goals on just 30 shots in Game 2 for an .833 save percentage.

Schmid is a rookie and one with only 24 games of NHL experience under his belt, but to his credit he did have a solid showing in the regular season for the Devils. In his 18 appearances during the 2022-23 season. Schmid would record a 2.13 goals against average and a .922 save percentage, so you can start to see why Ruff is turning to him at such a pivotal moment in the series.