Rangers - Devils series preview and prediction for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Rangers made an exhilarating run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, cranking up expectations for 2022-23. Now it’s time to see if they can fulfill their lofty goals and they’re starting with what profiles as a serious test:

A first-round, best-of-7 series against the speedy, youthful New Jersey Devils. The Rangers open the Stanley Cup playoffs Tuesday at the Prudential Center in Newark, renewing the Battle of the Hudson in what should be a spicy series.

Not everyone likes their neighbors, right? But everyone should be entertained, at least. There’s no doubt both teams’ fans will be hanging on every wrist shot, goalmouth pile-up and odd-man rush and voicing opinions on line combos, the refs and whether the Rangers pass too many times before blasting the puck at the net.

The Devils (52-22-8), who won three out of four against the Rangers during the season, are no longer rebuilding, as evidenced by a terrific regular season that included a team record for points (112) and their first playoff berth since 2017-18. While some expected them to fizzle during the season, they never did. Can they keep pushing while on the hot plate that is a big-time playoff series?

The Rangers (47-22-13) have stuffed Broadway with stars – welcome to the playoffs, Blueshirts-style, Patrick Kane! – and notched 107 points during the season, the seventh-most in franchise history.

Adding to the series’ sizzle is the sense of local hockey history: The last time New Jersey won a playoff series, it was the conference finals in 2011-12 against the Rangers. But the Rangers have won four of the six series they’ve met, including a conference finals victory in 1993-94.

You might remember how that season ended for the Blueshirts.

How will this year’s model of Rangers-Devils turn out? Here are some factors that might tilt the series:

Are You Experienced?

Last season, the Rangers perhaps arrived early when they won seven-game series against the Penguins and Hurricanes before falling in six games to the Lightning. The Blueshirts grew during that grind and many of the same faces will be working on playoff beards for this potential run, too.

They’ve been talking in recent days of the benefits of experience, so perhaps going through 20 playoff games together last spring gives the Rangers an advantage over the youthful Devils. Fewer nerves, more knowledge of what it takes to beat a team when you play them over and over. They added Kane, a three-time Cup winner with Chicago, and Vladimir Tarasenko, who won a Cup with St. Louis, giving them more seasoning. But what if the Devils, who have probably arrived ahead of schedule, too, don’t care about what they don’t know and aren’t fazed?

Titans Clash

The Devils have a terrific offense, led by Jack Hughes, who is probably the best non-goalie in the series. They scored 3.52 goals per game, fifth in the NHL, and were fourth in shots-per-game (34.4). Hughes set a franchise record with 99 points (43 goals and 56 assists) and had six points, including four goals against the Rangers this season. Timo Meier had 40 goals between the Devils and San Jose, Jesper Bratt had 32 goals and captain Nico Hischier added 31. Three other players potted 20-plus goals.

Clearly, this will be a big test for Rangers’ netminder Igor Shesterkin, who may not have been as stingy as last season, but finished hot. Shesterkin could be the most important player for the Rangers as the anchor of a defense that allowed 2.63 goals per game, the fourth-fewest in the NHL.

Our Takeaway? Giveaways

The Devils particularly excel on offense in transition and they hurt the Rangers with their speed during the regular season. So giveaways could be a specific problem area for the Blueshirts, who had the second-most in the NHL this season (832), according to NHL.com. Artemi Panarin had the third-most giveaways among individual skaters (102) and if the Rangers don’t take care of the puck, the Devils, who love to attack, could swarm and score off odd-man rushes.

“Jam”-med up enough?

Around the trade deadline, some carped that the Rangers chose to add skill rather than sandpaper to their lineup. There’s no doubt the Rangers can score and they boast a top-six to rival most any team in the league with Mika Zibanejad (39 goals), Chris Kreider (36), Panarin (29), Vincent Trocheck (22), plus Kane and Tarasenko. The still-emerging trio of Filip Chytil (22), Kaapo Kakko (18) and Alexis Lafrenière (16) adds offense, too.

But could the Rangers use more grit for a playoff run? They were 11th in the NHL in hits and we know from last year that captain Jacob Trouba is a heat-seeking missile on skates in the playoffs. (He was tied for 18th in hits this season).

Facing Their Demons

The Rangers were tied for 19th in face-off winning percentage during the regular season at 49.1 percent and the Devils were nearly two percentage points better at 51.3 percent (13th). The Rangers have long tried to fix this part of their game and expect Trocheck, who won 56.1 percent of his face-offs this season, to be a big factor in this area. Perhaps he and Hischier (53.9 percent) will meet for key possessions.

Isn’t That Special (Teams)?

A key element of this series could be the battle between the Blueshirts’ power-play and New Jersey’s top-level penalty-kill. The Rangers had the seventh-best power play percentage (24.1 percent) this season even as Gerard Gallant was mixing and matching lines to find the right combinations. Zibanejad tied for third in the league with 20 power-play goals, so get ready for some Mika one-timers.

But the Devils wiped out 82.6 percent of penalties, fourth-best in the NHL, and even scored nine short-handed goals, three by Hischier.

PREDICTION: Rangers in 7 games

The Devils are impressive, but it’s not their time. Yet, anyway.

Shesterkin wins the battle of goalies with Vitek Vanecek (2.45 goals-against average), who had a terrific regular season, and the Rangers show enough discipline to keep the Devils from wrecking the series with their speed and opportunistic playmaking. Kane and Tarasenko, who have been good-but-not-great since being acquired, shine in the opening series of what could be a long – but grueling – playoff run.