Well, here were the Devils in a role that has not only become familiar but habitual as they prepared to face the Rangers in Newark on Tuesday.
And that would be as a bottom-dweller attempting to spoil a playoff-bound team’s season. That’s what it has been year after year after year for the franchise that has finished 20th overall or lower in nine of the 10 seasons since going to the Cup final in 2012.
The Devils stood 29th-overall after finishing 29th-overall last season, 26th two years ago and 29th in 2018-19. Indeed, they were only five points away from having the best odds entering the draft lottery from which they came away with the first overall picks in 2019 (Jack Hughes) and 2017 (Nico Hischier).
And it’s not necessarily getting better for the Devils as the year evolves. Hughes, who has played only 49 of the club’s 69 games, is out again, No. 86 tending to a lower-body injury he sustained on an Oliver Wahlstrom check on Sunday. That was a day after the club blew a 6-2 lead entering the third period against Florida and lost 7-6 in overtime.
Indeed, the Devils have won only two of their last 10 games (2-7-1) while allowing 50 goals during that span. Only one of the victories came in regulation. Of course, that one was against the Rangers on March 22 by a score of 7-4 in a game the Blueshirts led 2-0 after the first period.
And it is here that we note that while the Devils have settled into their familiar role, the Rangers are in a decidedly unfamiliar one while they close in on their first playoff berth since 2017. And that is avoiding letdowns against clubs out of the tournament picture as they seem to have lately in winning only two of their last six (2-3-1) against clubs in such predicaments.
This has become part of the conversation following a stretch in which the Blueshirts played their best two games in victories over a Penguins team they’re battling for second place in the Metro while losing to the Islanders twice and the Devils once in regulation and to the Flyers in a shootout on Sunday while struggling to get victories in overtime against the Sabres and Red Wings.
And it becomes pertinent with this match in New Jersey perhaps a trap-door game preceding another showdown against Pittsburgh on Thursday at the Garden.
“Early in the year there was a lot being said that we couldn’t beat the good teams,” head coach Gerard Gallant said before the match. “Now we’re beating the good teams but we’re letting up against the supposedly bad teams, and they’re not bad teams, don’t get me wrong, they’re all playing for jobs and they’re all working hard and competing hard.
“They don’t have a whole lot to play for in the standings, some of these teams, but they’re going to work hard and they’re going to play loose and force you into mistakes, like Philadelphia the other night. They worked hard, they forechecked hard and they made us make some mistakes.
“But we’ve just got to play one game at a time, it doesn’t matter who your opponent is going to be,” he said. You’ve got to play your best game and prepare yourself the best way you can.”
Rangers players have begun talking about the playoffs even as the club’s magic number to clinch rested at eight points (a combination of eight points gained or lost by the Islanders). Justin Braun, who has 100 games of tournament experience and went to the Cup final in 2016 with the Sharks, talked about the importance of a team ramping up and feeling good about its game entering the postseason. Alexis Lafreniere acknowledged the challenge of remaining focused on the task at hand while the playoffs are four weeks away.
“We’re all excited for sure for the playoffs,” said No. 13. “But we have a [few] games left, and some big games, so we have to stay in the moment and try to win every game.”
There’s a challenge, too, for Gallant to balance prep work and line-combination chemistry against giving his players necessary rest for the tournament grind. It might be beneficial for, say, Adam Fox to get a game or two off as the long season winds down.
“Yes and no,” the coach said. “We want to play well. That’s the bottom line. We’re going to have 27 guys around here shortly [when Kaapo Kakko and Kevin Rooney come off injured reserve], so damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
“You want to win hockey games. You want to play well and you want to get everybody going, but while you’d also like to give some people a little bit of a break, you guys are too hard on us when we lose, so I’ve got to get the best out of them.”