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Rangers lines, notes, how to watch Hudson River rivalry clash against Devils
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- Rangers lines, notes, how to watch Hudson River rivalry clash against Devils
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Looking to keep this thing rolling along after winning six of their past seven games, the New York Rangers cross the Hudson River on Thursday to face off against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.
It's the first of four meetings between the local rivals this season, and a chance for the Rangers to punch back at The Rock, where they've lost each of their past three visits and were outscored by a combined 15-3.
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This marks Dylan Garand's first foray into the Hudson rivalry, and there's little reason to believe he's not up to the task. The 24-year-old goalie won each of his two starts since Igor Shesterkin went down with a season-ending knee injury, including a 25-save performance in a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. He's 3-1-0 in four games (three starts) this season with a terrific 1.15 goals-against average, .951 save percentage, and one shutout. In seven career NHL games, he's never allowed more than two goals.
"Big rival for us, for sure. Those are the funnest games to play in, honestly, and they have a really good team, they're fast. We're looking forward to it, for sure," Garand said Wednesday after practice.
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The Rangers (6-2-0) are second in the NHL defensively, allowing just 1.75 goals per game. That could be problematic for the Devils (3-3-0), who are tied for 24th in scoring, averaging 2.67 goals a game, despite scoring five times in a 5-4 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
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Jack Hughes scored the winning goal against the Red Wings, and both of his goals so far are overtime winners for the Devils. The 25-year-old leads New Jersey with eight points in six games, and is a true thorn in the Rangers side over the years. No player since 2019-20 has more points against the Rangers than Hughes, who has 35 points (20 goals, 15 assists) in 26 games over that span.
Mike Sullivan coached Hughes with Team USA at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics when he scored the winner in the Gold Medal game against Canada. So, the Rangers coach is well aware of how dangerous Hughes is.
"Jack's a unique player. His speed, his puck-handling ability, his play-making ability, he's a guy that plays in motion a lot. He's a challenge to defend because of his speed and elusiveness," Sullivan explained Wednesday . "My experience of coaching against guys like Jack is you have to defend him with numbers. … We've got to do our best to force him to play goal line to goal line and have to go through numbers to get to the scoring area. Offenisvely, he's one of the more gifted players in the League just to beat people one on one to create separation and make the next play. He's a dynamic player offensively."
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Of course, the Rangers counter with one of the hottest players in the NHL. Alexis Lafreniere , named the League's Third Star of the Week on Monday, has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak, and scored two more goals in the win against Tampa Bay. He's tied for second in goal-scoring , one behind Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov (eight).
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Justin Dowling centers New York's fourth-line against his former team Thursday. The Rangers recalled the 36-year-old from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, and sent rookie center Cole Beaudoin down after four games on Broadway.
Dowling played two games with the Rangers last season and 52 with the Devils in 2024-25, and has 154 games of NHL experinece.
Luke Evangelista didn't take part in the morning skate for the Devils as the forward battles an illness. New Jersey is expected to start Nico Daws in goal.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Gabe Perreault — Mika Zibanejad — Pavel Dorofeyev
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Tye Kartye — J.T. Miller — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — Noah Laba — Eeli Tolvanen
Oliver Bjorkstrand — Justin Dowling — Matt Rempe
Valdislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Marcus Pettersson — Sean Durzi
Alberts Smits — Braden Schneider
Dylan Garand
Spencer Martin
Rangers vs. Devils: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils
When: Thursday, October 15 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Prudential Center
How to watch: MSG
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