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It felt like everyone (including me) was counting out the New Jersey Devils against the New York Rangers.
The Devils were manhandled through the first two games of their best-of-7 series with the Rangers, and there were no real signs of a comeback from the young upstarts from Newark.
But the Devils showed some life — and maturity — in a 2-1 overtime win at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
Had the Blueshirts got the sudden-death winner, this series would basically be over.
But Dougie Hamilton’s game-winner means the Devils now have the opportunity to send the series back across the Hudson River tied at two games apiece.
Devils vs. Rangers prediction
(7 p.m. ET. ESPN)
No matter how talented or fast you are, it requires a lot of discipline to skate with the New York Rangers in a playoff series.
The Rangers have an elite goaltender, a terrific power play, and plenty of starpower, so they’re perfectly fine with sitting back, waiting you out, and punishing you on the counterattack or with the man advantage.
If you make a mistake, the Blueshirts will make you pay.
Conversely, they often trust their goaltender to bail them out when they misstep.
New Jersey Devils Left Wing Erik Haula Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
That means the Devils — a team that thrives in transition — need to remain patient and allow the game to come to them.
It may seem counter-intuitive for New Jersey to play that way, but it’s the script you must stick to against a clinical team like the Rangers.
And it does seem that the Devils have finally learned that lesson. It may have taken two games, but the Devils seemed much more composed on the puck in Game 3 and were not forcing plays that were not there for the taking.
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By playing that way, it naturally limits the number of chances the Blueshirts can create on the counterattack.
The Rangers generated a total of 18 high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5 in Games 1 and 2, but were limited to just five in Game 3.
The other wrinkle that the Devils threw into the mix in Game 3 was the decision to start 22-year-old rookie Akira Schmid in goal instead of Vitek Vanecek.
Schmid was terrific in 18 games during the regular season, but it was not expected that we’d see the Swiss netminder make his playoff debut in such a high-pressure spot.
Jacob Trouba #8 of the New York Rangers skates NHLI via Getty Images
Schmid responded with a stellar performance, stopping 35 of 36 shots he faced.
With the Devils looking like they’re ready to commit to a more pragmatic, probing style of hockey to slow the game down and Schmid in goal, there’s value on the under and/or to bet this game to go to overtime at +320.
Devils vs. Rangers picks
Under 6 (-110, BetMGM) | 60-minute draw (+320, Caesars)