Welcome to April Hockey. It’s a splendid time of year, depending on who you root for. Some teams have playoff spots locked up and are using the final few games of the regular season to get themselves ready for the postseason. Some teams have already been eliminated from the race and are looking forward to next year. And others still are fighting to squeak into the playoffs. 

On Saturday afternoon, April 5, 2025, the New Jersey Devils hosted the New York Rangers for a matinee at Prudential Center that served as the fourth and final meeting of the season between the two archrivals. The result was a 4-0 victory for the Garden State squad that put an emphatic end to the Tale of Two Cities-esque series of battles waged between the two longtime foes this season. Jacob Markstrom picked up his fourth shutout of the year, his second against the Rangers. Nico Hischier tallied a goal and two assists. Timo Meier continued his hot stretch with two more goals. And Jesper Bratt added to his superb season with two more points (one goal, one assist). 

Here’s a brief recap of how the season series unfolded. 

First, on December 2nd, the Devils visited the Blueshirts at Madison Square Garden and promptly routed their foes 5-1. That win kickstarted an 8-4-1 stretch during the month of December for the Garden Staters. New Jersey also hosted New York for a game at Prudential Center on December 23rd that went very much like the first one, only this time, the Devils won via shutout, 5-0. Then, in January, while the Devils struggled to the tune of a 5-5-3 record, the two teams convened in New York on the 9th. That game saw the Devils fall 3-2 in overtime. 

Now, almost three months later, they met for the final time this season, in Newark. Before the game, Devils’ Head Coach Sheldon Keefe was asked about the rivalry and he said, “It’s been fun. (You) recognize the emotions of the game, I think the players recognize it. It’s very evident to me, those who have been here, that it means a bit more to them.” Keefe also acknowledged that this game was a chance for the Devils to start to get themselves on track after a tough stretch over the past couple of months.

“I think, with the way the standings and everything, it was a really important team game, for both teams,” Timo Meier explained. “And then, playing against the Rangers makes it even more special. Great atmosphere. Saturday afternoon game. That’s definitely one that was easy to get up for.”

As one might expect, the action was hard-hitting, early and often. Paul Cotter was on the receiving end twice in the early minutes. Timo Meier dished out a hit worthy of a Mack truck. And the Devils held the Rangers without a shot on goal for just over the first nine minutes of the game. 

The second period saw the script get flipped as it was the Devils who went the first nine-plus minutes without a shot on goal. Jacob Markstrom bailed his teammates out with a couple of clutch saves during the Rangers’ power-play, including one at the side of the net against Mika Zibanejad. 

Timo Meier flipped the script right back when the Devils went to their first power-play of the game, courtesy of a Sam Carrick interference penalty midway through the middle period. Four seconds into the power-play, Meier, off the feed from Luke Hughes, sniped the puck past Igor Shesterkin to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 10:56 of the second period. 

1:27 later, with the Devils on the penalty-kill for the second time in the game, Jesper Bratt took a feed from Nico Hischier and rifled the puck past Shesterkin to increase New Jersey’s lead to 2-0. The goal was the 150th of Bratt’s career. 

The Devils carried that 2-0 lead into the third period, which bode well for them as they entered the game 33-1-2 when leading after two periods this season. 

Timo Meier and Nico Hischier put a cap on things with two goals 1:11 apart, late in the third period, to give New Jersey its 4-0 margin of victory. For Meier, it was his second goal of the game and Hischier, his third point. 

With the 4-0 win complete, Markstrom joined Jake Allen with four shutouts apiece this season, which goes to show the Devils are in a good spot regardless of who is in net. “We push each other,” Markstrom acknowledged. “Whoever plays, you want to do whatever you can to support, to help. Shutouts are not really, we don’t talk or think about. It’s more the wins and the team’s record.”

As Keefe foretold before the game, this was indeed a chance for the Devils to get themselves on track. After the game, New Jersey’s Head Coach had this to say, “I liked our team game overall. For the most part, rolled four lines. I thought our six defensemen did a nice job. Everybody sort of made their mark on the game. Obviously, goaltending was tremendous and just got better and better as the game wore on and we needed him a little bit more. But yeah, I thought, because our team game was so good, like at five-on-five, I mean, there’s not a lot there either way for both teams, but we didn’t give up very much at all at five-on-five. 

“Played a real disciplined game, gave our special teams the opportunity to make the difference in the game. And obviously, between the power-play goal, the short-hand goal and the empty net goal, that’s huge.”

The win also meant the Devils went 3-0-1 against the Rangers this season, including 2-0 at home. It’s that type of home ice feel that is so important at this time of year. “Yeah, (we) just (gotta) work on it,” Nico Hischier explained. “In the playoffs, it’s huge. If the fans have your back in your own barn, you’re just gonna be good. You gotta soak that energy in from the rink and today was a fun game. Fans showed up and we were able to put down a solid effort.”

An all-around full team effort for the Devils. And one that they’ll need to learn to replicate consistently if April Hockey is going to turn into May Hockey for the Garden State squad.