The rivalry between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers (aka Battle of the Hudson) has been one of the greatest rivalries in sports for a few decades. Separated by only 13.2 miles, engaging with opponents’ fans is sometimes a part of everyday life.
After lacking some flare in recent years, the rivalry between the Devils and Rangers was brought back to life last season, culminating in a thrilling seven-game playoff series where the Devils came out on top.
Since then, there’s been constant discourse on social media between the two fanbases. For about a decade, it was the Rangers who were competitive while the Devils underperformed and fought for lottery picks. The Devils and their young talent finally caught up and now appear to be a powerhouse in the NHL.
That has become a perfect formula to reignite the rivalry. Rangers fans are reasonably upset about their defeat and look forward to revenge, while Devils fans want to back up their claims that their series victory wasn’t a fluke.
The regular season matchup in 2022-23 was very entertaining, with memorable moments coming from both sides. In their first three matchups, a team held a 2-0 lead early on. All three times, the team with that lead lost.
Hudson River Rivalry = Entertaining Hockey
In their first matchup on Nov. 28, 2022, the Rangers came out flying, scoring two goals in the first 3:01 of play. The Devils responded by scoring four unanswered goals in less than 25 minutes, immediately setting the tone for the relentlessness we’d see by both teams in future games. The Rangers pulled within one on a Vincent Trocheck goal, but the Devils added an empty netter to win 5-3 at The Garden.
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They were back at MSG on Dec. 12, 2022, but this time, the script was flipped. The Devils stormed out to an immediate 2-0 lead within the first five minutes. The Rangers battled back, eventually tying it at three before sending the game to overtime. Filip Chytil won it with a perfect wrist shot past Vitek Vanecek, sending Rangers fans into a frenzy. That was only the Devils’ second loss in 13 road games.
The series headed to the Prudential Center for the first time on Jan. 7, 2023, where the script was flipped once more. Goals from Jimmy Vesey and Julien Gauthier put the Rangers up by two, but the Devils later knotted it at three. Jack Hughes scored two of their goals and assisted on the other. In a surprising twist, Damon Severson played hero in overtime, scoring his third goal of the year with a wrister past Igor Shesterkin.
In their final regular season matchup at The Rock on March 30, 2023, the Devils squeaked out a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Erik Haula and Timo Meier. Vanecek stole the show, stopping 24 of 25 shots for a .960 save percentage (SV%).
Playoffs Did Not Disappoint
With how competitive the regular season matchups were, many predicted their playoff series to finish in seven games. Initially, it did not appear that way though. The Rangers stifled the Devils in back-to-back games, winning both by a score of 5-1. The Devils seemed to be no match for the Rangers’ physicality or their powerplay. Chris Kreider alone had four powerplay goals, to the Devils’ team total of one.
Going into The Garden down 2-0 in the series seemed like an almost impossible feat to come back from. Rookie goaltender Akira Schmid was called upon to hopefully rejuvenate the Devils, and he did exactly that. He stopped 35 of 36 (.972 SV%) in Game 3 as the Devils finally edged out a win, thanks to a Dougie Hamilton overtime winner. In Game 4, Schmid did more of the same, stopping 22 of 23 (.957 SV%) as Jonas Siegenthaler played hero with the game-winning goal to knot the series at two.
The series went back to The Rock for a crucial Game 5, where Ondrej Palat scored just 39 seconds into the contest. That ended up being the game-winning goal, as Schmid stopped all 23 shots en route to a 4-0 shutout, moving the Devils one win away from taking the series.
As expected, the Rangers did not go down without a fight in front of their home crowd. They dominated the Devils by a score of 5-2, as Kreider picked up his fifth powerplay goal of the series. In storybook fashion, the series was sent back to The Rock for a winner-take-all Game 7.
It seemed that after all the back-and-forth, the youthfulness of the Devils prevailed, as the Rangers ran out of steam. The Devils took Game 7 by a score of 4-0, thanks to Schmid stopping all 31 shots.
Devils fans have since had ultimate bragging rights, but a new season is on the horizon and each team now gets a clean slate.
Must-See Event
Thanks to the tumultuous nature of their rivalry last season, excitement is now at an all-time high for the two squads to face off once again. The teams will match up during the preseason for the first time on Sept. 28, 2023. According to TickPick, the get-in price starts at $59 per ticket. That’s right, for a preseason game.
With regular season tickets having recently gone on sale, demand is at an all-time high. The cheapest ticket for any of their four contests is now $145 on April 3, 2024, at The Garden.
Here is the schedule for the team’s matchups this season:
- NJD @ NYR (7:00 PM ET, 9/28/2023) *Preseason*
- NYR @ NJD (7:00 PM ET, 10/4/2023) *Preseason*
- NYR @ NJD (7:00 PM ET, 11/18/2023)
- NYR @ NJD (7:00 PM ET, 2/22/2024)
- NJD @ NYR (7:00 PM ET, 3/11/2024)
- NJD @ NYR (7:30 PM ET, 4/3/2024)
Both teams are likely playoff contenders, which should help maintain the enthusiasm and level of excitement amongst fanbases. Just look at how Google searches for their rivalry spiked worldwide once playoff time arrived:
Hockey fans all around the globe love fierce, competitive rivalries. And that is exactly what they got with the Hudson River Rivalry last season.
Player to Watch: Artemi Panarin
When Artemi Panarin is going well, the Rangers are going well. He scored 92 points (29 goals, 63 assists) last season, while not missing a single game. However, the Devils seemed to have his number all season. He only had two points (one goal, one assist) in his four regular season games versus the Devils. He then had two assists in Game 1 of the playoffs but failed to record a single point in each of the remaining six contests (from ‘Artemi Panarin’s scoreless playoffs for Rangers starting to become a concern,’ New York Post, April 23, 2023).
The fact of the matter is that Panarin is too good to let that happen again this season. He is among the elite players in the NHL, and you can expect him to put up big numbers against New Jersey. He was so bothered with how he performed, that he even resorted to shaving his head to “remove evil forces that may have been in his hair” (via B/R Open Ice).
He is the type of player who could single-handedly swing the outcome of a game, and I would not be surprised to see him play at an elite level against the Devils this season.
Player to Watch: Jack Hughes
Hughes found a pretty high level of success against the Rangers last season. In the regular season, he registered six points (four goals, two assists). All four of his goals were at even strength.
Shesterkin is arguably the greatest netminder on the planet right now, but Hughes seems to have him figured out.
Hughes backed up his regular season with three goals and two assists in his first career playoff series. Like Panarin, he can single-handedly change the momentum in a contest, which he has done against the Rangers plenty of times already.
Devils/Rangers Coming Soon
Buckle up and prepare for some more nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat hockey between these two fierce rivals. Every single moment will be magnified due to the current stakes. Only time will tell what glorious moments the Hudson River rivalry will bring us this year, but it’s safe to say it will be exciting. It’s up to the Devils to maintain their bragging rights, or the Rangers to flip the script.