Rangers can’t stop Jack Hughes again, fall 6-3 to Devils: Takeaways
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The New York Rangers were outplayed, outscored and out-Hughesed by their cross-river rivals, the New Jersey Devils, in a 6-3 loss at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. It was their second straight loss after a four-game winning streak – and their second loss to New Jersey in as many games this month. The Rangers “limited” Devils center Jack Hughes to a goal and two assists after the Team USA Olympic hero had a hat trick and an assist in New Jersey’s 6-3 win at Prudential Center 11 days ago.
But the goal was a backbreaker – the Rangers had closed 4-3 midway through the third period and were dominating play for one of the few times during the game, only to see Hughes beat Jonathan Quick with a rocket from the left circle at 13:06 to put New Jersey back up by two. Jesper Bratt’s goal at 16:22 rubbed the Rangers’ noses in their inability to stop the Devils’ high-powered attack. The Dark Knight of the Hudson River Rivalry.
pic. twitter. com/jYN2nof17T — New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 19, 2026 “We weren’t good enough,” coach Mike Sullivan said.
“I don’t think we were good enough all night long. We pushed in the third, but it’s hard to win games when you only play a period. ” Quick was one of the few Rangers who showed up.
He was deluged with scoring chances (35 for the game, including 14 high-danger opportunities for New Jersey, according to Natural Stat Trick) all night but kept his team in the game until Hughes’ goal. The Rangers got goals from Vladislav Gavrikov, Mika Zibanejad and Conor Sheary. But they were outshot 39-17 and out-attempted 65-44 as New Jersey overcame a shaky effort by Jacob Markstrom to win their third straight game.
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