The New Jersey Devils will live or die with their youth, and that’s true everywhere, even in net.
For the second game in a row, a goalkeeper relatively unknown to the general public helped them neutralize the dangerous Rangers attack. This goalkeeper is Akira Schmid, a 22-year-old Swiss, a distant fifth-round pick. He blocked 22 of 23 shots for the New Yorkers en route to a 3-1 victory for the Devils on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
In the cables after losing Games 1 and 2 at home, the Devils therefore level the score 2-2 in their first round series, and regain the advantage of the ice, with Games 5 and 7 (if necessary) in the capital of nail salons, Newark.
This return from the Devils coincided with the arrival of Schmid in goal. The club’s other goalkeeper, Vitek Vanecek, has allowed 9 goals on 52 shots in the first two games, while Schmid has just allowed 2 on 59 shots.
This time, however, Schmid was backed up by teammates who were as tight as possible, lacking in turnovers and overnumbers. According to Natural Stat Trick, the New Yorkers got just seven scoring chances (from 15) at 5-5.
But he shone at the right time, for example at the very start of the match, when the trio of children – loose translation of the “kid line” – threatened. Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafrenière obtained quality chances in quick succession, all repelled by the Swiss goalkeeper. Following that of Lafrenière, defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler lobbed the puck in the neutral zone, where Jack Hughes went like a rocket to score on the breakaway. Time to say “rhododendron” was 1-0 Devils. It could well have been 1-0 Rangers.
Schmid was not perfect either, sometimes generous in terms of return, as on the only goal he allowed. He also almost blundered on a relatively innocuous game by Patrick Kane.
The fact remains that winning games in the playoffs, at this age, is an achievement in itself. The last goaltender under 23 to have two playoff wins in the same year? Carter Hart, in 2020. Before him? Matt Murray, during the Penguins’ Stanley Cup conquests in 2016 and 2017. In short, it’s not exactly the norm.
It would be ironic if the franchise powered by Martin Brodeur won its first series since 2012 with a goalkeeper of this profile. That said, between winning a series and establishing himself as the long-term number 1 goaltender, there is a step that will not be taken so quickly in Schmid’s career.
But the Devils are fueled by youth. Hughes, 21, was once again the more dominant striker of both teams. Less flamboyant, 24-year-old Nico Hischier cast a curse on Mika Zibanejad, turning him into a draft. Hischier’s faceoff performance (65% overall, 75% against Zibanejad) arguably didn’t hurt.
In defence, Siegenthaler may be a bit older, at 25, but he’s not overflowing with experience. His goal midway through the 3rd period was his first in the NHL playoffs, in his 14th game.
Our Swiss friends who stayed up to watch the game got their money’s worth with these performances by Schmid, Hischier and Siegenthaler. A little less with Timo Meier, let’s say it.
Speaking of youth, Lafrenière finished the evening at -2, but here is a case that demonstrates the imperfection of this statistic.
The trio he forms with Kakko and Filip Chytil has indeed generated most of the all-too-rare moments of “Blue Shirts” energy. Head coach Gerard Gallant named this unit to start the 3rd period, when the Devils score was still 1-0, a decision that speaks volumes.
In the end, Lafrenière owes his differential to the first goal of the game, after he had a chance to score, and to that of insurance, in an empty net.
The Quebecer does not yet have a point in this series, but his trio is holding its own, in the shadows. And if Rangers were to let this streak slip away after being so dominant in the first two games, eyes would be much more on the team’s ultra-talented top six. When a GM lands two of the hottest strikers on the market at the end of the season (Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko), a first-round defeat remains inexplicable.
But it is precisely thanks to this offensive punch, and the inexperience of the opposing goalkeeper, that the Rangers should not be buried. Only, the pressure now rests on their shoulders.
