Rangers score three in first, defeat Devils

NEW YORK -- Ryan Strome scored two goals in his 400th NHL game when the New York Rangers won 5-2 against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The Rangers scratched defenseman Adam McQuaid and forwards Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes with the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline on Monday at 3 p.m. ET. Each player can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
WATCH: [All Devils at Rangers highlights]
Jimmy Vesey and Chris Kreider each had a goal and an assist, Brady Skjei scored, Pavel Buchnevich and Mika Zibanejad each had two assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 19 saves for the Rangers (27-26-8), who are 10 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"There are a ton of emotions on a day like this and it's a tough time of the year, but I'm proud with how the guys battled," Kreider said.
Kenny Agostino and Andy Greene scored, and Cory Schneider made 29 saves for the Devils (24-30-8).
The Rangers scored three goals in the opening 14:23 of the game to take a 3-0 lead. New York was 1-for-3 on the power play.

"We just have to keep moving forward," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "There's a lot of things that go into this game that can allow you to have success, other than talent. Don't get me wrong, you need talent, but you got to be mentally tough, well-conditioned, resilient and smart, and you got to play for each other in a structure. If you can do those things, you give yourself a chance night in and night out."
Devils forward Marcus Johansson was a healthy scratch for the second straight game.
"Players got to be ready to play and we weren't ready to go," New Jersey coach John Hynes said. "We had guys playing different roles (in the absence of players) and learning on the job and today was by no means anywhere close to where it needs to be, and we took too many penalties."
Vesey made it 1-0 on a wrist shot 4:48 into the first period just as a penalty expired to Brett Seney for boarding.
Strome gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 8:54 when he took a no-look pass from Kreider and scored on the power play from the left face-off circle. Kreider made it 3-0 when he scored with 5:37 left in the period on his own rebound from the slot.

"In professional sports, there's a lot of stuff going on, a lot of storylines, but it's amplified this time of the year, so I think it's just about trying to be a good pro," Kreider said. "We got veterans in here like Marc Staal and Kevin Shattenkirk, guys who have been around and been through it and they lead the way."
Agostino scored his first goal for the Devils unassisted 2:20 into the third period to make it 3-1. New Jersey claimed Agostino off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 11.
Skjei scored off a slap shot from the point 11:08 into the third to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. Greene scored off a pass from Kyle Palmieri at 12:59 to pull the Devils to within 4-2.
"Physically, you're ready to play, but mentally it's a little different coming to the locker room and guys that are usually here, aren't in the room," Skjei said. "The way we competed, though, is pretty impressive with all the circumstances going on right now and the situation we're in. For us to come out and put up five goals in a big win against Jersey is pretty impressive."
Strome scored into an empty net at 19:41 for the 5-2 final.

They said it

"I think we have to have a little more pushback. I don't think we had a lot of physicality, I think we got out-competed, we got manhandled on the puck. I don't think we had much pushback at all. We were lazy at times, so we have some work to do." -- Devils coach John Hynes
"These guys have to realize they're getting evaluated every minute of every day, and people aren't going to stop watching. This is the National Hockey League and we have 20 games left so we got to keep playing. We've got to be committed to each other and they've got to be committed to their careers." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Need to know

The Devils acquired defenseman Connor Carrick and a third-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft in a trade from the Dallas Stars for defenseman Ben Lovejoy earlier in the day. ... Schneider lost for the first time in his past four decisions (3-1-0). ... Buchnevich has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past six games. ... Zibanejad has 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists) in his past 18 games. ... The Rangers are 16-6-4 against the Devils in the past 26 games.

What's next

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, TSN5, RDS, NHL.TV)
Rangers: At the Washington Capitals on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, NBCSWA, MSG, NHL.TV)