NEWARK, N.J. _ Jack Hughes can add another item to the list of his NHL firsts: An injury.
The first overall draft pick was absent Saturday in the latest edition of the Hudson River Rivalry.
Maybe Hughes' presence would have boosted the dismal power play, but one player wouldn't have been able to save the New Jersey Devils from a disastrous special teams performance like the one they showcased in a 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers at Prudential Center.
No one saw Adam Fox sneaking in through the back door on a power play in the first period. Kaapo Kakko slid him a cross-ice feed from the right circle and he hammered it behind Mackenzie Blackwood (19 saves) to put the Rangers up, 1-0.
This was an early indicator that the game would be dictated by special teams play. The problem is, the Devils are much better 5-on-5 than they are at any other strength. They went 0 for 4 on the power play through the first two periods and had 3:28 of extra-man time to begin the third period after goalie Alexandar Georgiev (33 saves) clipped Wayne Simmonds with a high-stick and it resulted in a double-minor.
Two of the three third-period power plays resulted in two goals for the Rangers. They finished the day 0 for 8.
A turnover on the leftover power play resulted in Mika Zibanejad finishing off a 2-on-1 at 2:35. A five-minute boarding major for Chris Kreider resulted in Zibanejad setting up Jesper Fast for a short-handed goal at 5:52.
Power-play adjustments were made throughout the game. P.K. Subban did not see any power play time through the first two periods, but then replaced Damon Severson on the second unit in the third period. Sami Vatanen went down to the second unit and Will Butcher came up to the first.
Forwards were flipped around. The Devils tried and failed to make numerous plays but it all went for naught against a team that has only been OK on the penalty kill as of late.
Special teams have been a problem all season, but they were magnified in a bad shutout loss to their area rivals.
