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In the Stanley Cup playoffs, it doesn’t take long for narratives to form.

One developed quickly after the New York Rangers defeated the rival New Jersey Devils in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series: That the experienced Rangers were poised and the playoff newbie Devils were panicky.

But Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said those narratives can change quickly.

“We were the team that didn’t have ‘much experience’ last year,” Fox said after the 5-1 win in New Jersey. “It’s a long series. It’s one game.”

Can the Devils rally in the second game of this potentially long series? Here are five keys for New Jersey and the Rangers headed into Thursday night’s Battle of the Hudson:


The ‘jitters’ must end

Devils coach Lindy Ruff said it best after Game 1: The best thing that happened for his team was that they now all had at least one playoff game under their belts.

It was the first postseason action for players such as Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Dawson Mercer. As a franchise, it was the Devils’ first playoff game since 2018. The coach and his players openly talked about “jitters” after the Game 1 loss. You didn’t have to check the player biographies to figure out which team made the conference final last year and added former Stanley Cup champions at the trade deadline, and which team was the New Jersey Devils.

“That was the first playoff game for a lot of players. Until you live it, you don’t have that experience,” Ruff said.

Opening night nerves happen. Heck, the Boston Bruins admitted that they played through butterflies during their Game 1 win over Florida, and that was after the most successful regular season in NHL history. The Devils have tasted the playoffs. Now they have to show they have the stomach for them in Game 2.


Whither Meier and Palat?

Two players in the Devils’ top six with playoff experience didn’t have a significant impact in Game 1. Timo Meier, the team’s blockbuster trade deadline acquisition, tried to make something happen with two shots and two shots blocked right around Igor Shesterkin‘s crease. Ondrej Palat — signed in the offseason — had one shot from the slot and another two blocked in the zone.

Both of these players like to drive the net and create chances. Meier led the San Jose Sharks in high-danger shot attempts per 60 minutes. Palat basically earned his free-agent contract with the Devils by creating those chances in the playoffs: in 71 postseason games during the Lightning’s three trips through to the Stanley Cup Final, he led all players in high-danger shot attempts (min. 25 games).

The Rangers did a good job of limiting second-chance shots from the Devils in Game 1. They didn’t allow much chaos in front of Shesterkin. These players could remedy both problems for the Devils.


Rangers must keep Devils grounded

One of the reasons the Devils didn’t look like that offensively dynamic team that finished fifth in goals per game: The Rangers basically put them in quicksand, taking away time and space from their scorers while pushing skill players like Jack Hughes around all night.

The Rangers’ physicality accomplished two things. It disrupted the Devils’ offensive flow in the attacking zone. Hughes was Exhibit A: He averaged 3.27 giveaways per 60 minutes in the regular season and had only two of them in four games against the Rangers. In Game 1, he had five.

The Rangers also drew the Devils into more physical battles, which is very much not their game … and very much something where the Rangers had the advantage before the series, with players such as Jacob Trouba, K’Andre Miller and Barclay Goodrow. The Devils were 29th in hits per game (16.43) during the regular season; in Game 1, they delivered 30 of them.

The Rangers also saw a statistical change from the regular season to Game 1. They were 18th in blocked shots per 60 minutes heading into the series; they had 22 blocked or adjusted shots against New Jersey in Game 1.

“They forced us to play a game that limited our rush opportunities,” Ruff said. “When you have the lead, it helps with that.”


More from the Zibanejad line

It’s tricky to judge the Rangers too harshly at 5-on-5. They built an early 2-0 lead and then the game was all but over when defenseman Ryan Lindgren scored late in the second period. But the Devils had a plus-17 advantage in shot attempts and a plus-14 in scoring chances for the game at even strength.

The reunited Kid Line — Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko — was the Rangers’ strongest, playing near even in shot attempts and generating Lindgren’s goal. Artemi Panarin‘s line was beaten on possession, but generated the game’s first goal. But the Rangers’ other primary scoring line needs to be better at 5-on-5.

Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Patrick Kane were a minus-8 in shot attempts and had the lowest expected goals for any Rangers line in the game. Kane and Kreider had only one shot on goal apiece at 5-on-5, while Zibanejad didn’t have one. Seeing a lot of Mercer and Nico Hischier will do that to a line.

This line has proved it can be better than this offensively and defensively. The real question is whether coach Gerard Gallant will allow it to thrive offensively. The Rangers, by design, played a conservative Game 1. They chipped pucks in rather than carrying them in. Kane had four dump-ins and only carried the puck in three times, for example.


Special teams battles

There was no bigger disparity between the Devils and Rangers in Game 1 than on special teams. The Rangers were 2-for-3 on the power play. The Devils were 0-for-4. But it was when those successes and failures happened that mattered.

The Rangers took a penalty 1:15 into the game, and the Devils failed to get a shot on the ensuing power play. Vladimir Tarasenko scored just under two minutes after it ended for a 1-0 lead. The Rangers took another penalty at 6:09 of the first period. Again, the Devils failed to register a shot on goal during the 5-on-4. They took a penalty 1:05 after it ended, and Kreider scored the first of two Rangers power-play goals on the night to make it 2-0.

Ruff said the inability of the Devils to generate momentum from their power play was a critical factor in their loss; it created momentum for the Rangers instead.

“We were looking for the perfect play,” the coach said. “All year, we’ve been a unit that’s looked for certain plays and been able to capitalize on them. But our puck play wasn’t good enough.”

A lot wasn’t good enough for the Devils in Game 1.

“You’ve got to put the disappointment away, right away,” Ruff concluded. “We talked about it as a team this morning: You got your first taste. You take away what you can from the losses, take away what you can from the wins, and you’ve got to move on.”

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Sources: Yankees get 3B in Rockies’ McMahon

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Sources: Yankees get 3B in Rockies' McMahon

NEW YORK — The Yankees are acquiring third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Rockies in exchange for minor league pitchers Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

The Yankees will assume the remainder of 30-year-old McMahon’s contract, which includes approximately $4.5 million for the remainder of 2025 and $32 million over the next two seasons.

An All-Star last season, McMahon was batting .217 with 16 home runs and a .717 OPS in 100 games for Colorado in 2025. He hit home runs in the first two games after the All-Star break and another on Tuesday and is on pace to keep his four-year 20-homer streak alive.

While the production has resulted in a 92 OPS+, which suggests McMahon has been 8% worse than the average major league hitter this season, he still represents a significant offensive upgrade at third base for New York.

The Yankees have had Oswald Peraza, one of the worst hitters in the majors, manning third base nearly every day since the club decided to release DJ LeMahieu, another former Rockies player, earlier this month and move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base. Peraza, while a strong defender, is slashing .147/.208/.237 in 69 games this season. His 24 wRC+ ranks last among the 310 hitters with at least 160 plate appearances this season.

Defensively, McMahon is a Gold Glove-caliber third baseman whose four Outs Above Average is third in the majors this season. He joins a Yankees club that has been marred by sloppy defense, most recently on Wednesday when it committed four errors in a defensive meltdown against the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.

Herring, 22, has recorded a 1.71 ERA in 89⅓ innings across 16 starts between Low- and High-A this season. He was a sixth-round pick out of LSU in the 2024 draft.

Grosz, an 11th-round pick in 2023, had a 4.14 ERA in 87 innings over 16 games (15 starts) for High-A Hudson Valley this season.

With third base addressed, the Yankees will continue to seek to acquire pitchers to bolster both their rotation and bullpen.

MLB.com first reported on the Yankees trading for McMahon.

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Mets trade for reliever in Orioles left-hander Soto

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Mets trade for reliever in Orioles left-hander Soto

The Mets acquired left-handed reliever Gregory Soto from the Orioles on Friday in exchange for two minor leaguers in what could be the first of multiple moves by New York to bolster its bullpen before the trade deadline Thursday.

The trade, which sent Class A right-hander Wellington Aracena and Double-A right-hander Cameron Foster to Baltimore, gives the Mets a hard-throwing left-hander to complement the club’s only lefty on the roster, Brooks Raley, who returned from Tommy John surgery last week.

Soto, who is 30 and was an All-Star with the Detroit Tigers in 2021 and 2022, has posted a 3.96 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate in 45 appearances this season. The Mets will be his fourth team since the 2022 season.

On Monday, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns plainly signaled that upgrading the bullpen for the stretch run is his top priority.

The need is clear. Injuries and overuse have depleted a relief corps that led the majors in bullpen ERA through May 31. Since June 1, the group has posted 4.52 ERA, good for 23rd in the majors.

Aracena, 20, is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 17 games for St. Lucie. The Orioles said he is one of two pitchers in the minors this season to have thrown at least 60 innings without surrendering a home run.

Foster, 26, is 5-2 with two saves and a 2.97 ERA while pitching at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

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Fenway concession workers strike for Sox series

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Fenway concession workers strike for Sox series

BOSTON — Hundreds of Aramark workers at Fenway Park are on strike and planning to stay out for all of a homestand between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers starting Friday night.

Concession workers had set a deadline of noon Friday for Aramark and Fenway Park to reach an agreement with the Local 26 chapter of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island hotel, casino, airport and food services workers union.

The union went on strike at noon asking for “living wages, guardrails on technology and R-E-S-P-E-C-T!”

With the Red Sox and Dodgers scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. EDT, union officials had a request for fans attending this homestand with food and beer workers on strike.

“We’re asking you to NOT buy concessions inside the ballpark,” Local 26 wrote on social media. “Tailgate before the games!”

Union workers walked the picket line wearing green T-shirts declaring “FENWAY WORKERS ON STRIKE.” They carried signs in the shape of a baseball proclaiming Local 26.

The Red Sox go out of town Monday with a game that night at Minnesota.

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