With the No. 2 spot in the Metropolitan Division on the line, the Rangers missed an opportunity. 

The Devils, no doubt feeling the heat from the losses that have piled up for them lately, scored twice in the third period to force overtime before Damon Severson net the game-winner 2:47 into the extra period, which handed the Rangers a frustrating, 4-3 loss Saturday afternoon at Prudential Center in front of a split crowd of red and blue. 

A regulation win would’ve allowed the Rangers to pass the Devils in the standings, but instead, the Blueshirts had to settle for a single point after blowing a two-goal lead at the start of the third period. 

“Just got to get the job done,” said Jimmy Vesey, who scored the first of the Rangers’ three goals through 40 minutes. “I don’t know what we did necessarily to give up two goals, but it was a big game, divisional game, and we could’ve passed them in the standings. It’s probably a period that we might want back. We’ve just got to get the job done.” 

It was, of course, Jack Hughes who kept the Devils in the game with two key goals that extended his scoring streak to five straight contests. His first cut the Rangers’ lead to 2-1 at 9:24 of the second period, when Hughes intercepted Barclay Goodrow’s pass back to the Rangers zone and split two defensemen, Braden Schneider and Ben Harpur, for the Devils’ first shot of the day that beat goalie Igor Shesterkin. 

After Chris Kreider cleaned up a rebound off K’Andre Miller’s drive to the net later in the middle frame, Jesper Bratt scored a power-play goal for the Devils roughly 8 ½ minutes into the third to make it a one-goal game once again. 

Hughes then scored his 19th goal in the last 20 games to even the score at three-all with 9:28 left in regulation, burying a puck that deflected right to his stick off a shot from the point. 

“They got that power-play goal and you knew they were going to get some momentum,” Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said afterward. “They had some great chances in the first two periods, but once they got that power-play goal in the third, they started to carry that momentum a little bit. Like I said to our guys, ‘We’ve got to keep playing, we’ve got to keep forechecking.’ You’re not going to beat that team by standing there and watching them get speed in the neutral zone. They took it to us a little bit.” 

Despite Shesterkin’s 39-save performance, the Rangers started giving up one too many odd-man rushes beginning in the second period, and it quickly fueled the Devils’ game. The quality of Devils’ scoring chances improved, and with that, the Rangers were suddenly on their heels when they were supposed to be closing out their opponent. That hasn’t always come naturally to the Rangers this season, which is a trait they’ll have to improve if they hope to keep up in a tight division race. 

While the Rangers have worked toward turning their season around in the past month or so, the Devils entered having lost 10 of their past 13 games after piecing together one of the best starts in the NHL. Their win on Saturday ended an eight-game losing streak at The Rock and should act as a morale boost. 

That second point the Rangers missed out on, however, could prove to be a critical one down the line.