Rangers at Devils
Taylor Hall is riding high on the strength of yet another pronounced point streak to put the New Jersey Devils on the cusp of their first playoff appearance since 2011-12. Hall carries an eight-game point streak (six goals, seven assists) into Tuesday's tilt versus the visiting New York Rangers, who have dropped six of their last eight as they prepare to miss the NHL's second season for the first time since 2009-10.
Hall scored New Jersey's NHL-best 12th short-handed goal late in the third period of Sunday's 2-1 win over Montreal, improving the Devils to 5-0-1 in their last six and moving them within one point of third-place Columbus and Philadelphia in the Metropolitan Division. "I scored a shortie. I'm not much of a shorthanded threat, but it's nice to get one," said the 26-year-old Hall, who has been quite the threat by denting the scoresheet in 35 of his last 38 contests to push his career-high totals in goals (37) and points (89). While New Jersey bids for a postseason berth, New York made certain that Carolina was removed from the picture with a 2-1 triumph on Saturday. Kevin Hayes, who scored a short-handed goal versus the Hurricanes to extend his point streak to three games, joins teammate Jimmy Vesey with two tallies in three meetings this season with New Jersey.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus, MSG 2
ABOUT THE RANGERS (34-36-9): Mats Zuccarello (undisclosed) and Jesper Fast (groin) are expected to miss the final three games of the season, coach Alain Vigneault told reporters on Monday. "He blocked a couple of shots the last couple games," Vigneault said of the 30-year-old Zuccarello, who leads the team in both assists (36) and points (52). The 26-year-old Fast had been heating up with 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in his last 12 contests.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (42-28-9): Nico Hischier, whose 51 points trail only Hall for top honors on the team, scored his 19th goal of the season on Sunday to move into fourth-place ties on a pair of franchise rookie lists. The top overall pick of the 2017 NHL draft, Hischier pulled even with Scott Gomez (1999-2000) for the fourth-most goals while his 51 points matched Adam Henrique (2011-12). "It's not just one guy, it's the whole team that believes," said Hischier, who opted to talk about team accomplishments. "We stick (together) for each other and battle for each other."
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey G Keith Kinkaid, who is a New York native, has started six in a row and owns a sterling 14-3-1 mark since Feb. 13.
2. The Rangers have collected at least one point in 18 of their last 23 meetings (14-5-4) with the Devils.
3. Tuesday's game features the last two Hobey Baker Award winners in Vesey (2015-16, Harvard) and New Jersey D Will Butcher (2016-17, Denver).