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Devils Troll Rangers During Big Win

The New Jersey Devils made sure to twist the knife while blowing out their heated rival New York Rangers.

Nick Horwat

Dec 23, 2024; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils center Dawson Mercer (91) celebrates his goal against the New York Rangers during the third period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
Dec 23, 2024; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils center Dawson Mercer (91) celebrates his goal against the New York Rangers during the third period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
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The rivalry between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils is one of the best in the NHL’s history, but it’s been pretty lopsided through the first half of the 2024-25 season. The Devils have gotten the better of the Rangers by a combined score of 10-1 in a pair of games.

The Devils dominated the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in early December with a 5-1 win, then followed that with a 5-0 shutout performance before heading into the holiday break. Not only did the Devils get the upper hand on home ice, the team and fans made sure to troll the struggling Rangers.

As the Rangers saw their losing skid extend to 4-13-0 in their last 17 games, the Devils fans in attendance had some good taunts up their sleeve.

Even though Igor Shesterkin was on the bench serving as the backup, Devils fans at the Prudential Center jeered for the league’s highest-paid goalie. “Igor” chants rang out from the crowd as the Devils laid a beatdown on the Rangers.

The crowd was quick to adjust the taunting and turned their attention to Kaapo Kakko. Another player who wasn’t on the ice for the Rangers, but that’s due to them trading Kakko to the Seattle Kraken amidst their brutal slide.

The Devils eventually got in on the action by showing a clip from the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. The Devils and Rangers had the first two picks of that draft, and the Rangers’ faithful were pretty excited to see the Devils take Jack Hughes first overall.

A popular video from that draft is a watch party at Madison Square Garden cheering for the Devils taking Hughes with their first pick. Hughes had two goals and an assist in the recent win, and the Devils played that video for the Prudential Center crowd.

The screen changed to show Hughes’ career stats against the Rangers, and he couldn’t help but laugh. In 22 games against the Rangers, Hughes has scored 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 total points.

The Devils doubled down on the viral video by posting it to social media. Instead of the MSG scoreboard showing the draft, the Devils media team edited a giant “L” on the screen for all the Rangers’ fans to cheer for.

The Rangers are in a world of pain heading into the holiday break, and the Devils made sure to let them know about it.

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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