Since stunning the New Jersey Devils in Game 1 and 2 at Prudential Arena with resounding 5-1 victories, the New York Rangers have failed to show up in the following games.
The Rangers suffered another defeat in the series, this time the New Jersey Devils gave them no opportunity to score a goal and defeated them with a commanding 4-0 scoreline on Thursday.
The level of performance has significantly dropped for the Rangers since their first two victories and there was no flow in their gameplay on Thursday. Rangers fans have been furious with their team's continuation of a poor run of performances.
Here's how fans reacted to Rangers' 4-0 defeat on Thursday:
New York Rangers are now on the brink of elimination
The Rangers' star offense once again went invisible in the game. The duo of Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin were again scoreless in the game. Igor Shesterkin had no help from his team tonight.
After getting off to a great start, there has been a huge drop in Vladimir Tarasenko's performance while Patrick Kane continues to be bodied off the puck in the series. After their first two defeats, the New Jersey Devils now look more confident than the Rangers.
Coming into Game 5, the New Jersey Devils started the game in dominant fashion early in the first period. With just 39 seconds into the first period, Ondrej Palat scored the opening goal for the team after picking up a rebound following the face-off to send the puck back into the net.
Coming into the second period, Erik Haula tipped in Dawson Mercer's shot in front of the net on a powerplay to make it 2-0 for the Devils. Ten minutes later, Mercer extended the Devils' lead to 3-0 after notching the puck back into the net for a short-handed goal.
The Rangers looked completely exhausted and failed to get past Akira Schmid. At the 14:48 mark of the third period, Erik Haula scored his second goal of the night in an empty net to help the New Jersey Devils secure a resounding 4-0 victory.
The New Jersey Devils now lead the series 3-2 and have put the New York Rangers on the edge of getting eliminated. The series is not over yet, and the New York Rangers have Game 6 to make their comeback.
The Hudson River Rivalry will continue on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.