Goalie Fight Highlights Otherwise Meaningless Rangers Win Over Devils

The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils are both well out of the playoff race, but they still managed to deliver some high-level entertainment in their latest clash.

Tuesday night was a far cry from the epic cross-Hudson River battles we saw between the Rangers and Devils in the '90s, but ultimately it was the blueshirts coming out on top in this one by a 4-1 final. Mika Zibanejad scored his 33rd goal of the season for the Rangers, while J.T. Miller potted the eventual game-winner during a first-period power play. Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 of 23 Devils shots for the Rangers in the victory.

The real highlight, however, was a third-period goalie fight between Shesterkin and the Devils' Jakob Markstrom. Fighting in general has become relatively rare in the NHL, and one between two netminders even more so, which makes this a much-welcomed novelty, regardless of who comes out on top.

The Devils and Rangers are 13th and 16th in the Eastern Conference entering Wednesday, respectively. So this game meant nothing, except in the draft lottery, where Tankathon projects the Rangers to land at fourth overall, with the Devils at 14th. Unfortunately, that's the most interesting topic for Hudson River-area NHL fans at this point.