The Devils on Sunday were still buzzing about the magnificent performance by their rookie goaltender in Saturday night’s 2-1 overtime win over the Rangers in Game 3 at the Garden.
Akira Schmid, a 22-year-old from Switzerland playing in his first career playoff game after being called on to replace struggling starter Vitek Vanecek, saved 35 of the 36 Rangers shots and stymied them on their five power plays.
“We won the game because of him,’’ Devils captain Nico Hishier said Sunday. “He’s shown it all season — stayed calm in any situation — and he gave us a hell of a game.’’
Devils coach Lindy Ruff was asked on Sunday if he could have imagined that kind of performance from Schmid given the pressurized circumstance with New Jersey’s season on the brink, down 2-0 to the Rangers, and playing at Madison Square Garden.
“What I didn’t imagine was that I would get the performance that he gave us during the regular season,’’ Ruff said. “When we put [him] in — sometimes during games, sometimes starting — his numbers were good. I don’t think it’s by accident.’’
Schmid started 14 games in the regular season and had a 9-5 record with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.
Akira Schmid is congratulated by teammates after the Devils beat the Rangers, 2-1 in overtime, in Game 3 of their opening-round playoff series on Saturday.Getty Images
Akira Schmid makes one of his 35 saves in Game 3 of the Devils’ first-round playoff series against the Rangers on Saturday night at the Garden. Getty ImagesThose numbers were slightly better than Vanecek’s averages (2.45 goals-against and a .911 save percentage).
But Vanecek, who started 48 of the Devils 82 games this season, compiled a 33-11-4 regular-season record.
As good as Schmid was, the Devils played better as a team in front of him than they had for Vanecek in the previous two games, when there were numerous defensive breakdowns — particularly on the Rangers’ power play.
“We played our best game in front of our goaltender [Saturday] night which really helped,’’ Ruff said. “But at the same time, [Schmid] made key saves when he needed to make key saves.’’
Jack Hughes, the Devils’ young star and leading scorer who scored the first New Jersey goal in Game 3, didn’t sound surprised at how Schmid played and how calmly he went about it.
“We know what he’s like — he’s kind of like stone-cold, always poised and relaxed,’’ Hughes said. “We kind of left [Vanecek] out there [to dry], didn’t play very well as a team and we let him down. He’s been our goalie all year.
“But we have a lot of confidence with Schmid coming in. I think he showed everyone how good he is, and we’d like him to keep that going.’’
What Schmid has in store for an encore in Game 4 will be one of the key subplots on Monday night at the Garden.
