Devils’ Jack Hughes tried to ’embarrass’ Rangers star, ex-goalkeeper says ‘blatant disrespect’

While MSG analyst Steve Valiquette assessed the New York Rangers’ issues with odd-man rush defense on Monday night against the Devils, he dragged New Jersey star Jack Hughes for what he deemed “Instagram hockey.” , under criticism.

The play in particular was a breakaway, the Devils’ second of the first period at Madison Square Garden, which Hughes used to attempt a fancy play – “The Forsberg,” named after Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg, in which Hughes faked and pulled one hand off his stick to push the puck to the other side. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin stopped the puck, a temporary relief in a period that ended 2-0.

Valiquette, a former Rangers goalie who also runs Clear Sight Analytics, didn’t like the disrespect toward New York’s current goalie.

“And that’s the outlier I don’t like,” Valiquette said during the first break. “I don’t like that because Hughes wanted to embarrass Shesterkin there by slowing down and going one-handed and that should send a shockwave to everyone on the (Rangers) bench. I know in my day, (tough guy) Colton Orr hung over the bench, banged his stick and said, “I’m after you because you tried to embarrass us.” And that’s blatant disrespect . And I’m kind of surprised I didn’t see that kind of reaction from the (Rangers).”

The Rangers started their season 12-4-1 after reaching the Eastern Conference finals last season, but that was largely despite their play – Shesterkin and backup goaltender Jonathan Quick covering defensive gaps. Now they have fallen to 13-9-1.

Valiquette wanted to see an emotional response or revenge from the Rangers after Hughes took away their best player. Instead, the Rangers did nothing.

And MSG host John Giannone didn’t want to end the conversation there.

“Is that how you read it?” I’m interested in learning more about it, like, ‘What have you read about this body language or this moment?'” Giannone said. “Maybe that was it, he just knows that Igor is really good at running away and didn’t want to shoot right away.

Valiquette replied: “No, he had success against Igor by playing him straight up. And I thought he had slowed down. He wanted to make a fancy move. It was more Instagram hockey than intense hockey. There wasn’t much reconsideration, so he could do it. But I watch him behave and do things that would make a goalkeeper in training angry at a teammate because he said that would never happen in the game.

“When was the last time you saw someone score in a game with one hand, like the Forsberg move, not in a shootout, but in a game? And I think the Rangers should be upset about that.”

Hughes wasn’t held back for long, scoring his 10th and 11th goals in the second half of the second period as New Jersey took a 5-1 lead.