Devils’ Jonas Siegenthaler steps up in Game 4 victory

NEW YORK — Two games ago Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler was sitting in the press box watching the playoffs. On Monday night he was the hero for New Jersey as it tied its best-of-seven series with the Rangers’ 3-1 win at Madison Square Garden.

As Jack Hughes and Eric Haula both said after the game, “that’s playoffs.” And anyone can be the hero on any given night with Siegenthaler playing the role this time around.

It had already been a special night for the Swiss defenseman picking up his first career playoff point on Hughes’ first-period goal. The night moved from memorable to unforgettable when Siegenthaler joined the attack and Nico Hischier found his fellow countryman for a cross-ice pass that resulted in the go-ahead goal.

“I saw that little hole, you know, just try to jump in there,” Siegenthaler explained about the play. “And Nico made an incredible play to me. I was not alone in front of the net, but almost. So just tried to shoot it low glove and it went in.”

Siegenthaler had been a steady defenseman all season long, but was never a goal scorer. In fact, the defenseman had just four goals to his name during the regular season.

Head coach Lindy Ruff said he sat down with Siegenthaler after he sat him out in Game 2 in Newark and told him that he needed to be better. The message appeared to be well received, especially on Monday night as Siegenthaler recorded two points and logged 22:01 of ice time.

“Obviously, it wasn’t fun the second game, but I learned from it,” Siegenthaler said. “I went over my first game. Clearly I had to be more physical, a little harder and that’s what I’m trying to do out there. Be physical, be skating and just be hard to play against. You gotta take it shift by shift and if you do that over 60 minutes most of the time you will be successful.”

He lived up to the physical part as well, blocking three shots and being credited with two hits in his 29 shifts.

“Well, I thought his whole game (improved),” Ruff said. “Getting up with a play, his physicality down low, a lot more assertive. He gave us a heck of a game tonight on both sides of the puck.”

Siegenthaler wasn’t looking for the personal recognition after the series-tying win for the Devils and an impressive night for himself. When asked where the game stood for him in his career, he redirected the focus back onto the team the group effort that the win took.

Still, it didn’t stop others inside the Devils’ dressing room from heaping praise on him.

“Good for him. We love that,” Hughes said. “That’s playoffs. Everyone’s gonna need to chip in. … I think he had one and one, so that’s a huge game. Just driving us.”