Did anyone expect them to not look flat and out of sync out there? With this horrendeus scheduling, I cannot blame them. Some teams have played 8 games before tonight, most have played 7. The NYR had played 3(!). For a supposedly "professional" league, that's unacceptable. NYR launched out of the gates and looked hot and ready, but had NO games to keep the flow going. NHL players need to play to keep up with the tempo.
Were there seriously NO teams NYR could've played against during this period of time? Not a single way to squeeze in an away game against teams also not playing? Apparently not. We all know MSG is a circus arena, with literal circuses performing, so I can understand october is a horrible month for hockey, apparently. And apparently the priority for hockey isn't that high.
There's no point in resting, when there's nothing to rest for. You can't nurse injuries, when you haven't played any games to get injured in. It just gave the entire team the perfect recipe for a cold streak. I honestly put alot of blame on both the loss against Edmonton and this one against NJ on this Mickey Mouse league.
NYR's season basically started half a month later than the rest of the league and you will obviously struggle to win games, when you face teams who are in the game flow, while you're not.