New York Rangers Daily: Another inexcusable loss, Ducks debut for Jacob Trouba
At least the New York Rangers can’t lose another game Tuesday. Of course, that’s because it’s a day off and they’ll be traveling to Buffalo for a tilt Wednesday night. So, there’s concern that another poor effort and bad result lies in wait.
Too snarky? I think not. Did you watch the Rangers get outplayed — worse, outworked — by the last-place Chicago Blackhawks on Monday at MSG? That 2-1 loss makes it eight defeats in their past 10 games and a 9-12-0 record in 21 games (a quarter of the season) since the 5-0-1 run to begin the 2024-25 season that feels as long ago as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning campaign in 2023-24.
We’ll be diving into different aspects of the latest loss and the bigger picture Tuesday and Wednesday here at Forever Blueshirts and on the Rink Rap podcast before the puck next drops at KeyBank Center against the Sabres, who, by the way, hammered the Rangers a month ago at MSG, 6-1.
That should be a reminder that this isn’t just a blip for the Rangers. It’s who they are. And it’s put them into crisis mode less than 30 games into the season, before reaching the New Year or even the holiday season.
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Warning! Our three Rangers takeaways from the loss Monday does not contain any positives. Not saying there weren’t any — hello Will Cuylle — but the focus is all negative, as well it should be after such a lackluster effort.
After the morning skate, Igor Shesterkin was all smiles and said he was “so happy” following the birth of his daughter the day before, not to mention that contract extension he signed over the weekend making him the highest-paid goalie in NHL history. It was also interesting to hear Shesterkin discuss the outside “noise” that followed him during negotiations.
It feels pretty ironic that our Rangers week ahead story took the angle that their upcoming schedule affords them a chance to break out of a prolonged funk.
We wrote up an interesting nugget that the Rangers reportedly turned down the chance to acquire defenseman Cam Fowler in the Jacob Trouba trade with the Anaheim Ducks. Makes sense, though. Rangers were looking to shed salary to gain maneuverability under the cap. And Fowler makes $6.5 million annually through 2025-26.
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As for Trouba, the former Rangers captain made his Ducks debut in a 3-2 shootout loss up in Montreal to the Canadiens. He logged 22:35 TOI, led the Ducks with five hits, had one blocked shot and was minus-1, on ice for Kirby Dach’s tying goal in the second period.
Before the game, we posted a story about the value the Ducks see in adding Trouba to their roster.
In case you missed it, Patrik Laine remained on fire for the Canadiens. He had a goal, assist and scored in the shootout. He has three goals in four games since returning from a knee injury.
Former Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev was traded by the Colorado Avalanche to the San Jose Sharks for former New Jersey Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. We wrote up all the details here.
The Rangers next face the Sabres, who lost their seventh straight game (0-4-3) Monday. This time they blew a two-goal lead in the the third period and lost 6-5 to the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout.
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