New York Rangers Daily: Jonathan Quick heroics, dramatic Avalanche win
New year, new result for the New York Rangers. After closing out 2024 on a four-game losing streak and dropping 15 of their final 19 games in the year, the Rangers opened 2025 with a solid 2-1 win against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Yes, they could’ve easily lost this one, too. After a fast start, the Rangers’ expected goals share shrank considerably the final two periods and they looked to be hanging on late. But Jonathan Quick simply wouldn’t let them lose, stopping 24 of 25 shots in the second and third periods, and 32 overall to backstop only their second victory in the past nine games.
But the bottom line is that the Rangers competed hard, grabbed an early lead, held on to it, got great goaltending and won the game. Two points are two points, and they’ve been few and far between for the Rangers this season, especially the past two months.
“He made a lot of good saves, but then he made two or three really great saves that we needed at that point,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said about Quick, specifically in the second period.
For at least one night, the Rangers didn’t have to worry about Igor Shesterkin landing on IR. Mika Zibanejad finally scored and was again cheered by the Garden faithful, Alexis Lafreniere woke up with six shots on goal and there was a chance to exhale after a good victory.
Next up are the first-place Washington Capitals on Saturday.
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New York Rangers news
Check put our three takeaways from the 2-1 win .
Speaking of things to feel good about, top Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault had three assists to lead the United States to a 7-2 quarterfinal win against Switzerland at the 2025 World Junior Championship. Next up for Perreault, Drew Fortescue and the U.S. is a clash with Czechia in the semifinals on Saturday.
Our Dane Walsh was on the mark writing pregame about the Rangers needing to get off to a fast start and then carry through to victory against the Bruins.
Also, our Daily on Thursday featured Jonathan Quick quoted saying he wouldn’t “overcomplicate anything” and he followed through as a calming influence between the pipes for the Rangers against the Bruins.
Our Hartford Wolf Pack Weekly had several nuggets, including ECHL goalies — and Rangers prospects — Talyn Boyko and Hugo Ollas getting their AHL opportunities with Dylan Garand hurt and Louis Domingue on recall in New York.
NHL news
Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon is week-to-week with a lower-body injury after he was slew-footed by Nashville Predators forward Zach L’Heureux on New Year’s Eve.
As for L’Heureux, he was suspended three games by the NHL Department of Player Safety for his actions.
Alex Ovechkin continued his chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goal record when the Washington Capitals superstar scored his 871st goal in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild. He’s now 24 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s record of 894.
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk ripped into his team, saying they played “embarrassing hockey” in a 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.
Thatcher Demko left the Vancouver Canucks’ 4-3 shootout win against the Seattle Kraken with back spasms. Kevin Lankinen replaced Demko in goal at 7:49 of the second period and backstopped the victory.
The Colorado Avalanche stormed back to stun the Buffalo Sabres 6-5 on Devon Toews’ overtime goal. The Avalanche scored four times in the third period, including the dramatic game-tying goal by Jonathan Drouin with eight seconds remaining in regulation to win their sixth straight game.
Here’s a look at Toews’ terrific two-way, end-to-end play on the game-winner for Colorado.
Jaccob Slavin’s third-period goal lifted the Carolina Hurricanes to a big 3-1 win on the road against the Florida Panthers.
Canada lost to Czechia 4-3 at the World Juniors, surrendering the game-deciding goal with 39.4 seconds to play on their home turf in Ottawa.
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