Former Rangers captain shows silky mitts with slick overtime goal for Ducks
As the New York Rangers deal with a Jekyll-and-Hyde start to the season, “Rangers West” is flying high in Southern California.
Buoyed by the play of four ex-Rangers on their roster, the Anaheim Ducks (10-3-1) own the best record in the Pacific Division. They extended their winning streak to six Saturday, when former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba scored with 32 seconds left in overtime, lifting the Ducks to an exciting 4-3 road victory against the second-place Vegas Golden Knights.
The goal was a beauty. Trouba accepted a pass from Leo Carlsson, blew past the Vegas defender, and had a sweet finish to beat goalie Akira Schmid for the OT game-winner.
It capped a rousing night for Trouba, who also assisted on a goal by former Rangers forward Frank Vatrano in the first period, blocked four shots, was credited with three hits, and led all skaters with 26:36 TOI.
“He’s adding some offense to the back end. … He’s doing a lot of things out there for us. He’s been really good for us,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville told The Athletic earlier in the week.
Trouba’s in the midst of a rebirth with the Ducks. The 31-year-old has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past nine games, after he was held off the score sheet in each of the first five this season. He leads all NHL players with a plus-16 rating.
Never an analytics darling, Trouba’s xGF is 53.91 percent, per Natural Stat Trick, He’s been on ice for a team-high 10 high-danger goals for, and only five against 5v5, and Anaheim’s outscored opponents 18-6 with Trouba out there at even strength.
The Rangers traded Trouba to the Ducks last December, with his play slipping and salary onerous for a team up against the cap. Trouba is in the final season of a seven-year contract that pays him $8 million annually.
Jacob Trouba playing major role with Rangers West in Anaheim
The Rangers also traded Chris Kreider to the Ducks, largely for financial reasons, this past offseason. Kreider’s been terrific for the Ducks, with nine goals in 10 games. He’s a big reason why the Ducks lead the NHL with an average of 4.14 goals scored per game.
Vatrano, a key trade-deadline pick up by the Rangers in 2022 who helped fuel their run to the Eastern Conference Final that spring, scored a career-high 37 goals with the Ducks two seasons ago and had 21 in 2024-25. But the goal Saturday was just his second this season.
Popular former Rangers center Ryan Strome has yet to play this season due to an upper-body injury. But Quenneville said this week that Strome is “under consideration” to return to Anaheim’s lineup.
Meanwhile, the Rangers lost again, and were shut out again, on home ice Saturday, losing to the Islanders 5-0. They’re 0-6-1 at Madison Square Garden this season, a historically bad start at home. The Rangers scored six goals in seven home games and been shut out five times.
The Rangers do have the best road record (7-1-1) in the NHL, and won four straight away from MSG. At 7-7-2 with 16 points overall, the Rangers remain right in the mix of the Eastern Conference standings, despite averaging the fewest goals per game (2.19) in the League.
