Adam Fox returns and scores, but Rangers lose 6-3 to Capitals: Takeaways
Adam Fox scored a goal and finished with two points in his return after a month-long injury absence, but it wasn’t enough of a spark for the New York Rangers, who closed out calendar year 2025 with a 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals in a New Year’s Eve matinee at Capital One Arena.
The Rangers (19-18-5) never had the lead in this one, their third straight loss (0-2-1) and fourth in the past five games (1-3-1). Jonathan Quick made his 10th start for New York and allowed more than three goals for the first time this season. The 39-year-old goalie surrendered five goals on 26 shots, and Washington added an empty-netter late in the third period.
Two of those goals against Quick were scored by Rangers nemesis Tom Wilson, who had an incredibly impactful game as part of a very memorable day. The 31-year-old forward was named to Team Canada’s roster for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, and then had a Gordie Howe hat trick against the Rangers — with two goals, an assist, and a fight. To top it all off, Wilson’s second goal was his 200th in the NHL.
Justin Sourdif also scored two goals, his first multiple-goal game in the NHL, and Anthony Beauvillier and Aliaksei Protas scored one goal apiece for the Capitals, who are 2-1-0 against the Rangers this season. Charlie Lindgren finished with 22 saves.
Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider scored for the Rangers, and Artemi Panarin had two assists in the loss.
Perhaps it was the early 12:30 P.M. start time, but there was a sleepy feel to the beginning of this game. The Rangers spent most of the period defending, though they didn’t give up many scoring chances.
They did, however, surrender the first goal. Ryan Leonard sent a backhand pass from left to right through the slot, which was deposited into the back of the net by Beauvillier to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead 12:27 into the first period.
It looked like that would hold up into the first intermission, but the Rangers took advantage of a rare extended shift in the offensive zone to tie things up in the final minute of the period. Trocheck got a stick on Panarin’s long shot from the blue line and deflected his ninth goal past Lindgren with 39.1 seconds left on the clock.
A simply monster shift by Wilson helped put the Capitals back in front 7:33 into the second period. First, the rugged Capitals forward steamrolled Rangers rookie Noah Laba in the neutral zone with a massive shoulder to shoulder hit. Then seven seconds later, he finished off the shift by going to the Rangers net and depositing a Connor McMichael pass into the cage for his 20th goal of the season.
Clearly in distress, Laba headed off the ice, and didn’t return due to an upper-body injury.
Sam Carrick challenged Wilson to a fight at 9:13, and was assessed an extra two-minute instigator minor. That came back to bite the Rangers when Sourdif scored on the ensuing power play at 11:12 to make it 3-1 Washington.
The Rangers, though, came right back with a power-play goal of their own to pull within 3-2 at 15:12. And it was Fox, sorely missed as their power-play quarterback during his absence, who delivered the clutch goal.
Fox stepped into a slick Mika Zibanejad pass and absolutely hammered a shot past Lindgren’s glove for his fourth goal of the season, and first since Oct. 11.
That set up a familiar scenario. Eight days ago in this very same building, the Rangers trailed the Capitals 3-2 after two periods. In that game, the Rangers exploded for five third-period goals to ensure a memorable 7-3 comeback victory.
This third period was much more of the low-event variety. Though there was an exciting sequence midway through the period, one when Quick and Lindgren each made his biggest save of the afternoon.
McMichael had a clean breakaway after intercepting a Zibanejad pass, but Quick denied him with a big-time glove save at 9:44. The Rangers then came back the other way on a 2-on-1, and Lindgren made a sprawling stop to rob Gabe Perreault after a perfect feed from Alexis Lafreniere at 10:16.
Three minutes later, the Capitals did what they failed to do last week against the Rangers — they extended their third-period lead. Protas deflected his 15th goal past Quick to make it 4-2 with 6:26 remaining in regulation.
Wilson and Schneider traded goals 1:39 apart late in the period, and Sourdif closed out the scoring with an empty-netter in the final minute to send the Rangers into the New Year with a 6-3 loss.
Next up on the Rangers schedule is the outdoor NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot Park in Miami against the Florida Panthers on Friday night, the last of six straight on the road and first game in the new year for the Blueshirts.
Key takeaways after Rangers lose 6-3 to Capitals in final game of 2025
Foxy
It wasn’t the end result the Rangers wanted or needed, but it sure was a sight for sore eyes to watch Fox back in game action. He sustained an upper-body injury on Nov. 29 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Rangers treaded water, posting a 6-5-3 record without him.
Fox reclaimed his top-pair role on defense alongside Vladislav Gavrikov, and scored that power-play goal in New York’s only man-up opportunity. He logged 21:13 TOI, and also assisted on Trocheck’s goal, collecting a puck down deep before feeding it back to Panarin.
It wasn’t all perfect, though. Uncharacteristically, Fox had a game-high four turnovers and took a rare penalty — a hooking minor late in the second period. The Rangers were out-shot 7-1 at 5v5 with Fox on the ice, and had an expected goal share of 42.57 percent, per Natural Stat Trick, far below his typical standard.
Still, there’s so much more good that comes with Fox back in the lineup, than when he’s sidelined.
Trickle-down effect on defense pairs
With their top seven defenseman now all healthy, the Rangers assigned rookie Scott Morrow to Hartford of the American Hockey League when they activated Fox off LTIR. Instead of slotting the defensemen back into the exact roles they had before Fox’s injury, coach Mike Sullivan tweaked his pairs behind the Fox-Gavrikov duo.
Schneider, who bumped up from third pair to play alongside Gavrikov in Fox’s absence, switched to his off (left) side on the second pair with Will Borgen on Wednesday. Borgen’s usual partner Carson Soucy dropped to the third pair, partnering with Matthew Robertson.
This appeared to be a nod to the solid job Schneider did with increased responsibility the past month. A top-four role is deserving for Schneider, and he’s proven capable of playing his off side in the past. He logged just shy of 21 minutes TOI against the Capitals, played his typical rugged game, and scored his second goal of the season.
How long the Rangers line up this way remains to be seen. Sullivan prefers his defensemen to play on their strong side. But Wednesday, there were two righties on the second pair, and two lefties on the third pair. Let’s see how the pairings look Friday, when the Rangers take it outdoors in Miami.
Injuries deplete bottom six for Rangers
The Rangers lost Laba and fellow third-liner Conor Sheary to injury in the second period Wednesday. Neither returned to the game, and afterward Sullivan said Laba’s being evaluated for an upper-body injury and Sheary sustained a lower-body injury.
Laba’s played all 43 games this season, and just bounced back from a bad cut on his hand that required stitches after he was slashed in New York’s previous game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. But there was no returning for the 22-year-old rookie after Wilson trucked him in the game-altering sequence early in the second period. Laba appeared to favor his right shoulder when he exited the ice, though the Rangers didn’t confirm a specific injury.
Sheary hobbled off the ice after he fell awkwardly following a hooking penalty by Brandon Duhaime 14 minutes into the second period. The 33-year-old knew immediately he was hurt, and quickly got off the ice and headed down the tunnel to the dressing room.
Sullivan double-shifted numerous players and leaned heavily on the top six to account for being down two forwards for nearly half the game. Looking ahead, the Rangers have one extra forward on the roster — Brennan Othmann — after Brett Berard was sent back to Hartford earlier in the week.
Block party
The Rangers sold out early and often in front of Quick. They blocked a whopping 16 shots in the first period — more than in several full games this season — and finished with 27 blocks.
Forward Will Cuylle led New York with a career-high six blocks, that included four in the first period. Borgen blocked four shots, and three other Rangers had three apiece.
The Capitals blocked 20 shots, led by Martin Fehervary, who had four.
