Rangers vs. Flames: Lineups, storylines to start important 4-game road trip
Putting their home-ice struggles nearly 3,000 miles in the rearview mirror, the New York Rangers open an important four-game road trip Sunday in Calgary against the Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Rangers (3-4-2) are coming off a sloppy 6-5 overtime loss to the previously winless San Jose Sharks at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. That left them winless at MSG this season (0-4-1), their worst five-game start at home since 1943-44.
However, they are road warriors away from New York. The Rangers are 3-0-1 on the road, one of four teams without a regulation loss away from home. Their most recent one was a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Oct. 18.
This is nothing new. Since 2021-22, no team in the League has more road points than the Rangers (213). They’ve won 20 road games or more each of the past four season, including 25 twice, in 2021-22 and 2023-24.
So, they’ll be comfortable, for sure, on this swing through Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Seattle. And it doesn’t hurt that the trip starts against the Flames (1-7-1), who are last in the League with three points, and earned just one standings point in their past eight games.
3 storylines when Rangers visit Flames
1. Rangers seek balance
With Matt Rempe not on the trip, sidelined by an upper-body injury sustained in a fight against San Jose enforcer Ryan Reaves, Rangers coach Mike Sullivan is shaking up the line combinations. Rempe’s replaced in the lineup by Brennan Othmann, who was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League, where had one assist in four games. Othmann will flank rookie Noah Laba on the third line along with Will Cuylle, who’s moved out of the top six.
Juuso Parssinen, who scored again Thursday in a third-line role, replaces Rempe on the fourth line next to Sam Carrick and Adam Edstrom.
The other big changes are that Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad are split up. And Taylor Raddysh, fresh off his second career hat trick, moves up into the top six.
Sullivan hopes that the new-look Rangers will be more balanced with the changes. Give him credit for not sticking with what hasn’t been working so well, so far.
2. Avoid deja blue
The last time that the Rangers visited Calgary, it was Nov. 21, 2024. Though there were some cracks showing, the Rangers were 12-4-1 and had won the first two of a four-game road trip. However, things began to really turn sour in Calgary that night.
The Rangers allowed 49 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Flames, and followed up two nights later with a stinker in Edmonton, a 6-2 defeat to the Oilers which closed out the road trip. Worse, it was the start of a five-game losing streak and a season-killing 4-15-0 stretch through the end of the calendar year that ultimately sabotaged their playoff hopes and led to general manager Chris Drury dismantling part of the Rangers core.
The current Rangers squad is reeling a bit now, but, perhaps, could pull a reversal of what happened last season with a solid road trip here, beginning with a victory in Calgary.
3. Somebody’s got to score
This contest pits the two lowest scoring teams in the NHL. The Flames are dead last, averaging 1.67 goals for per game. The Rangers are 31st in the League, scoring 2.33 goals per game.
But the Rangers did break through with five goals against the Sharks and scored four or more four times in nine games. The problem is that they’ve been shut out three times, all at home. The flip side is that the Rangers own a plus-8 goal differential on the road this season, second best in the League.
And where the Rangers are one of the better defensive teams in the NHL — second best with a team 2.33 goals-against average — the Flames are not. They’re giving up an average of 3.78 goals per game, fourth most overall.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Artemi Panarin — J.T. Miller — Taylor Raddysh
Conor Sheary — Mika ZIbanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — Noah Laba– Brennan Othmann
Adam Edstrom — Sam Carrick — Juuso Parssinen
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Matthew Robertson — Will Borgen
Carson Soucy — Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Rangers vs. Flames: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Calgary Flames
When: Sunday Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. ET
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome
How to watch: MSG
More About: New York Rangers News
