Rangers vs. Jets: Lineups, storylines as Blueshirts aim to end latest slump
The New York Rangers will try to avoid following a four-game winning streak with a four-game losing streak when they host the Winnipeg Jets in an early (noon ET) Sunday matinee at Madison Square Garden. It’s the first of a back-to-back set at MSG; the Ottawa Senators come to MSG on Monday night.
Things were looking a little brighter for the Blueshirts after they went 4-for-4 last week – including a 6-2 win at Winnipeg on March 12. But this week has been a total reversal; the Rangers lost three games in four days while being outscored 16-7. Each of the three losses was by three goals, including back-to-back 6-3 blitzings by the New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday and Thursday.
The most intriguing news during the two off-days after the loss to the Jackets was that the Rangers called up their top goalie prospect, Dylan Garand, from AHL Hartford on Friday. Garand, Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick were all on the ice at practice Saturday – but Quick left before it ended, and coach Mike Sullivan said the 40-year-old is day to day with an upper-body injury.
The coach didn’t say how long Quick might be sidelined. But with the Blueshirts beginning a stretch of five games in eight days, he added that “I would anticipate Dylan playing” this week.
Garand is 5-3-2 with a .921 save percentage in his past 10 starts for Hartford, which is last in the AHL’s Atlantic Division. He was selected for the AHL All-Star Classic in 2024-25 and has rebounded after a slow start to this season.
The Jets are expected to start backup goalie Eric Comrie after Connor Hellebuyck played Saturday in their 5-4 shootout loss to the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The Jets are trying to avoid matching the Rangers’ feat of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs one year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s regular-season champion.
3 storylines when Rangers host Jets
1. Garand’s NHL debut?
The Rangers could be getting their first look at Shesterkin’s future backup after Garand got his second recall of the season Friday. He rode the bench during a recall that came after Quick was injured on Nov. 22 at Utah, just as he did during his first career callup last season.
But with Quick day to day after leaving practice and the Rangers starting a back-to-back, this would appear to be the perfect time to see what the 23-year-old can do in the NHL.
Garand won back-to-back road games on Tuesday and Wednesday in Charlotte, allowing four goals on 54 shots, and he’s playing his best hockey of the season.
“There’s a lot of things that have gone into the decision to bring Dylan up, but what I’ll tell you is that the biggest point is that he’s played extremely well in Hartford,” Sullivan said. “He’s given those guys a chance to win, night in and night out, and he’s deserving.”
2. Injuries continue to mount
Quick isn’t the only Ranger with injury issues. The Rangers will be without third-line center Noah Laba and third-pair defenseman Urho Vaakanainen. Each was injured during Wednesday’s 6-3 loss to the Devils at the Garden, and neither made the trip to Columbus.
Laba left with a lower-body injury. Vaakanainen played just 3:07 before leaving in the first period with an upper-body issue. The Rangers said Saturday that each is week-to-week.
J.T. Miller figures to switch from second-line left wing to fill Laba’s role in the middle of the third line, just as he did Thursday. Connor Mackey got a callup after Vaakanainen got hurt and played Thursday, and there was no indication Saturday that he’ll come out of the lineup in favor of Vincent Iorio.
Laba has 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) while averaging 13:29 of ice time in 65 games. Vaakanainen has six assists in 33 games but has been a healthy scratch for large chunks of the season.
Vaakanainen’s absence could also give an opening, perhaps as early as this week, for defenseman Drew Fortescue after the 2023 third-round pick (No. 93 overall) agreed to a three-year entry-level contract on Saturday.
3. Time to tighten up
No, Sullivan was not referring to the hit song by Archie Bell and the Drells in the late 1960s when he spoke after practice – he was talking about the fact that his team’s defense is leaking badly and has to get better.
Shesterkin and Quick have been under siege for most of the past four games. Shesterkin stole a 4-2 win at Minnesota on March 14 by making 46 saves, but neither got much help from his teammates during the three losses this week.
“I think we’re capable of being way stingier,” Sullivan said. “I think the last couple of games, from a scoring chance standpoint – both quality and quantity – I think we’ve given up more than we like. We’re capable of being a lot stingier defensively.”
Puck management has also been a problem.
“I don’t think we’ve managed the puck nearly as well in the past few games as we were coming out of the break,” he said. “When we put together a stretch where we were winning games, it wasn’t by accident. There were certain things that were taking place that were giving us the chance to be competitive.”
Better work on the penalty kill would also help. The Rangers are last in the NHL since play resumed on Feb. 25, allowing 12 power-play goals on 37 shorthanded opportunities (67.6 percent). New York allowed a power-play goal in four consecutive games, including two to the Devils on Wednesday.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Alexis Lafreniere — Mika Zibanejad — Gabe Perreault
Will Cuylle — Vincent Trocheck —Taylor Raddysh
Tye Kartye — J.T. Miller — Conor Sheary
Jonny Brodzinski — Adam Edstrom — Jaroslav Chmelar
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Matthew Robertson — Braden Schneider
Connor Mackey — Will Borgen
Igor Shesterkin
Dylan Garand
Rangers vs. Jets: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Winnipeg Jets
When: Sunday, March 22 at 12 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
