New York Rangers week ahead includes 4 games in 4 cities in 6 nights
The New York Rangers will try to keep the good times rolling as they prepare for one of their busiest weeks of the season.
The Rangers come into the new week after winning back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 14-19, when they won three in a row. They rebounded from a 5-4 overtime loss to Dallas that saw them blow an early 3-0 lead and a late 4-3 advantage with perhaps their two best games of the season, a 3-2 OT home win against the New Jersey Devils and a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in the opener of a three-game road trip. After finishing 2024 with a brutal 4-15-0 stretch in their final 19 games, they are 4-1-1 in their first six contests in 2025.
The biggest thing the Rangers want to take into the new week is the work ethic and compete level they demonstrated – traits that were rarely seen during the slump. Forwards are going to the net, the defense has stopped surrendering large numbers of Grade A chances and the special teams look special again.
But this week will be a challenge. From Tuesday to Sunday, the Rangers will play four games in four different cities. That includes a pit stop at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night for what might be the most important game; they host the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers enter the week four points behind Columbus; however, there are four teams between them.
The Rangers are back to the League’s version of .500 at 20-20-2. There’s a playoff berth there for the taking – and they need at least five points to begin making up ground on the teams in front of them.
Who’s hot
Maybe a week off to recuperate from an upper-body injury is just what Igor Shesterkin needed. Shesterkin returned Thursday and allowed just three goals in back-to-back wins against New Jersey and Vegas. He got some help from his teammates, who blocked 20 shots in each game, but No. 31 looked sharper than he had in weeks.
Mike Zibanejad has been a whipping boy (and deservedly so) during the Rangers’ end-of-2024 slump, so it’s only fair to acknowledge that his game is perking up. Zibanejad had the primary assist on Vincent Trocheck’s game-tying power-play goal against Vegas, giving him assists in four straight games and points in all six games in 2025.
Who’s not
Will Cuylle’s offense has disappeared. The second-year forward still works hard and plays a physical game, but he’s gone 11 games without a goal and 10 without a point after racking up 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in the season’s first nine weeks.
Related: Sam Carrick emerges as unlikely key factor in Rangers revival
Rangers lookahead this week includes …
Four games in six nights in four cities, including their first-ever trip to Salt Lake City and a weekend back-to-back.
Rangers at Colorado Avalanche (Jan. 14, 9 p.m. ET; MSG)
The Rangers figure to see a familiar face in the opposing net when they step on the ice at Ball Arena. Mackenzie Blackwood, acquired by the Avalanche from the San Jose Sharks last month, is 6-9-0 lifetime against the Rangers, including a 5-8-0 mark while he played for the New Jersey Devils from 2018-19 through 2022-23. He is 8-2-1 with the Avs and recently signed a five-year contract that will keep him with Colorado through 2029-30.
Each of the past four games between the teams has gone past regulation, with the Rangers winning the past three, including both games last season – 2-1 in overtime at the Garden and 3-2 in a shootout in Denver.
The Rangers have “limited” the star center Nathan MacKinnon to 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 18 games. They’ve had less success with his linemate, Mikko Rantanen, who has eight goals in 11 games against New York.
Shesterkin has never lost to Colorado in regulation. He is 3-0-1 in four career starts with a 1.90 goals-against average and .949 save percentage.
Rangers at Utah Hockey Club (Jan. 16, 9 p.m. MSG)
The Rangers pay their initial visit to Delta Center when they face Utah for the first time since the home opener on Oct. 13, a 6-5 overtime loss.
Shesterkin allowed all six goals in the OT loss but was 4-0-0 against the UHC’s predecessor, the Arizona Coyotes, allowing just seven goals in the four wins.
Offense has been Utah’s biggest problem in recent weeks. The newest NHL franchise enters the week having scored more than two goals just once in its previous nine games, 2-6-1 in that span.
Clayton Keller leads the offense with 41 points (14 goals, 27 assists) in 41 games. Two of those goals, including the overtime winner, came against the Rangers three months ago.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Rangers (Jan. 18, 7 p.m. MSG)
The Rangers and Blue Jackets play for the first of four times this season in New York’s only home game of the week.
Columbus has been one of the biggest surprises in the NHL and begins the week holding the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Little was expected of the Blue Jackets this season after their best player, forward Johnny Gaudreau, was killed in a cycling accident in late August, and another top player, Patrik Laine, was traded to the Montreal Canadiens. But they’ve had little trouble filling the net; Columbus enters the week fourth in the NHL with 149 goals. Forward Kirill Marchenko leads the Blues Jackets with 18 goals, and defenseman Zach Werenski is having a career year with 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists). Seven Blue Jackets have reached double figures in goals.
They have two problems: keeping the puck out of their net (151 goals, tied for 29th in the NHL) and winning on the road (they are 6-12-3 away from Nationwide Arena).
Artemi Panarin, who played two seasons with the Blue Jackets before signing with the Rangers in July 2018, has torched his old team; he has 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) and is plus-11 in 18 career games against Columbus.
Rangers at Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m.; MSG/NHL Network)
The Canadiens, who will host the Rangers for their Sunday night meeting at Bell Centre, bear little resemblance to the team that the Rangers routed 7-2 in Montreal on Oct. 22. The Canadiens, seeking their first playoff appearance since going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, enter the week 20-18-4 and barely outside the top eight in the East.
Fatigue figures to be an issue for both teams. Each will be playing its fourth game in six nights, the first two on the road against Central Division teams and the third one at home.
Nick Suzuki, who leads the Canadiens with 43 points (13 goals, 30 assists), scored both of Montreal’s goals in the loss to the Rangers and has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 13 games against New York.
Jonathan Quick was in goal for a 4-3 win against Montreal at the Garden on Nov. 30 and figures to start the second half of the back-to-back. He is 9-4-1 with a 2.34 GAA and .919 save percentage.
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