New York Rangers week ahead includes big division game, busy weekend

NHL: Carolina Hurricanes at New York Rangers
Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The New York Rangers have one game in five days before a busy weekend as they try to bounce back from a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.

The Rangers twice overcame two-goal deficits against the Avs, only to have Artturi Lehkonen capitalize on a takeaway by Cale Makar to score the winning goal with 14.7 seconds remaining in regulation. The regulation loss ended New York’s 10-game point streak (7-0-3) and left the Rangers at 24-21-4, three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s tough to take a moral victory in a game like that where you don’t get any points,” coach Peter Laviolette said after his team’s four-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden ended. The five goals scored by Colorado were two more than the total allowed by the Rangers in the four wins.

What made the loss even tougher was that most of the other teams the Rangers are competing against in the playoff race won over the weekend. The Rangers also enter the week three points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets and one behind the Montreal Canadiens. They are one ahead of the Detroit Red Wings, two in front of the Philadelphia Flyers and three ahead of the New York Islanders.

The hardest thing for the Rangers during the next few days is that they’ll be doing a lot of scoreboard watching while everyone else battling for a playoff spot is busy playing.

Their only weekday game is Tuesday, when the Metro Division rival Carolina Hurricanes come to the Garden. After that, there’s a three-day break before they visit the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon and host the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

Who’s hot

Matt Rempe scored his first goal of the season in a 5-0 win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday and a primary assist on Sam Carrick’s goal Sunday. He was also plus-1 in each of New York’s three games last week.

Rempe is earning more trust from the coaching staff; he averaged more than nine minutes of ice time in those three games after averaging 6:28 in 11 games before last week.

Adam Fox had his streak of three straight two-point games snapped Sunday, but he’s plus-6 in his past four games. Fox reached the 40-point mark for the sixth straight season with a goal and an assist in the 6-1 win against the Flyers; the only defenseman in Rangers history with a longer streak is James Patrick (7).

Who’s not

Chris Kreider continues to struggle offensively. He’s been dropped to the third line, was scoreless in three games and had just three shots on goal last week. Kreider was on the ice for Colorado’s winning goal Sunday, dropping him to minus-6 this season.

Related: No moral victories for Rangers when ‘points are at a premium’

Rangers lookahead this week includes …

A lot of watching and waiting after facing the Hurricanes on Tuesday before the weekend back-to-back.

Carolina Hurricanes at Rangers (Jan. 28, 7 p.m. ET; MSG)

The Rangers will be looking for their first win in three tries against the remodeled Hurricanes, who pulled off a blockbuster trade on Friday by acquiring one of the NHL’s top scorers, Mikko Rantanen, from the Avalanche and adding 2018 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks. The ’Canes, who are chasing the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metro Division, will have had two days off to get the newcomers acclimated after neither made much of an impression in a 3-2 overtime loss Saturday night on Long Island.

It will be interesting to see how the Rangers fare against the Hurricanes now that they’re out of the 4-15-0 slump that ended 2024. Carolina accounted for two of those losses, 4-3 at Raleigh on Thanksgiving Eve and 3-1 at the Garden three days before Christmas. But these Rangers look nothing like the team that was outplayed by Carolina during their slump.

Carolina has won three of its past four games against the Rangers, including each of its past two visits to MSG. Rantanen has eight goals and 12 points in 14 career games against the Rangers, including an assist in Colorado’s 3-2 overtime win on Jan. 14.

Shesterkin is 5-6-0 against the Hurricanes in the regular season —  but carried the Rangers to second-round playoff series victories over Carolina in 2022 and 2024.

Rangers at Boston Bruins (Feb. 1, 3:30 p.m.; ABC)

The Rangers make their only visit of the season to TD Garden for a nationally televised game to begin their weekend back-to-back set.

Shesterkin has struggled against the Bruins during his career. He is 4-7-0, though his 2.78 GAA and .909 save percentage hint at a lack of support. With games on consecutive days, don’t be surprised if coach Peter Laviolette uses backup Jonathan Quick, who made 32 saves in a 2-1 win against the Bruins at the Garden on Jan. 2.

Mika Zibanejad’s goal in that game was the 17th of his career against Boston, more than he’s scored against any team except the Flyers and Washington Capitals (19). The Rangers have won four in a row against the Bruins after losing four straight to their Original Six rival.

Boston’s David Pastrnak is a point-a-game player against the Rangers with 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 35 games.

Vegas Golden Knights at Rangers (Feb. 2, 6 p.m. MSG)

New York goes for a sweep of its two-game series against the Golden Knights after winning 2-1 at T-Mobile Arena on Jan. 11. However, Vegas has won eight of the 13 games between the teams and is 4-2-0 at MSG. The Rangers do have the only shutout by either team, a 5-0 win at Vegas on Dec. 8, 2019.

It’s the first of a four-game trip through the Metropolitan area and Boston for the Golden Knights, whose slump since the loss to the Rangers has left them scrambling to hold off the Edmonton Oilers for first place in the Pacific Division.

Zibanejad has feasted on Vegas since the Golden Knights entered the NHL in 2017. He has nine goals and 16 points in 13 games against them, including an assist in the win in Vegas. Golden Knights captain Mark Stone scored the only goal in that game and has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 24 games against New York.

John Kreiser covered his first Rangers game (against the California Golden Seals) in November 1975 and is still going ... More about John Kreiser
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