Rangers Week Ahead: Winter Classic highlights 3 straight on road
The New York Rangers reach the halfway mark of their season on Monday and begin the new year Friday night with the sixth outdoor game in their history.
Their visit to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday is Game No. 41; they’ll be the first team in the NHL to reach the midpoint of its season. That’s followed by a New Year’s Eve matinee against the Washington Capitals before they head to Miami to face the Florida Panthers in the NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot Park on Friday night.
The Blueshirts (19-17-4) are stuck in the mushy middle of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, though there are two ways to view where they stand after splitting two games last week. On a positive note, their 42 points have them in a four-way tie for the second wild-card position in the East. However, their .525 points percentage tells a much different story; New York is 15th, ahead of only the Columbus Blue Jackets, who’ve played three fewer games.
Last week was the Rangers season in a nutshell.
On Tuesday, they trailed the Capitals 3-2 after two periods, then erupted for five goals in the third period, sending them into the three-day NHL Christmas break on a high note with a 7-3 win. They returned to the ice Saturday on Long Island, allowed a goal 58 seconds after the opening face-off, spent the night chasing the game and never caught it; the Islanders added an empty-netter and the Rangers lost 2-0.
It was their second shutout loss to the Islanders in as many games this season, and their eighth overall. That’s just two fewer that the dubious team record of 10, set in 1928-29, and halfway to the NHL record of 16 held by the 2006-07 Columbus Blue Jackets.
The one piece of good news on the injury front was that their best defenseman, Adam Fox, practiced Saturday. “He’s getting there. He practiced today (at) full capacity,” coach Mike Sullivan said before the loss to the Islanders. “He’ll skate with us tomorrow (at) full capacity. We’ll go from there.”
Fox’s return would be a major boost to the offense, which is 30th in the NHL, averaging 2.55 goals per game.
Who’s Hot
Igor Shesterkin split two decisions last week but allowed just four goals on 57 shots. His goals-against average is down to 2.51 despite facing an NHL-high 864 shots on goal.
Who’s not
Conor Sheary’s lack of production earned him a seat in the press box for both games last week. He has no points in his past five games and just one goal, nine points and a minus-3 rating in 35 games.
Rangers lookahead this week includes …
The final three games of a six-game trip, with two against Metropolitan Division rivals before the Winter Classic in Miami.
Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes (Dec. 29, 7 p.m.; MSGSN)
Their last visit to Lenovo Center produced one of the highlights of the Rangers season so far – a 4-2 victory against the division-leading Hurricanes on Thanksgiving Eve. It came despite the Rangers being outshot 38-18; Shesterkin was the game’s First Star after making 36 saves and helping New York end a five-game losing streak to Carolina.
That win atoned for a 3-0 Rangers loss on Nov. 4 – one of the six shutouts pitched against them at the Garden.
Despite that win, Shesterkin hasn’t fared well against the ’Canes during his career; he is 6-9-0 with a 2.85 goals-against average and .906 save percentage. Mika Zibanejad had an assist in the win at Carolina, giving him 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) in 42 games against the Hurricanes.
The Rangers could get their first look at rookie goalie Brandon Bussi, who improved to 12-1-1, when he made 18 saves in a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Pyotr Kochetkov, who had the shutout at MSG, is 5-2-0 with a 1.87 GAA and .934 save percentage in seven games against the Rangers.
Rangers at Washington Capitals (Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m.; MSG)
New York seeks its second win in eight days against the Caps at Capital One Arena.
Washington eyes revenge after the Rangers scored five times in the third period to win their final game before the Christmas break. Seven Rangers had multiple-point games, led by Vincent Trocheck and Taylor Raddysh, who each scored twice and had an assist. Trocheck has 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 30 games against the Capitals.
The victory in Washington ended the Caps’ four-game winning streak against the Rangers that included their 1-0 victory at the Garden on Oct. 12.
Alex Ovechkin, the all-time NHL goal-scoring leader, has 46 goals and 73 points in 78 regular-season games against the Rangers – but none of either this season. He has five goals in 13 games against fellow Russian Shesterkin and eight in 18 games against Jonathan Quick.
Rangers at Florida Panthers (Jan. 2, 8 p.m.; TNT/truTV/HBO Max)
The Blueshirts put their perfect outdoors record on the line when they face the Panthers in the Winter Classic.
The Rangers are 5-0-0 playing outside, most recently rallying for a 6-5 overtime victory over the Islanders in their Stadium Series game on Feb. 19, 2024. That includes a 2-0-0 mark in the Winter Classic; they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Jan. 1, 2012, and the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in OT exactly six years later. New York was the visiting team both times, even though the game against the Sabres was played at Citi Field. The Blueshirts also won two Stadium Series games at Yankee Stadium, defeating the New Jersey Devils 7-3 on Jan. 26, 2014, and the Islanders 2-1 three nights later.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champs defeated the Rangers twice in three meetings last season; the Rangers won the third, a 5-3 victory at Amerant Bank Arena on April 14. Sam Reinhart scored two of Florida’s three goals in that game, giving him 16 in 33 games against the Rangers.
Artemi Panarin excels against the Panthers; he has 23 assists and 31 points in 23 games.
