Rangers Week Ahead: Trying to stay motivated playing out string
The NHL Trade Deadline came and went without the New York Rangers making a major move (trading a fourth-line center and a failed first-round draft pick with one NHL goal doesn’t count). For the Blueshirts, this week begins the ugliest time of the season – playing out the string on the way to missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season.
The expectations of October are now the bitter realities of March. The Rangers (24-30-8, 56 points) are a distant last in the Eastern Conference and in a pile of four teams that inhabit 28th through 31st place in the overall NHL standings; the Vancouver Canucks are all but assured of coming in last.
Their 1-1-1 showing in the first full week after the Olympic break included a satisfying 6-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday — sandwiched around a 5-4 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday that saw them force OT after being down four goals entering the third period and a 6-3 loss to Olympic hero Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Blueshirts fans are starting to show their frustration with a team that has just three regulation wins at home this season by not filling Madison Square Garden – even for the final Centennial Night ceremony before the win against the Maple Leafs. The Rangers haven’t announced a sellout for any of their four home games since the break, with more than 1,000 unsold tickets for two of those games (how many of the tickets sold were actually used is another question).
Don’t be surprised if they extend that streak when the Calgary Flames make their only Garden appearance on Tuesday – the Western Conference also-rans are one of the other teams in the “Turtle Derby,” where finishing lower improves a team’s hopes of getting the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Three of this week’s games are on the road as the Rangers prepare for a grind that will see them play nine games in 15 days and 12 in 21. It will be a physical and mental test for a team that hasn’t passed many of them this season.
Who’s Hot
The Rangers signed free agent Vladislav Gavrikov because of his skills at keeping the puck out of his net. But the 30-year-old defenseman is adding some unexpected offense; his 12 goals are twice as many as he’d ever scored in a full season. That total includes goals in each of New York’s three games last week.
Who’s Not
Jonathan Quick is headed for the Hockey Hall of Fame after he retires, but not because of this season. The Devils beat him five times on Saturday, dropping him to 4-15-2 with a 3.20 goals-against average and a save percentage of .888. He is 1-14-2 since a 32-save 4-1 road win against the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 7.
Rangers lookahead this week includes …
Four games, three of them on the road, in six days. Three of the four opponents enter the week outside of a playoff berth.
New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers (March 9, 7 p.m., MSG)
The Metropolitan Division rivals finish their season series with their second meeting in 12 days. The Rangers would like to forget their previous game, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 25 that saw them blow a two-goal lead in their first game back after the Olympic break.
However, the Rangers have enjoyed success in Philadelphia over the past three seasons. They are 5-1-0 in their past six visits, including a 6-3 win on Jan. 17 that included a hat trick by Mika Zibanejad. The Flyers enter the game on the periphery of the playoff race in the East; they trail the Boston Bruins by seven points for the final wild card.
Zibanejad has 23 goals and 47 points in 51 career games against the Flyers. Igor Shesterkin is 10-4-2 vs. Philadelphia despite being in goal for the come-from-ahead overtime loss.
Calgary Flames at Rangers (March 10, 7 p.m., MSG)
The rebuilding Flames traded off their best defenseman (Mackenzie Weegar) and top center (Nazem Kadri) before the deadline, then stunned the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Calgary on Saturday.
They open a five-game Eastern trip with a visit to Washington on Monday, meaning that each team plays the second of back-to-back games.
The Flames are 3-0-0 against the Rangers since the start of last season, including a 5-1 win at Calgary on Oct. 26. Shesterkin took the loss in that game and is 2-5-0 lifetime against Calgary.
Blake Coleman scored twice in that October contest, giving him nine in 21 games against New York. Dustin Wolf made 30 saves and is 2-0-0 against the Rangers, allowing three goals on 60 shots.
Rangers at Winnipeg Jets (March 12, 8 p.m., MSG)
The Jets are in the same boat that the Rangers were a year ago; they’re going to miss the playoffs one season after taking home the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL regular-season champion.
They the last team the Rangers haven’t faced this season. The teams haven’t met since last March 11, when the Jets won 2-1 at home behind the goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck, who went on to win the Vezina (best goalie) and Hart (MVP) trophies.
But Hellebuyck’s 2025-26 NHL season has been a nightmare. He enters the week 16-16-9 with a 2.73 GAA and .903 save percentage. He is still one of the game’s top goaltenders – and has the Olympic gold medal to prove it – but hasn’t been nearly as good with the Jets.
Zibanejad is one of the few Rangers who’s had offensive success against the Jets, with 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 22 games. Jets center Mark Scheifele has 15 goals in 20 games against the Rangers.
Rangers at Minnesota Wild (March 14, 6 p.m., MSG)
The Wild seek a season sweep against the Rangers; they won 3-1 at MSG on Oct. 20, ending a three-game losing streak to the Blueshirts.
But that was before GM Bill Guerin began swinging for the fences, bringing in star defenseman Quinn Hughes in December and a host of support players prior to the trade deadline. One player rumored to be headed for the Wild last week was Rangers center Vincent Trocheck, but Guerin and Rangers GM Chris Drury couldn’t agree on a price.
The Wild’s problem is that they’re in the wrong division. Their 37-16-11 record (85 points) is good enough to lead the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions — but they play in the Central, where they’re third behind the League-leading Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars, the League’s second-best team and Minnesota’s likely first-round playoff opponent. The Wild can’t look past the Rangers as they try to pass the Stars and get the home-ice advantage in their likely first-round series.
Trocheck has pretty good career numbers (six goals, 13 points in 17 games) against Minnesota. Ex-Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello is still a Garden favorite, and has four goals and eight points in 10 games against his old team.
