Rangers Week Ahead: Looking for some revenge against big rivals
After going 0-for-California, the New York Rangers seek some revenge against two of their biggest rivals this week, while waiting to see if general manager Chris Drury begins the roster retool he promised in his letter to fans on Jan. 16.
At 21-25-6, the Rangers are last in the Eastern Conference, headed to a second straight non-playoff season. They lost all three games on their California trip last week – the last two after continuing an alarming trend of not being ready from the opening face-off. They surrendered a goal 18 seconds into a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday and two goals in the first 3:08 of their 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks three nights later.
In all. the Rangers allowed 14 goals in the first five minutes of games this season. Seven of those goals were in January. Not surprisingly, they are 1-8-1 in their past 10 games after beginning the month with a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers in the NHL Winter Classic at Miami on Jan. 2.
The question now as the Rangers prepare for a four-game week is whether Drury will start to make some of the moves he promised while the Blueshirts wait to see if starting goalie Igor Shesterkin and No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox will be able to return to the lineup before the Olympic break begins next week. Thus far, there’s been lots of conjecture in the media but no actual activity.
The Boston Bruins come to Madison Square Garden on Monday, 16 days after routing the Rangers 10-2 before a national TV audience. Two days later, the Rangers begin a home-and-home set on consecutive nights against the New York Islanders, who’ve outscored them 7-0 in winning the first two meetings this season.
Who’s Hot?
J.T. Miller had four straight two-point games before being held off the score sheet in San Jose on Friday.
Who’s Not?
Alexis Lafreniere had zero points in California and saw his ice time drop below 15 minutes in two of the three games. The first player taken in the 2020 NHL Draft looked even worse when San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, scored twice against them on Saturday.
Rangers lookahead this week includes …
Four games in six days, assuming the storm that’s battering the Northeast doesn’t intervene.
Boston Bruins at Rangers (Jan. 26, 7 p.m.; MSG/NHL Network)
You can be sure that the Rangers haven’t forgotten their last meeting with the Bruins on Jan. 10. The Bruins embarrassed them at TD Garden, and Drury issued “The Letter 2.0” less than a week later, telling Blueshirts fans that changes are coming. It hasn’t helped; the Rangers enter their final game of the season against this Original Six rival 1-5-0 in six games since the “Boston Massacre.”
The Bruins enter the new week holding the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They’ve been on a roll since blasting the Rangers, posting a 6-1-0 record – including consecutive 4-3 home wins against the Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens.
Despite the blowout loss, the Rangers are 6-2-0 in their past eight games against the Bruins, including three straight wins at MSG.
Artemi Panarin is a point-a-game player against the Bruins (29 points; 10 goals, 19 assists) in 29 career games. David Pastrnak had six assists in the 10-2 win, giving him 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 38 games against the Rangers.
Rangers at New York Islanders (Jan. 28, 7 p.m.; MSGSN/MSG 2)
New York Islanders at Rangers (Jan. 29, 7 p.m., MSG/MSG 2)
For the first time since Dec. 16-17, 2009, the Rangers and Islanders face off in a home-and-home set on consecutive nights, with the Rangers going to UBS Arena on Wednesday, and hosting the Islanders at MSG on Thursday in the finale of the season series.
The Blueshirts seek their first goal against the Islanders this season. The Isles won 5-0 at the Garden on Nov. 8 and 2-0 at UBS on Dec. 27. Islanders goalies Ilya Sorokin and David Rittich, who figure to alternate starts, each has a shutout against them.
The Islanders enter the week hanging on to third place in the Metropolitan Division, but are 3-4-1 in their past eight games – including an embarrassing 5-0 home loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday that saw coach Patrick Roy bench his top line (Anders Lee, Mat Barzal and Anthony Duclair) for the third period. They’ve struggled to score during the past few weeks and hope the return of center Bo Horvat helps spark them.
Barzal has some big nights against the Rangers in the past, putting up 10 goals and 36 points in 33 games. Rittich is 4-0-0 against them, allowing just three goals in the four wins. Panarin has 18 goals and 47 points in 40 career games against the Islanders.
Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins (Jan. 31, 3:30 p.m.; ABC)
Things changed a lot since the Rangers whacked the Penguins 6-1 on Oct. 11 in coach Mike Sullivan’s return to PPG Paints Arena — a win that came three nights after the Penguins spoiled their former coach’s debut with the Rangers with a 3-0 season-opening win at the Garden. The first-week split left the Rangers 8-3-0 in their past 11 games against the Penguins.
Though the Rangers fell out of the playoff race since then, the Penguins (26-14-11) are one of the biggest surprises in the NHL, with a solid hold on second place in the Metro after sweeping their four-game swing through Western Canada and Seattle.
At 38, Rangers-killer Sidney Crosby shows no signs of slowing down. He leads the Pens with 57 points (27 goals, 30 assists) in 51 games. Though pointless in two games against the Blueshirts this season, Crosby has 109 points (40 goals, 69 assists) in 90 games against them. Panarin has 19 goals and 46 points in 36 games against the Penguins.
