Rangers Week Ahead: Seeking elusive 1st home win
The New York Rangers are home for two of their three games this week. Considering their NHL-best 6-1-1 road record, which includes three straight wins last week out West, maybe they should wear their white sweaters when they step onto the ice at Madison Square Garden against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
They can’t do any worse at the Garden in white unis than wearing their blue ones.
New York brings an 0-4-1 home record into the game against their Metropolitan Division rival. It’s their worst five-game start at the Garden (old or new) since 1943-44 – and something that must change if the Rangers are going to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, after coming up short last season.
Three nights later, the Rangers begin a back-to-back with their only visit of the season to Detroit, where the Red Wings are off to their best start in recent years. Then it’s back to the Garden for a Saturday night date with the archrival New York Islanders, who enter the week at 6-5-1, despite losing their first three games.
At least the Rangers are beginning the new week with their first three-game winning streak in nearly a full year following a successful swing through Western Canada and Seattle. And with a 6-5-2 record, they’re in the second wild card in the Eastern Conference by points – though by points percentage they’re 14th, not in the top eight.
That’s because 15 of the 16 teams in the East are above NHL-.500; the other one, the Boston Bruins, is 7-7-0 and played more games than anyone else in the conference. All six teams below NHL .500 are in the Western Conference.
Who’s hot
Will Cuylle capped his best week of the season with his best game, assisting on Noah Laba’s first-period goal before scoring the overtime winner in Seattle. He had five points during the four-game trip and was plus-4 in the final three games.
Who’s not
Brennan Othmann, who was called up from AHL Hartford after Matt Rempe sustained an upper-body injury Oct. 23, was returned to the Wolf Pack on Sunday, with Jaroslav Chmelar replacing him. Othmann did little in the 5-1 loss at Calgary last Sunday, then was a healthy scratch for the wins in Vancouver, Edmonton and Seattle.
Rangers lookahead this week includes …
The two home games against Metropolitan Division rivals are sandwiched around their visit to Detroit.
Carolina Hurricanes at Rangers (Nov. 4, 7 p.m. ET; MSG/TNT/truTV)
The Hurricanes were a big reason the Rangers missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. The ’Canes swept the season series, winning all four games and outscoring the Blueshirts 18-7. Carolina won each of its past three visits to Madison Square Garden, allowing a total of two goals in the process.
This was going to be K’Andre Miller’s return to the Garden after the Rangers traded the 25-year-old defenseman to the Hurricanes on July 1, and he subsequently signed an eight-year, $60 million contract ($7.5 million average annual value). But Miller hasn’t played since Oct. 20 because of a lower-body injury, was placed on injured reserve Friday and isn’t on the trip. Carolina (7-4-0) is also without two other top-four defensemen, Jaccob Slavin and Shayne Gostisbehere, because of injury.
The Hurricanes can be difficult to play against because their style is unusual in today’s NHL. As ESPN’s John Buccigross put it recently, “they start shooting when they get off the bus.” Carolina enters the week second in the NHL and first in the East, averaging 32.7 shots per game (the Rangers are 15th at 28.8), and is the only team that’s been top three in that category each of the three previous seasons.
Rangers at Detroit Red Wings (Nov. 7, 7 p.m.; MSG/NHL Network)
The Rangers had the good fortune to play their three games against the Red Wings last season during their 12-4-1 start, winning all of them and outscoring their Original Six rival 13-3. That included two wins at Little Caesars Arena, concluding with a 4-0 victory last Nov. 9 that completed the sweep.
In all, the Rangers have won six in a row against the Red Wings, though they are still 232-264-9 with 103 ties all-time.
The Red Wings, who like the Rangers are in their 100th NHL season, are off to a 9-4-0 start as they try to end a playoff drought that’s reached nine seasons. They have yet to host a home playoff game at Little Caesars, which opened in the fall of 2016.
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is a big reason for the fast start; he leads them with eight goals, including three game-winners, and 18 points. But Larkin has struggled against the Rangers throughout his career, with just 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 25 games. One reason for that lack of success is Igor Shesterkin, who is 5-0-1 in his career against Detroit with a 1.48 goals-against average and .943 save percentage.
New York Islanders at Rangers (Nov. 8, 7 p.m. MSG)
Rangers fans had a blast last season watching the Blueshirts sweep their suburban rivals, outscoring them 23-5 and embarrassing them 9-2 at UBS Arena on April 10. Those four wins were the difference in the standings between the Rangers and Isles – neither team made the playoffs, but the Islanders finished lower in the standings and then defied the odds by winning the draft lottery despite having just a 3.5 percent chance.
Defenseman Matthew Schaefer, taken by the Islanders with that No. 1 overall pick, faces the Rangers for the first time in the regular season. He was the NHL Rookie of the Month for October and has five goals in his first 12 games. The 18-year-old scored twice in the Isles’ 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, becoming the youngest defenseman in NHL history to have a multiple-goal game — a mark previously held by Hall of Famer Bobby Orr.
Artemi Panarin has feasted on the Islanders during his career, with 18 goals and 47 points in 38 games – including five goals and seven points in the four wins last season.
Expect friends and rivals Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin to be in goal. Shesterkin struggled against the Isles early in his career but earned all four victories last season and is 7-1-0 against them since the start of 2023-24. The Rangers must shut down Mathew Barzal, who missed all four games against the Rangers last season with injuries but has 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) in 31 games in this rivalry.
