Carolina took a swing for the fences by acquiring high-scoring forward Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche and 2018 NHL MVP Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks in a three-way trade. Colorado will receive Carolina’s leading scorer, forward Martin Necas, as well as bottom-six center Jack Drury, a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in 2026, all from Carolina. To balance the salary cap numbers, Carolina is sending a third-round pick in 2025 to Chicago in exchange for Hall and the Blackhawks retaining 50 percent of what’s left on Rantanen’s $9.25 million cap hit.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL‼️

Details » https://t.co/CI5CL23V8M pic.twitter.com/9WRKWRt2Aw

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) January 25, 2025

It’s a bold move for Carolina, which enters its game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday second in the Metro at 30-16-3, eight points behind the division-leading Washington Capitals and three in front of the third-place New Jersey Devils. The ’Canes are 10 points ahead of the fourth-place Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the second wild card in the Eastern Conference and 11 ahead of the Rangers.

However, while the Hurricanes are on track for their seventh straight trip to the playoffs and their fourth consecutive season with more than 100 points, they haven’t reached the Stanley Cup Final since winning their only NHL championship in 2006. Carolina has made the Eastern Conference Final twice in the past six seasons but was swept by the Boston Bruins in 2019 and the Florida Panthers in 2023. The Rangers eliminated the Hurricanes in the second round in 2022 and 2024.

It’s the second straight season that the Hurricanes have opted to add a big-name forward who can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer; they brought in Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins last year. Although Guentzel played well, the Hurricanes lost to the Rangers in the second round — and Guentzel opted to sign as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning this past offseason.

Related: Controversial former Rangers defenseman signs with rival Islanders

Rangers division rival roll dice by trading for Mikko Rantanen, Taylor Hall

Rantanen, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, leads the Avalanche with 25 goals and was sixth in the NHL entering Friday with 64 points. The first-round pick (No. 10 overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft has been a big piece of Colorado’s core for the past several years. He set a career high with 55 goals and 105 points two seasons ago and has had back-to-back 100-point seasons. Rantanen has eight goals and 12 points in 14 career games against the Rangers.

The 28-year-old was part of Colorado’s Stanley Cup-winning team in 2022 and has been part of Colorado’s “Big Three” for the past four seasons alongside center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar. Rantanen is sixth in Avs/Quebec Nordiques history with 287 goals and seventh with 681 points. His 55 goals in 2022-23 are tied for third in franchise history and is the most by any player since the club moved to Colorado for the 1995-96 season.

“Mikko is one of the premier power forwards in our sport,” Carolina general manager Eric Tulsky said. “It’s no secret that we’ve wanted to add elite skill to our lineup, and this is a player who should fit our system and locker room well. And Taylor gives us another high-skill option to bolster our attack.”

Rantanen figures to play on the right side of a line with center Sebastian Aho. They will also be teammates on Team Finland at the 4 Nations Face-off next month.

Welcome to Raleighwood, Taylor Hall 🚨 pic.twitter.com/gYVulvXNFi

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) January 25, 2025

Hall, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft by the Edmonton Oilers, won the Hart Trophy with the Devils in 2017-18 but hasn’t come close to that level of play since. He had 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 46 games with Chicago this season. Carolina will be the seventh different team Hall has played for; he hasn’t had more than 20 goals or 61 points in any season since winning the Hart seven years ago.

Trade alert. pic.twitter.com/7AX82rf9Np

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 25, 2025

The Hurricanes took Necas in the first round (No. 12) of the 2017 draft. He set career highs in goals (28) and points (71) in 2022-23. While Necas and Rantanen are similar in size and position, he is faster and less physical.

Necas has one goal and eight points in 17 career games against the Rangers.

Drury, the nephew of Rangers general manager Chris Drury and a New York native, turns 25 next month. He has three goals and nine points in 39 games this season while averaging 12:53 of ice time. The 5-foot-11 center was a second-round pick in 2018, and he’s in the first season of a two-year contract that carries a $1.725 million cap hit.

Well, you very likely would’ve guessed correctly that the Blackhawks (13-24-2) would be in that position. They’re last in the NHL, one season removed from finishing next to last and two seasons from a 30th-place finish.

But the Rangers? The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners who were two wins shy of reaching the Stanley Cup Final last spring?

Well, yes, the Rangers are in the same league as the Blackhawks nearly halfway through the 2024-25 season after a 7-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday dropped them to 17-20-1. They’ve lost five of six, nine of 11 and a whopping 16 of their past 21 games. They have a .226 points percentage in the past 21 games — representing a full quarter of their schedule — worst in the NHL.

The Rangers have shown signs of life in the past four games. Certainly, their compete level is better and, hey, they scored four goals Saturday for the first time since Dec. 8 against the Seattle Kraken. It should be noted that despite feeling better about their game recently, the Rangers still have lost three of those four. And that Kraken game? Yeah, they lost that one, too, 7-5.

And playing the last-place team in the entire League? Well, that hasn’t worked for the Rangers this season. They lost to the Blackhawks 2-1 on Dec. 9 at Madison Square Garden. Eight days later, the Rangers were shut out 2-0 by the Nashville Predators, after the Preds had dropped to the bottom of the NHL standings.

Related: Mark Messier rips Rangers core, says it’s ‘fractured’

3 things to watch for when Rangers visit Blackhawks

1. Louis, Louis

Igor Shesterkin is on IR with an upper-body issue. Jonathan Quick played the day before, and allowed six goals (the seventh was an empty-netter). Louis Domingue is the next goalie up.

The 32-year-old journeyman is expected to make his first NHL start of 2024-25 and second in three seasons after signing with the Rangers in the summer of 2022. He stepped in on Nov. 9, 2023 and made 26 saves in a 4-1 Rangers win against the Minnesota Wild. Other than that, Domingue has played with Hartford of the American Hockey League; he has a 4-9-2 record, a 3.64 goals-against average and .888 save percentage this season.

That’s not so inspiring. But Domingue does have 143 games of NHL experience and a .905 career save percentage. And maybe the Rangers, who put in a defensive no-show in DC on Saturday, could turn it up defensively knowing that neither Shesterkin nor Quick is between the pipes Sunday.

2. Bring Zac back?

Maybe Zac Jones was sticking pins in voodoo dolls representing the Rangers defenseman Saturday when he, again, sat in the press box watching. Wouldn’t put it past him after the 24-year-old lashed out about being a healthy scratch more often than not (four straight games, six of past seven) earlier in the week.

Well, it sure looked that way at least. The Rangers D corps turned in an ugly afternoon against the Capitals. But the two biggest offenders were probably Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren (a combined minus-5), who each was guilty of one egregious mistake after another. Thing is, they’re not coming out of the lineup — most certainly not Fox.

So, who comes out for Jones? K’Andre Miller? Urho Vaakanainen, who was plus-2 and had a long home-run pass on Filip Chytil’s third-period goal? Right-shots Braden Schneider or Will Borgen?

Let’s see how badly coach Peter Laviolette wants to shake things up — if at all — with the defense corps.

3. Sustainability

The Rangers have failed to sustain much of anything good during these past 21 games. Whether from goal to goal, period to period, shift to shift or game to game. They haven’t won consecutive games since a three-game winning streak from Nov. 14-19. Eleven times this season they followed a win with a loss.

Then on Saturday, three times the Rangers cut a two-goal deficit to one in the second and third periods. What did they do after scoring? They allowed the Capitals to regain the two-goal advantage within 1:47, 2:18 and 56 seconds. That’s how you lose games.

Perhaps they’ll be able to sustain their positive surges against the woeful Blackhawks on Sunday.

New York Rangers projected lineup

Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere

Kreider – Zibanejad – Smith

Cuylle – Chytil – Berard

Edstrom – Carrick – Vesey

Lindgren – Fox

Miller – Borgen

Vaakanainen – Schneider

Domingue

Quick

Rangers vs. Blackhawks: When, where, what time, how to watch

Who: New York Rangers vs. Chicago Blackhawks

When: Sunday, Jan. 5 at 3 p.m. ET

Where: United Center

How to watch: ABC

Click here for New York Rangers complete 2024-25 schedule and game results

The Rangers play four games in seven days in four cities this week, beginning Monday night against the Florida Panthers, the team that eliminated them in the Eastern Conference Final on June 1. They’ll be trying to end a three-game losing streak by winning their final game of the outgoing year. 2025 begins with a home game against the Boston Bruins before hitting the road again for afternoon games against the Washington Capitals on Saturday and the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

A 4-14-0 stretch has dropped the Rangers (16-18-1, 33 points) into last place in the Metropolitan Division. They are 14th in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, who are tied for last. New York is six points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold the second wild card, and five behind the Ottawa Senators, who have a better points percentage but have played three fewer games than the Penguins.

The Rangers’ return to action after the Christmas break didn’t end well – they dominated play for long stretches but got terrible special-teams play and lost 6-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, disappointing the swarms of Rangers fans at Amalie Arena. They outshot the Lightning 44-25, the most shots allowed by the Bolts this season, and were very good at 5-on-5 — Natural Stat Trick said they had 67 percent of the expected goal share.

“If I’m sitting here doing the presser for the Rangers, I’m sitting here saying, ‘Hey, we did a lot of really good things,’” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.

Doing “a lot of really good things” was an improvement over some of their more recent games. But it was still a loss – and it marked the sixth time in 35 games that they’ve coughed up six or more goals – matching their total for all of last season.

Who’s hot

No one is even warm. The Rangers have been outscored 14-3 since their last victory, a 3-1 road win against the Dallas Stars on Dec. 27. Even Igor Shesterkin, their best player this season, is struggling – he was pulled in the loss to the Lightning 8:08 into the second period after allowing five goals on 13 shots.

Who’s not

The Rangers have lived off their power play for the past few years; now they’re dying by it. They are 0-for-20 in their past seven games after failing to score in four opportunities against the Lightning on Saturday and 3-for-35 in December after a 3-for-6 showing against the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 30. Coach Peter Laviolette changed up his PP units at practice Sunday, dropping Mika Zibanejad to the second unit and elevating Alexis Lafreniere to the top unit.

The penalty-killers were leading the League until the Rangers hosted the Hurricanes on Dec. 22 and allowed a power-play goal on Carolina’s fourth of five opportunities. Beginning with that goal, the PK surrendered six goals in their next eight chances – three in four against New Jersey on Dec. 23 before being beaten by Tampa Bay on each of the Lightning’s first two chances.

Rangers lookahead this week includes …

Lots of travel to play lots of hockey, including a pair of nationally televised weekend matinees.

Rangers at Florida Panthers (Dec. 30, 7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, NHL Network)

The Rangers’ last trip to Sunrise was one they’d rather forget. It came on June 1, when the Panthers defeated them 2-1 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, sending New York home for the summer and Florida on to the Stanley Cup Final, where they defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games to win their first championship since entering the NHL in 1993.

Most of the championship cast is back, with center Aleksander Barkov and forward Sam Reinhart leading the way up front. Sergei Bobrovsky is 16-7-1 this season and 15-12-3 lifetime against the Rangers with a 2.83 GAA and .908 save percentage.

Artemi Panarin has excelled against the Panthers, with 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists) in 21 regular-season games.

Boston Bruins at Rangers (Jan. 2, 7 p.m. MSG)

These two Original Six rivals meet for the first time this season after the Rangers swept all three games in 2023-24, including a 7-4 win in Boston’s most recent visit to the Garden on Nov. 25, 2023.

The Rangers are 152-128-55-1 all-time against the Bruins at MSG. They’ve won six of the games that have gone past regulation in the past 33 years.

Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman has played superbly against the Rangers, though his won-lost record might lead you to believe otherwise. Swayman, who signed an eight-year contract with the Bruins just before the season, has a 2-2-2 record against the Rangers despite a 1.82 goals-against average and a save percentage of .937. Boston has been a tough nut for Shesterkin to crack; he’s 4-7-0 despite a 2.78 GAA and .909 save percentage.

Rangers at Washington Capitals (12:30 p.m.; ABC)

The Rangers hope for a better showing against the Capitals than the one they had in their previous trip to the nation’s capital, a 5-3 loss on Oct. 29 that saw Washington outshoot the visitors 46-19.

Alex Ovechkin scored his third and fourth goals of the season in that game, beginning a hot streak that didn’t end until he broke his left fibula against Utah on Nov. 18 in Utah after he had scored twice. Ovechkin returned Saturday and scored an empty-netter to wrap up a 5-2 road win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, then scored again Sunday in a 4-2 loss at Detroit. In all, 44 of his 870 career goals have come in his 74 games against the Rangers.

The Capitals and Rangers have split their past 12 games, with each team posting a 5-1-0 mark at home. Washington is 12-3-0 against the Rangers at Capital One Arena since the start of the 2017-18 season.

Rangers at Chicago Blackhawks (3 p.m., ABC)

You can bet the Rangers will be looking to avenge one of their weakest performances of the season, a 2-1 loss to the Blackhawks at the Garden on Dec. 9, when they generated little offense against a team that’s been battling to avoid the NHL basement all season.

Amazingly, the last Rangers goaltender to shut out the Blackhawks at the Garden is … Ed Giacomin, who was in net for a 3-0 victory on Jan. 25, 1969. A shutout would be great this time around, but the Rangers need a win of any kind against the struggling Blackhawks this week.

Shesterkin has been terrific against Chicago, 4-1-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .936 save percentage. Panarin, who played his first two NHL seasons in Chicago, has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 12 games against his old team. The Rangers have limited Chicago’s Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, to one assist in two games.

Too snarky? I think not. Did you watch the Rangers get outplayed — worse, outworked — by the last-place Chicago Blackhawks on Monday at MSG? That 2-1 loss makes it eight defeats in their past 10 games and a 9-12-0 record in 21 games (a quarter of the season) since the 5-0-1 run to begin the 2024-25 season that feels as long ago as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning campaign in 2023-24.

We’ll be diving into different aspects of the latest loss and the bigger picture Tuesday and Wednesday here at Forever Blueshirts and on the Rink Rap podcast before the puck next drops at KeyBank Center against the Sabres, who, by the way, hammered the Rangers a month ago at MSG, 6-1.

That should be a reminder that this isn’t just a blip for the Rangers. It’s who they are. And it’s put them into crisis mode less than 30 games into the season, before reaching the New Year or even the holiday season.

Related:

New York Rangers news

Warning! Our three Rangers takeaways from the loss Monday does not contain any positives. Not saying there weren’t any — hello Will Cuylle — but the focus is all negative, as well it should be after such a lackluster effort.

After the morning skate, Igor Shesterkin was all smiles and said he was “so happy” following the birth of his daughter the day before, not to mention that contract extension he signed over the weekend making him the highest-paid goalie in NHL history. It was also interesting to hear Shesterkin discuss the outside “noise” that followed him during negotiations.

It feels pretty ironic that our Rangers week ahead story took the angle that their upcoming schedule affords them a chance to break out of a prolonged funk.

We wrote up an interesting nugget that the Rangers reportedly turned down the chance to acquire defenseman Cam Fowler in the Jacob Trouba trade with the Anaheim Ducks. Makes sense, though. Rangers were looking to shed salary to gain maneuverability under the cap. And Fowler makes $6.5 million annually through 2025-26.

NHL news

As for Trouba, the former Rangers captain made his Ducks debut in a 3-2 shootout loss up in Montreal to the Canadiens. He logged 22:35 TOI, led the Ducks with five hits, had one blocked shot and was minus-1, on ice for Kirby Dach’s tying goal in the second period.

Before the game, we posted a story about the value the Ducks see in adding Trouba to their roster.

Orange looks good on ya, Jacob Trouba! 🦆

📺: @SportsOnPrimeCA ➡️ https://t.co/93veFI9jrZ pic.twitter.com/XieQYzKAor

— NHL (@NHL) December 10, 2024

In case you missed it, Patrik Laine remained on fire for the Canadiens. He had a goal, assist and scored in the shootout. He has three goals in four games since returning from a knee injury.

Former Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev was traded by the Colorado Avalanche to the San Jose Sharks for former New Jersey Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. We wrote up all the details here.

The Rangers next face the Sabres, who lost their seventh straight game (0-4-3) Monday. This time they blew a two-goal lead in the the third period and lost 6-5 to the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout.

In a game they most certainly had to win. Against an opponent that’s dead last in the NHL, had lost five straight games and recently fired their coach. The Rangers once again failed to compete for a full 60 minutes.

They were outworked, outhustled, and ultimately defeated for the eighth time in the past 10 games, and are 9-12-1 since a 5-0-1 start to the season.

“I don’t think we were at the point where we were playing the right way for an extended period of play,” veteran leader Chris Kreider said postgame. “It’s just sloppy.”

Next up is a road game against another lesser light in the NHL, the Buffalo Sabres, on Wednesday. Though keep in mind that it was the Sabres who throttled the Rangers 6-1 at MSG back on Nov. 7, the first stunning sign that the Rangers were a team in disarray.

Related: Ducks believe former Rangers captain brings ‘ number of benefits following trade

3 takeaways from Rangers 2-1 loss to Blackhawks

Here are three takeaways from the latest Rangers loss on Monday.

1. 60 minutes

NHL regular-season games are scheduled for 60 minutes, three 20-minute periods. If the game is tied, there’s a five-minute overtime. If it’s still tied, there’s a three-round (or longer) shootout to decide the winner.

Somebody needs to drill this into the collective heads of the Rangers because this team appears incapable of competing for a full 60-minute game. Go ahead. Name the last time you saw the Rangers provide a complete effort — win or lose — from first drop of the puck to the final buzzer. Go ahead. Take your time. I’ll wait.

Things were better in the 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins last Friday, but, really, the Rangers simply don’t do 60-minute efforts. It’s not in their DNA to do so this season. And it bit them again the past two games — a massive mid-game lull when they allowed five unanswered goals in a 7-5 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Sunday, and a lackluster “race” to the wire Monday after a strong start against the Blackhawks.

“After [the first 10 minutes] I thought we got outplayed. Our execution was bad,” Will Cuylle said after the latest loss.

2. Booed off the ice

New York is not an easy city to play in. The fans are demanding — certainly of effort, if not for results, as well. So, it’s not a huge surprise that the Rangers have heard their fare share of boos at Madison Square Garden recently.

Monday, the boos began early in the third period, picked up steam midway through the final period and then hit a crescendo at the final buzzer. Yes, the Rangers took notice of the angry reaction by the Blueshirts Faithful.

“You’re not feeling great about that, for sure,” Artemi Panarin told reporters. “It was better when we were like last game (against the Kraken), almost coming back and our fans supporting us. That’s a nice feeling, but we’ve got to play better, and then we won’t hear that anymore.”

3. Oh Mika

The Rangers, though, did start well in the first period. They were skating, generating chances and, you know, looked like the superior team against a last-place opponent. Then Mika Zibanejad coughed the puck up on a soft pass behind his own net. Taylor Hall intercepted, skated out from behind the goal line, whipped a pass to an open Tyler Bertuzzi in the right circle and, boom, it was 1-0 Blackhawks.

Tyler Bertuzzi breaks the ice for the @NHLBlackhawks off a slick feed from Taylor Hall! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ya7B1E1Wa2

— NHL (@NHL) December 10, 2024

The Rangers center had that bemused look on his face afterwards. Just a soft play, bad execution, and it cost the Rangers. Then the rest of his game was meh again. His line with Chris Kreider and Reilly Smith had a woeful 5v5 xGF of 0.23, per Natural Stat Trick.

In the final minute, with a chance to atone for his egregious giveaway, Zibanejad hammered two shots from his preferred left circle wide of the net with the Rangers skating 6-on-5 and trailing by one goal. It all summed up his disappointing season, so far.

It was the first NHL win for interim coach Anders Sorensen, who replaced the fired Luke Richardson last week.

The Rangers (14-12-1) have lost two straight and eight of their past 10 games (2-8-0). They are 9-12-0 since beginning the season on a six-game point streak (5-0-1).

Igor Shesterkin was solid and finished with 30 saves, but has lost six of his past seven starts. Will Cuylle scored New York’s only goal against Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom, who made 28 saves in place of Petr Mrazek, who was placed on IR this weekend with a groin injury.

Taylor Hall scored his sixth goal for the Blackhawks and added an assist. Tyler Bertuzzi also scored for the Blackhawks, and reigning Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard had an assist.

After a strong start, the Rangers were outhustled and outplayed by a seemingly inferior opponent. It was an ugly loss, and boos rained down from the fans inside The Garden.

“It’s frustrating. I get it. Deservedly so,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said postgame. “When your pace should be at a higher level and your execution should be at a higher level, I get it. It’s frustration.”

Related: Igor Shesterkin ‘so happy right now’ after birth of daughter, massive contract extension

Chicago Blackhawks 2 – New York Rangers 1

Though they played a strong first period, the Rangers still surrendered the first goal. It was the 14th time in 27 games this season the Rangers fell behind 1-0.

A soft wraparound behind his own net by Mika Zibanejad was easily picked off by Hall, who came out from behind the goal line and sent a pass to the right circle, where Bertuzzi zipped his sixth goal into the back of the cage to put Chicago up at 8:10.

It appeared that lead would hold up to the first intermission, but the Rangers scored their third short-handed goal of the season with less than a minute remaining in the period to tie the score 1-1. Cuylle collected his first shortie in the NHL — and 10th goal of the season — when he buried a rebound after Sam Carrick charged to the net at 19:17.

Sam charges up ice.

Cools buries the shorty.

YOU JUST LOVE TO SEE IT. pic.twitter.com/BXtplTRms3

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 10, 2024

The Rangers deserved the tie through 20 minutes after outchancing the Blackhawks 12-3, including 4-0 in high-danger opportunities.

Chicago, though, regained the lead at 6:16 of the second period. This time, K’Andre Miller turned the puck over in the offensive zone and Chicago’s Jason Dickinson fired an outlet pass to Bedard at center ice to create a 2-on-1 rush the other way. Bedard fed Hall on left wing, and as the forward drove to the net and Shetserkin challenged him, the puck slid off his stick blade, but hit Shesterkin’s stick and redirected over the goal line to make it 2-1.

Connor Bedard ➡️ Taylor Hall pic.twitter.com/31e1qJ9gl1

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 10, 2024

Despite that bit of misfortune, Shesterkin was sharp in the second period, making 12 saves. His best save was an alert reaction after a Blackhawks centering feed near the goal line deflected off Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren in front; Shesterkin stretched his left leg as far as possible to get his skate on the puck by the post.

Chicago reversed the pace in the second period, outchancing the Rangers 12-6, which included an 8-1 advantage in high-danger chances. The Rangers were limited to a woeful xGF of 0.26 in the middle frame, per Natural Stat Trick.

As such, the Rangers were lucky to be down only 2-1 heading into the third period, even though Artemi Panarin wired a right-wing shot off the post in the second.

The Blackhawks owned the territorial advantage in the third period, and the Rangers mustered little offense. That is until Miller was sent a pass as the trailer in the offensive zone and snapped a quick shot that Soderblom swallowed up at 14:32.

Chicago came close to taking a two-goal lead a minute later, but Shesterkin made a huge right-pad save to snuff Ryan Donato’s breakaway attempt.

In the final minute, after the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker, Zibanejad shot wide twice from his preferred spot in the left circle. Then in the final seconds, Chris Kreider ripped a shot from between the circles that Soderblom denied with his left pad. And that was it.

In a game they absolutely couldn’t lose, the Rangers did. And now it’s on to Buffalo for a tilt against the struggling Sabres on Wednesday — Buffalo is 0-5-2 in its past seven games after blowing a 5-3 lead in the third period Monday night and losing 6-5 to the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout.

“The only answers are going to come from that room,” Laviolette said. “We’ve got to be better than we were tonight.”

The Rangers appeared to be on their way to stringing together consecutive wins when they followed a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday by taking a 3-1 lead with less than six minutes left in the middle period against the Kraken. But Seattle scored three times before the end of the period and twice more to begin the third period. The Rangers never caught up, and instead of back-to-back wins, they enter the new week having lost seven of their past nine games.

The slump has dropped the Rangers (14-11-1) to the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference standings; they’re even in points with the New York Islanders but have played three fewer games.

Happily for the Rangers, this week’s schedule offers the opportunity to right the ship, with only one of the four games against a team that begins the week with a winning record. They host the League’s worst team, the Chicago Blackhawks (8-17-2), on Monday night, followed by a trip to Buffalo for a Wednesday night meeting with the struggling Sabres (11-13-3). The Los Angeles Kings (16-8-3), who are second in the Pacific Division, make their only Garden visit on Saturday afternoon, followed by a quick flight and a game at St. Louis against the Blues (13-13-2) on Sunday.

Who’s hot

Artemi Panarin has five points in his past two games after assisting on two goals Sunday. He leads the team in goals (15) and points (34), and he’s on pace to become the first player in franchise history to have back-to-back 100-point seasons. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) on a four-game point streak.

Vincent Trocheck scored again Sunday and has four goals in his past five games, matching his total for the first 21 games.

Who’s not

Sunday was a tough day for Jonathan Quick, who was shelled for six goals on 21 shots after being pressed into service when Igor Shesterkin was  unavailable because his wife went into labor before the game. Quick started the season 4-0-0 but is 1-2-0 in his past three starts and has allowed 15 goals

Related: Rangers trade rumors: Ducks reportedly wanted Cam Fowler included in Jacob Trouba deal

Rangers lookahead this week includes …

The completion of a stretch that has the Rangers playing five games in eight days and concludes with a nasty weekend back-to-back with the Los Angeles Kings at the Garden on Saturday followed by a flight to St. Louis for an early-evening game with the Blues on Sunday.

Chicago Blackhawks at Rangers (Dec. 9, 7 p.m. ET; MSGSN/NHL Network)

If there was a team the Rangers would want to face after a discouraging loss the day before, it’s the Blackhawks.

Not only is Chicago (8-17-2) last in the overall standings and mired in a five-game losing streak, they are without starting goaltender Petr Mrazek, who’s on injured reserve after leaving a 4-2 loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday with a left groin injury. That leaves backup Arvid Soderblom (1-6-1 despite a 2.60 goals-against average and .915 save percentage) and rookie Drew Comesso, who’s likely to make his NHL debut at some point during their three-game swing through the Metropolitan area this week.

The Rangers have won three in a row and seven of eight against the Blackhawks, who are 30th in the League in scoring with 66 goals in 27 games. It will be the second game for new coach Anders Sorensen, who was elevated from Rockford of the AHL when Luke Richardson was fired Thursday.

Read More: What to know about Urho Vaakanainen, the Rangers’ newest defenseman

Rangers at Buffalo Sabres (Dec. 11, 7 p.m. ET; MAX, TruTV, TNT)

Rest assured that coach Peter Laviolette will have his team primed for this one. Not only is the game on national TV, the Rangers undoubtedly have vivid memories of being embarrassed 6-1 by the Sabres in their own building on Nov. 7.

Buffalo hasn’t made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011, and the Sabres will have to kick their play up a few notches to avoid an NHL-record 14th consecutive failure to make the postseason. They enter the week on an 0-4-2 slide and are the only team to lose a game after leading by four goals; Buffalo led 4-0 less than 12 minutes into its home game against the Colorado Avalanche last Tuesday but allowed one goal in the second period and four more in the third to lose 5-4.

That game also cost the Sabres their best defenseman, Rasmus Dahlin. He left that game with back spasms and as of Sunday had yet to resume skating – making it sound unlikely that he’ll be ready to go when the Rangers come to town.

Los Angeles Kings at Rangers (Dec. 14, 1 p.m. ET; MSG)

With a weekend back-to-back, don’t be surprised if Quick gets the call against his old team in this Saturday matinee at the Garden. He is 1-1-0 all-time against the Kings, having split two decisions against them last season after joining the Rangers. If Quick starts and wins one of the Rangers’ two games before the Kings come to town, he’d be trying to become the first U.S.-born goaltender to win 400 games by defeating the team for which he earned 370 of those victories.

The Rangers are 4-1-0 in their past five games with the Kings and 6-0-2 against them at the Garden since a 4-2 loss on March 24, 2015. Overall, the Rangers are 43-20-2 with six ties against Los Angeles at MSG.

Rangers at St. Louis Blues (Dec. 15, 6 p.m. ET; MSG)

Revenge will be on the Rangers’ minds when they take on the Blues in an early-evening game at Enterprise Center after St. Louis used a three-goal third period to leave the Garden with a 5-2 win on Nov. 25.

St. Louis has had its ups and downs, with most of the downs coming because of a lack of offense – the Blues enter the week having scored 73 goals, the sixth-lowest total in the NHL. However, they’ve gotten a boost with the return of forward Robert Thomas, who had six points (two goals, four assists) to help the Blues go 2-1-0 last week in the first three games of a four-game trip that ends Tuesday in Vancouver. Former Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich is among those who’ve struggled to score, though he’s perked up recently with a five-game point streak (two goals, three assists).

Chris Kreider has enjoyed success in his limited opportunities against the Blues with eight goals and 17 points in 18 career games.

Talk about must wins. Coming off a bad loss, surrendering the most goals all season. And now the Rangers face-off against the worst team in the NHL. As stated in our three things to look for, the Rangers simply must come away with two points Monday.

After the weekend action in the NHL, the Rangers (14-11-1) are tied with the Islanders for fourth in the Metropolitan Division with 29 points. That is also tied for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference, though it’s way too early for that talk, just 26 games into the season. But, still.

The Rangers are 11 points behind the first-place Washington Capitals, and have only one game in hand. Chew on that for a while.

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Rangers news

The Rangers led the Kraken 3-1 in the second period. Then the Rangers allowed five goals in a row and were losing 6-3 midway through the third period before staging a spirited — yet unsuccessful — comeback.

New York actually did plenty of good things Sunday. But the Rangers were undone by sloppy and “loose” defensive play in the loss.

At least Igor Shesterkin had some good news Sunday. He missed the Kraken game to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. Not a bad week, that also included Shesterkin becoming the highest-paid goalie in NHL history.

NHL news

Former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba is expected to make his debut with the Anaheim Ducks after being traded there Friday, when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

The New Jersey Devils looked flat, when they were shut out 4-0 by the Colorado Avalanche and backup goalie Scott Wedgewood.

Kyle Palmieri’s third-period power-play goal was the game winner when the Islanders edged the Ottawa Senators 4-2.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli sustained an undisclosed injury in a 4-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks. He appeared to be hurt after a first-period hit, left the game and didn’t return.

The Rangers (14-11-1) blew a 3-1 second-period lead and lost 7-5 to the Seattle Kraken in a matinee at MSG. They surrendered a season-high seven goals, including five straight across the second and third periods.

It was a dispiriting loss, especially coming off a solid 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday which followed hot on the heels of the Jacob Trouba trade.

Just 2-7-0 in their past nine games, the Rangers may have the perfect opponent Monday to take their frustrations out on. The Blackhawks (8-17-2) are last in the NHL, lost five in a row and fired their coach last week. Oh, and their No. 1 goalie, Petr Mrazek, is out with a groin injury, sustained in their most recent defeat, 4-2 to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from momentum-killing 7-5 loss to Kraken

3 things to watch for when Rangers host Blackhawks

1. No excuses

Plain and simple, the Rangers must defeat the Blackhawks Monday and pocket two points in the standings. No ifs, ands or buts.

It doesn’t matter that the Rangers have struggled for over a month now. Nor that they’re coming off that loss to the Kraken, which sure seemed destined to be a second straight win. All that matters is that the Rangers take care of business against the worst team in the NHL, on home ice to boot.

A fast start would be nice, as it was Sunday. And more of that same puck control game that we saw against the Kraken would do wonders against the Blackhawks. The Rangers had a 31-11 advantage in 5v5 scoring chances Sunday, 11-5 in high-dangers pots. Their xGF was a whopping 72.24 percent, per Natural Stat Trick. More of the same against the Blackhawks should end up with a win at the end of the night.

2. Here comes Vinny

We’ve recently pointed out that Vincent Trocheck’s production is picking up, and Sunday he scored his fourth goal in the past five games. In fact, in that span, Trocheck also has three assist for seven points, and is now sixth on the Rangers in scoring with 17 points.

Trocheck also won 14 of 16 face-offs (88 percent) and was all over the ice during his 20+ minutes TOI. Postgame, he once again stepped forward to provide quality takes on the game and the team. If you’re looking for a future captain to replace Trouba, this might be your guy.

“You’ve got to stay positive at times like this and make sure to know what we’re capable of,” Trocheck explained. “Like the way we played in the third period. We played like a team that knew we could come back from down two or three goals. That’s the sense we had in the room last year. I think it’s a step in the right direction inn that sense … but, yeah, you’ve got to win games, and you’ve got to have that sense of urgency for a full 60 minutes and not just when you’re down.”

3. Connor Bedard in the house

Connor Bedard, the top pick in the 2023 draft and Calder Trophy winner as NHL rookie of the year last season, will play his second career game at MSG. Last Jan. 4, Bedard was minus-2 with three shots in a 4-1 loss to the Rangers. By the way, that’s not an anomaly in this series between Original Six foes. The Rangers have won three straight against the Blackhawks and seven of eight since Jan. 17, 2019.

But back to Bedard, The wunderkid is 19 now, struggling to find his groove on a bad team that has limited talent to surround him with. Bedard leads Chicago with 20 points, but has scored only five goals in 27 games. He’s gone six games without a goal and has one in his past 14 games.

Let’s see how he performs under the bright lights of Broadway on Monday.

New York Rangers projected lineup

Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere

Kreider – Zibanejad – Smith

Cuylle – Chytil – Kakko

Edstrom – Carrick – Berard

Lindgren – Fox

Miller- Schneider

Jones – Mancini

Shesterkin

Quick

Rangers vs. Blackhawks: When, where, what time, how to watch

Who: New York Rangers vs. Chicago Blackhawks

When: Monday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Madison Square Garden

How to watch: MSGSN

Click here for New York Rangers complete 2024-25 schedule and game results

Prior to the All-Star break, the Blueshirts demolished the Ottawa Senators 7-2, and followed that up with a rousing 2-1 OT victory over the Colorado Avalanche. The good times kept rolling with Jimmy Vesey notching two goals to take down the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Wednesday.

In all three wins, veteran goalie Jonathan Quick was in net, which according to coach Peter Laviolette was the plan coming out of the break. Igor Shesterkin participated at All-Star Weekend, and may still have to wait to get back in between the pipes.

“He’s been working really hard,” Laviolette said about Shesterkin, who has been getting in extra practice with goalie coach Benoit Allaire.

When asked who would start Friday night against the Blackhawks, he stated he knew, but wasn’t going to share.

Here’s tonight’s game and broadcast info:

New York Rangers (32-16-3) vs Chicago Blackhawks (14-35-2)
Date/Time: February 9, 2024 @ 8:30 PM ET
Arena: United Center
TV: MSG
Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM

Note: Subject to change, updated for each game

Related: New report claims 2024 1st Rd pick in play at the trade deadline

New York Rangers projected lineup

Here are the expected line combinations and pairings:

Kreider – Zibanejad – Wheeler
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Brodzinski – Kakko
Vesey – Goodrow – Pitlick

Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Gustafsson – Schneider

Shesterkin
Quick

Note: The Rangers will hold a morning skate at 12:30 AM ET at the United Center. Peter Laviolette will address the media afterwards. Check back for updates.

Update: Igor Shesterkin will start.

Igor Shesterkin in goal tonight for #NYR versus Chicago, per Peter Laviolette.

— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) February 9, 2024

New York Rangers vs Chicago Blackhawks

As we continue to keep an eye on the standings, the Rangers hold first place in the Metro Division with 65 points. The Carolina Hurricanes picked up a 5-2 win over the Avalanche on Thursday night, and are 4 points behind with a game in hand.

Every one was well aware how badly the Rangers struggled in January going 5-7-2, raising questions if this team was really a contender. However, over their last six matches, they’re 4-1-1 and showing promising signs that slump is behind them. If the Blueshirts can post another victory, it will be the first time since November that they were able to string together four straight (11/7 – 11/18).

“We’re all competing hard right now,” defenseman Ryan Lindgren stated. “As a group, we’re all committed to playing good defense and that leads to offense.”

This season, the Blueshirts are 15-9-3 on the road, and have points in three straight (2-0-1).

Upcoming Rangers Milestones

• Jonathan Quick is 2 wins away from tying Dominik Hasek (389) for 15th all-time