After tinkering around the edges before the deadline on Friday by trading forward Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights and adding defenseman Carson Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks, the Rangers missed their chance to take over a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with back-to-back losses against the two teams directly ahead of them in the standings.

They had to settle for one point when a 3-1 third-period lead turned into a 4-3 OT road loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, then got blown out 7-3 at home on Sunday by the Columbus Blue Jackets. The results left the Rangers heading into the first of back-to-back four-game weeks in ninth place, one point behind the Senators and two in back of the Blue Jackets, holders of the two wild cards. The Blue Jackets have a game in hand on the Rangers; the Senators have two.

After winning just twice during a stretch that saw them play five of six games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers face a nasty three-game trip that begins against the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday and continues with a visit to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. But the key game comes Saturday, when the Rangers head to Columbus for a rematch against the Blue Jackets.

Even tougher is the fact that the Rangers have to fly back to New York for a Sunday night date with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers, who demolished New York 6-2 on Nov. 23.

We should have a much better idea of the Rangers’ playoff hopes a week from today. This is a week the Rangers can’t afford to be at anything but their best.

Who’s hot

Artemi Panarin has rediscovered his scoring touch. The Rangers’ top scorer (67 points in 62 games) has goals in each of New York’s five games in March, giving him 28 for the season. He’s two away from his fifth season (third with the Rangers) with at least 30 goals and his his five-game goal streak ties his NHL career high.

Who’s not

Igor Shesterkin was in goal for two overtime losses last week that saw the Rangers cough up third-period leads each time – a 2-1 edge against the Washington Capitals at the Garden on Wednesday turned into a 3-2 OT loss, and the Senators came from two goals down in the final 10 minutes of regulation before Shesterkin was beaten by Brady Tkachuk 33 seconds into overtime. His 21 regulation losses and 25 defeats (including four in overtime) are already career worsts.

Rangers lookahead this week includes …

Games 3, 4, 5 and 6 in a 15-day stretch that will see the Rangers play nine times.

Rangers at Winnipeg Jets (March 10, 8 p.m. ET; MSG)

There are easier ways to start a road trip than facing the top team in the Western Conference, albeit one that’s coming off a split of its four-game swing through the East, which ended with a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

The Jets have been first or second in the overall standings all season, riding the combination of Connor Hellebuyck’s goaltending (37-8-3, 1.99 goals-against average, .927 save percentage, six shutouts), a deep, balanced offense (five players with at least 50 points) and the League’s best power play (31.6 percent).

Winnipeg won 6-3 at the Garden on Nov. 12, setting an NHL record by winning 15 of its first 16 games. Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, the Jets’ two 30-goal scorers, each had two against Shesterkin, who is 4-3-0 in his career against Winnipeg but with a 2.32 GAA and .932 save percentage.

Rangers at Minnesota Wild (March 12, 8 p.m.; MSG)

Minnesota is the only team that the Rangers haven’t seen yet; the Wild don’t come to the Garden until April 2. Minnesota is two different teams – a lousy 14-14-1 at home after a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday in the opener of a seven-game homestand, but a fabulous 22-10-3 away from Xcel Energy Center.

The Rangers are catching the Wild when they’re beat up. Star left wing Kirill Kaprizov and center Joel Eriksson Ek are both out with injuries, a big reason Minnesota has dropped behind the Colorado Avalanche for third place in the Central Division. Minnesota trails Colorado by two points but still holds the first wild card in the Western Conference.

New York is 19-14-1 in its all-time series against the Wild, with each team winning five times in the past 10 games. Interestingly, neither team has ever shut out the other since Minnesota entered the NHL for the 2000-01 season.

Shesterkin has played just three times against the Wild in his career, and is 2-1-0 with a 2.95 goals-against average and .912 save percentage. If Marc-Andre Fleury is in goal for the Wild, he’ll be going for his 35th career win against the Rangers.

Rangers at Columbus Blue Jackets (March 15, 7 p.m. MSG)

Every game is a big game for the Rangers now, but this one might be the biggest. The Rangers will be looking to avenge their embarrassing loss to the Blue Jackets and win for the third time in four games against Columbus this season.

Even with the loss, the Rangers have won seven of their past 10 games against the Blue Jackets, including a 4-3 victory in their first visit to Nationwide Arena on Feb. 8.

Panarin, who played two seasons with the Blue Jackets early in his career, scored his 14th goal in 21 career games against Columbus in the loss Sunday.

Edmonton Oilers at Rangers (March 16, 7 p.m. ET; MSG)

Connor McDavid & Co. wrap up a four-game swing through the East – the last three in the New York area — with their lone visit to MSG this season.

McDavid has 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 14 career games against the Rangers — including two goals and assist in the win in Edmonton that began New York’s year-ending 4-15-0 slide that knocked the Rangers out of a playoff berth.

NHL goal-scoring leader Leon Draisaitl is better than a point-a-game player against the Rangers (20 points; eight goals, 12 assists in 19 games). He had a goal and an assist in the early-season win.

Shesterkin has split two career decisions against the Oilers, allowing eight goals. Jonathan Quick, who could get the start in the second of back-to-back games, took the loss in Edmonton in November but is 25-13-6 against the Oilers with a 2.27 GAA and .918 save percentage.

New York led the Senators 3-1 with the final period more than halfway done on Saturday, only to allow goals by Ridley Greig and Michael Amadio that sent the game into overtime. Brady Tkachuk, a thorn in the Rangers’ side all day, needed just 33 seconds of overtime to get the game-winner in a 4-3 victory, capitalizing after New York (31-26-6) misfired on a pass in its own zone.

Instead of going into Sunday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square as the first wild card, the Rangers will come in tied in points with the Jackets (30-24-8), who have played one fewer game, for the second spot. The Senators, who were less than 10 minutes away from sending the crowd of 18,224 at Canadian Tire Centre home disappointed, now own the first wild card.

Having to settle for one point after being so close to a vital win is a disappointment, but the Rangers can’t dwell on it – not with the Blue Jackets coming to MSG in the second game of a stretch that will see them play nine times in 15 days. That’s a lot of hockey, so the Rangers have to look ahead to the points they can earn, not the ones that got away.

Related: Rangers blow two-goal lead, wild-card berth in 4-3 OT loss to Senators

Three takeaways from Rangers disappointing OT loss to Senators

Here are three takeaways from the Rangers’ 4-3 overtime loss to Ottawa on Saturday

1. Another blown lead turns into OT loss

If the Rangers don’t make the playoffs, games like this one and the 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals will be the reason why.

The Rangers are now 1-6 in overtime. In the last five of those six losses, they wasted third-period leads. This might have been the most painful, both because of the stakes and because it was the first time they had to settle for a single point after leading by two goals in the final 20 minutes.

“That’s disappointing. We were in control of the game,” coach Peter Laviolette said in a very brief postgame media conference. “We didn’t finish it, so it’s disappointing we leave a point on the table and not get the win.”

It had to be especially disappointing because the Senators are one of the teams the Rangers are battling in the scramble for a playoff berth in the East. A win Saturday would have moved them past the Senators and Blue Jackets and put them within three points of the Jack Hughes-less New Jersey Devils, who are third in the Metropolitan Division.

Call it a missed opportunity – and a painful one.

2. No time to mope

March is perhaps the busiest month of the season in the NHL — especially after the trade deadline passes. Teams know that the guys they’re with in the locker room after the deadline are the ones who’ll be with them through the battle for a postseason berth and throughout the playoffs.

The Rangers began the toughest grind of their season on Saturday. The game at Ottawa was the first of nine in a stretch of 15 days. They visit the League-leading Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday to start a three-game road trip, then begin a four-game homestand by hosting the Edmonton Oilers on March 16 in the second of back-to-back games after playing at Columbus the night before.

That kind of compact schedule makes the game against the Jackets on Sunday even more important – and means they can’t spend Saturday night pondering the disappointment of a lost opportunity.

CORNER = PICKED. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/PcJDj4DbaV

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 8, 2025

“We don’t have time [to be] frustrated for too long,” said forward Artemi Panarin, whose third-period goal gave the Rangers the 3-1 lead they couldn’t hold. “We have a very important game tomorrow. We have to be ready.”

3. Soucy scores in Rangers debut

Carson Soucy, the defenseman acquired by the Rangers from the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, had scored the game-winning goal in his final game with his former club on Wednesday. At 6-foot-5, Soucy makes his living keeping pucks out of his own net; any that he puts into the other team’s cage are an extra benefit.

The Rangers got one of those benefits in Saturday when the 30-year-old’s first-period shot leaked through Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark’s legs and into the net to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. The puck actually crossed the goal line after the whistle had blown, but after a video review, the play was ruled to be continuous and the goal counted.

Soucy gets his first as a #NYR. pic.twitter.com/Tslb5yhZc4

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 8, 2025

“No,” he said when asked if he knew the shot was a goal. “I think (Alexis Lafreniere) pointed at it first. Honestly wasn’t too pleased with my shot originally. But just trying to get pucks on net.”

Soucy finished the game having scored on his only shot on goal. He was also credited with one hit and one blocked shot in 15:39 of ice time. After scoring twice in his first 58 games, he has goals in back-to-back games.

“Not bad,” he said when asked about his play in his first game as a Ranger. “Unfortunately, not the win. (I) felt better as the game went on, think some things just going to take a little bit of time to get used to just [with the] systems change. But overall, the first game, I thought it felt pretty well.”

Michael Amadio tied the game by knocking in a loose puck with 2:52 left in regulation, and Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk scored 33 seconds into OT to give the Senators the win and move Ottawa (32-25-5) into the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. That’s where the Rangers would have been if they could have held onto the two-goal lead they took into the final 10 minutes of the third period.

Instead, for the second time in as many games, they had to settle for one point – just as was the case Wednesday when they lost 3-2 to the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden after leading 2-1 entering the final 20 minutes. It was the Rangers’ 29th game this season against a team currently holding a playoff berth; they’ve won just nine.

The Rangers (31-26-6) got one point and are even in points with the Columbus Blue Jackets (30-24-8), who come to the Garden on Sunday, for the second wild card. The Jackets are ahead because they’ve played one fewer game.

“We don’t have time [to be] frustrated for too long,” said Artemi Panarin, who scored the third-period goal that made it 3-1. “We have a very important game tomorrow. We have to be ready.”

New York never trailed until Tkachuk took a pass from Tim Stutzle and rifled it past Igor Shesterkin for the win. It was Tkachuk’s ninth shot of the game and the 37th for Ottawa, which limited the Rangers to 23. Stutzle got the puck when the Rangers misfired on a pass in their own zone.

Before the late collapse, it looked like a banner day for Shesterkin (33 saves) and newcomer Carson Soucy, a defenseman acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, scored in his Rangers debut. Mika Zibanejad made it 2-0 early in the second period before Tkachuk got one back 11 seconds later.

Panarin’s goal with less than 13 minutes remaining in the third period put the Rangers up by two again. But Ridley Greig scored on a rebound with 9:44 left before the late heroics by Amadio and Tkachuk.

“That’s disappointing” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We were in control of the game. We didn’t finish it, so it’s disappointing we leave a point on the table and not get the win.”

Related: Rangers sign Urho Vaakanainen to two-year, $3.1 million contract

Ottawa Senators 4 – New York Rangers 3 (OT)

Neither team generated a lot of offense in the early going. Ottawa got a power play 1:57 into the game when Sam Carrick took a needless elbowing penalty, but the Rangers killed it off easily. Shesterkin had to be sharp just before the six-minute mark to stop Claude Giroux on a 3-on-1 break, then robbed Stutzle a few minutes later after the Rangers’ defense let him walk down unimpeded from the left point to the face-off dot.

The Rangers had generated little offense until Soucy scored 8:37 into the game on one of the weakest goals that Ullmark, the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner with the Boston Bruins, will ever give up.

The big defenseman took a pass from Panarin and swung wide outside the left dot before taking a wrist shot that Ullmark appeared to squeeze between his pads. But the puck leaked through, and there was an audible groan from the crowd as it trickled over the goal line. Referee Ghislain Hebert had whistled the play dead before the puck rolled over the line, but after a video review, the play was ruled a continuation and the goal counted, giving New York a 1-0 lead.

Soucy gets his first as a #NYR. pic.twitter.com/Tslb5yhZc4

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 8, 2025

Shesterkin was the hero in the final minutes of the period after the Rangers went shotless on a power play they received at 15:11 when Grieg slashed Victor Trocheck.

No. 31 robbed Tkachuk, who was alone in the slot, with just over two minutes left and, after Soucy was called for roughing the Ottawa captain at 17:58, stopped newcomer Dylan Cozens, who was alone in the slot and denied Shane Pinto from 15 feet.

He then made two saves on Tkachuk during a goalmouth scramble in the final 10 seconds to send the Rangers to the dressing room with a 1-0 lead despite Ottawa’s 9-3 lead in 5-on-5 scoring chances and a 4-1 edge in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The Rangers went more than three minutes into the second period without a shot on goal, but they made their first one count when Zibanejad scored at 3:55 for a 2-0 lead. Urho Vaakanainen’s rim-around clearing pass caught Will Cuylle along the left boards in center ice, and he got the puck to J.T. Miller, who found Zibanejad for a wrister that ticked off the stick of Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson and zipped past Ullmark.

J.T. with the dish + Mika lets it fly. pic.twitter.com/qAjMtNRPes

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 8, 2025

But the two-goal lead lasted just 11 seconds. Tkachuk dug the puck out of a face-off and got it back to Nick Jensen at the right point. He then went to the net and deflected Jensen’s shot down and past Shesterkin at 4:06 to make it 2-1 and extend his goal-scoring streak to five games.

The goaltenders owned the rest of the middle period.

Stutzle drew a hooking call on Braden Schneider at 8:47, giving Ottawa its third power play. Shesterkin made two saves, including a tough one on Stutzle’s left-wing rip through traffic that caught his shoulder.

Artem Zub tripped Trocheck to give the Rangers a power play at 12:19. This time the Rangers had three shots on goal and a couple of other excellent opportunities that missed the net. Shesterkin set up Trocheck for perhaps the best chance with a 100-foot pass that triggered a 2-on-1 break, but Ullmark made the save.

Ullmark also robbed Panarin with 3:37 left in the period, getting his glove on what looked like a sure goal, then made a terrific save on Trocheck from the slot less than 15 seconds after Shesterkin stopped a deflection by Stutzle on a 4-on-2 rush.

The second period ended 2-1 for the Rangers, but not before their season-long bugaboo – being penalized for having too many men on the ice, the 13th time it’s happened – set up Ottawa for a power play to start the final 20 minutes.

The Rangers killed the penalty, but not before Sanderson nearly tied the game 20 seconds into the period when he waltzed through three defenders only to be denied by Shesterkin’s glove. Ottawa controlled play and limited the Rangers to one shot through the first seven minutes of the period before New York scored in transition to make it 3-1.

K’Andre Miller broke up a play in his own zone and quickly got the puck to Jonny Brodzinski. He sent Panarin in alone, and the Rangers’ top scorer got his 27th goal of the season with a quick release past Ullmark that extended his goal streak to four games.

CORNER = PICKED. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/PcJDj4DbaV

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 8, 2025

The Rangers technically killed Ottawa’s fifth power play, but Greig banged in the rebound of Cozens’ shot off the post at 10:16 to make it 3-2. The goal came one second after Juuso Parkinen’s hooking penalty expired.

Ottawa kept the pressure on and finally got even with 2:52 remaining when Amadio swatted home a loose puck in the crease at make it 3-3. Shesterkin tried to cover the puck with his glove but couldn’t do it before Amadio knocked it into the net.

“It’s frustrating,” Zibanejad said of settling for the single point. “We had the lead in the third period and gave it up, giving them two points.”

Each team has 67 points, with Ottawa sitting in the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, percentage points ahead of New York, which has played one more game (62-61). This is the final head-to-head meeting between the Rangers and Senators this season, adding to its importance.

There are too many games left in the season to call this a must-win. But there’s no denying that a regulation victory for either team carries substantial weight. For the Senators, it would give them a two-point cushion on the Rangers with a game in hand. For the Rangers, not only would they jump past the Senators but it’d feel like big brother flexing his muscle against little brother.

Already this season, the Rangers are 2-0-0 against the Senators, winning 2-1 and 5-0 at MSG. A win Saturday would complete a sweep of the season series. Plus, with the playoff-race pressure ramping up, the Senators are just 2-3-0 since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, which was preceded by a three straight losses before the break.

“It’s a huge game,” Rangers defenseman Will Borgen said after practice Friday. “It’s going to be a playoff-like game. They’re going to be pushing and so are we.”

The Rangers are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday but have points in eight of their past 11 games (7-3-1). They are also 6-2-2 in their past 10 road games. The Senators are 17-9-2 on home ice this season.

Related: Rangers trade grades after acquiring Carson Soucy from Canucks

3 things to watch for when Rangers visit Senators

1. ‘Got to be ready’

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette admitted that starting this game at 12:30 in the afternoon is an adjustment for routine-oriented hockey players. But it’s not an excuse. This is a hugely important game and the Rangers, notorious slow starters anyway, can’t be on their heels against a young energized opponent playing its biggest game in years.

“An early game, you’ve got to be ready,” Laviolette said Friday. “It happens real quick. You’re leaving for the game at 10 in the morning, so that’s not normal business inside of what we do. That’s where we’re at but we’ve got to be ready for it. It’s a big one.”

2. New faces, new places

Carson Soucy will make his Rangers debut after the 30-year-old defenseman was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round draft pick Thursday. He didn’t practice in New York on Friday and instead met the team in Ottawa later in the day. It’s not yet known who would come out of the lineup for him. Likely could be Calvin de Haan — who’s been really good in his first three games since arriving from the Colorado Avalanche — and less likely Urho Vaakanainen, who’s played well, too, and just signed a two-year contract with the Rangers on Friday.

UPDATE: Carson Soucy will play on a pairing with Zac Jones. Calvin de Haan will be a healthy scratch

There are other new faces in new places for this game. Notably Dylan Cozens should make his Senators debut roughly 24 hours after he was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline. The 24-year-old center scored 31 goals two seasons ago, landed a massive seven-year contract and has struggled to live up to it since. He had 18 goals last season and only 11 this season with the Sabres. Cozens has one goal in his past 17 games and will face the pressure of replacing the popular Josh Norris, who was sent to Buffalo in the trade.

Rugged defenseman Dennis Gilbert was also part of that trade and could debut with the Senators on Saturday. And winger Fabian Zetterlund, who’s got 17 goals this season after he scored 24 last season, was acquired by the Senators shortly before the deadline from the San Jose Sharks. It’s unknown if he’ll be available to play Saturday.

3. Friends no more

J.T. Miller and Brady Tkachuk were tight teammates with the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off. SO much so, that they — and Brady’s brother Matthew, of the Florida Panthers — had a group text between them, when they plotted a physical start against Canada in a tournament prelim game. That led to three fights — one for each member of the text chain — in the opening nine seconds of the game.

Well, that’s in the past. Now Miller and Brady Tkachuk, a pair of talented, intense gritty players, are on opposite sides and you can bet each will give as much as he’ll get Saturday. Simply, each is the heartbeat of his respective team. And since there’s a good chance they’ll be on the ice often at the same time, look for fireworks setting the tone for what should be an intense clash between the Rangers and Senators.

Matthew Tkachuk. Brady Tkachuk. JT Miller.

3 fights in 9 seconds to get this USA/Canada game started. Unbelievable.

Hockey is the greatest sport on the planetpic.twitter.com/f4dbIGOf5o

— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) February 16, 2025

Tkachuk, Ottawa’s captain, has goals in four straight games and 24 on the season to go along with 112 penalty minutes. Miller, who had a six-game point streak end against the Capitals, has seven goals, 14 points but not a single penalty minute in 12 games with the Rangers, since he was acquired in a trade with the Canucks on Jan. 31.

New York Rangers projected lineup

Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere

Cuylle – J.T. Miller- Zibanejad

Parssinen – Carrick – Berard

Othmann – Brodzinski – Rempe

K. Miller – Borgen

Vaakanaien – Schneider

Soucy – Jones

Shesterkin

Quick

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

Who: New York Rangers vs. Ottawa Senators

When: Saturday, March 8 at 12:30 p.m. ET

Where: Canadian Tire Centre

How to watch: MSG

Newcomers Calvin de Haan and Juuso Parssinen were in the lineup Sunday when the Rangers blanked the Nashville Predators, the 30th-place team in the overall standings, 4-0. Jonathan Quick made 35 saves, 20 in the third period, to earn his 63rd career shutout in his 800th NHL game.

The win moved the Rangers (30-26-4) into a three-way tie for ninth in the East with the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins. Each enters the week with 64 points, two behind the Detroit Red Wings, who hold the second wild card, and four in back of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the first wild card.

De Haan, who was acquired with Parssinen and two 2025 draft picks on Saturday for defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Jimmy Vesey, had an assist, six hits and was plus-1 against Nashville in his Rangers debut. Parssinen didn’t have a point but was credited with six hits against the team that selected him in the seventh round of the 2019 draft.

The veteran defenseman de Haan will get his turn to face the team that drafted him when the New York Islanders come to Madison Square Garden on Monday. The Isles took de Haan with the No. 12 pick in the 2009 draft; the Rangers are the sixth team he’s played for since leaving Long Island after the 2017-18 season.

The Rangers play their last game before the deadline when they host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. After two days off, they visit Ottawa on Saturday afternoon and come home to host the Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Who’s hot

J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist Sunday, and is filling the score sheet since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off. Miller has four goals and four assists during a five-game point streak and 12 points (six goals, six assists) since coming to New York in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31. He’s been everything the Rangers could have asked for.

Mika Zibanejad has thrived playing alongside Miller. He had two assists against Nashville, giving him three goals and six assists during a six-game point streak and 15 points in 10 games since Miller’s arrival, most in the NHL since Feb. 1.

Who’s not

Alexis Lafreniere ended a five-game streak without a point by picking up an assist on Artemi Panarin’s goal against Nashville. But his goal-less streak reached eight games.

Related: Rangers trade grades after acquiring Calvin de Haan, Juuso Parssinen from Avalanche

Rangers lookahead this week includes …

Another dose of home games, with three of four contests at MSG. From March 2-9, the Rangers will play five games in eight days – four of them at the Garden.

New York Islanders at Rangers (March 3, 7 p.m. ET; MSG/NHL Network)

The Rangers go for two wins in a week against their archrival after an easy 5-1 victory at UBS Arena last Tuesday.

Igor Shesterkin is in line to start after a sensational 36-save performance against the Islanders last week, followed by an ordinary 14-save night in the 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs three nights later. His Russian buddy, Ilya Sorokin rebounded from an awful showing (five goals on 11 shots) against the Rangers with a 38-save, 2-1 road win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday before one-upping Shesterkin by being credited with a goal in the Islanders’ 7-4 win against Nashville on Saturday. Sorokin was the last Islander to touch the puck before Nashville’s Steven Stamkos missed his point man with a pass and the puck slid into the empty net.

This is a big game for the Rangers, who could pull even in points with the Red Wings for the second wild card. But it’s even bigger for the Islanders, who are 14th in the East, five points out of the second wild card and three points behind their big-city rivals. They host the League-leading Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, so a loss at the Garden could persuade GM Lou Lamoriello to be a seller ahead of the trade deadline.

Washington Capitals at Rangers (March 5, 7:30 p.m.; MSG/TNT/truTV)

The Gr8 chase makes its only stop at the Garden this season, with the Rangers trying to avoid being swept by the Eastern Conference leaders.

Alex Ovechkin moved within 11 goals of passing Wayne Gretzky’s career record of 894 when he scored Washington’s lone goal in a 3-1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Ovi has five goals in his past four games and 45 in 75 games against the Rangers since he entered the NHL in 2005.

Three of those goals came in Washington’s two victories against New York this season. They Capitals outscored the Rangers 12-7, including a 7-4 win in their last meeting on Jan. 4. But the Capitals have hit some bumps in the road for the first time this season; they enter the week on a three-game losing streak.

Shesterkin is 8-5-0 in his career against Washington with a 2.70 goals-against average and .916 save percentage despite allowing four goals in a 5-3 loss at Capital One Arena on Oct. 29.

Rangers at Ottawa Senators (March 8, 12:30 p.m. MSG)

The Rangers go for a sweep of the three-game season series after defeating the Senators twice at the Garden, allowing just one goal in the process.

The Senators got hot after losing 5-0 at the Garden on Jan. 21 and held a playoff position through the 4 Nations break. But they lost five in a row until defeating the San Jose Sharks 5-3 on Saturday and enter the week tied for ninth place in the East with the Rangers and Bruins; each has 64 points, two behind Detroit.

Artemi Panarin has excelled against the Senators during his career with 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 24 games. Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk, who returned Saturday after being injured when playing for Team USA in the 4 Nations event, has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 17 games against the Rangers.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Rangers (March 9, 6 p.m. ET; MSG)

This is the first of two games in a seven-day span against the Blue Jackets, a team the Rangers have defeated in their first two meetings this season. Columbus begins the week holding the first wild card in the East after winning its first four games after the 4 Nations break, including a 5-3 victory against Detroit in their NHL Stadium Series game at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.

Their previous meeting at the Garden on Jan. 18 was scoreless through 65 minutes before Vincent Trocheck scored the only goal in the shootout for a 1-0 Rangers victory. The shutout was Shesterkin’s third in eight career games against Columbus; he’s 6-2-0 lifetime with a 1.65 GAA and .942 save percentage.

Quick has also been superb against Columbus, with a 20-9-1 record, a 2.46 GAA, a .905 save percentage and two shutouts. The 38-year-old played most of his career in the Western Conference with the Los Angeles Kings; his 20 wins against the Blue Jackets are the most he’s had against any Eastern Conference team.

The Rangers also won 4-3 at Columbus on Feb. 8. They’ll be back at Nationwide Arena on March 15 to complete the season series.

Halverson, wearing No. 33, was on the bench backing up Andrei Vasilevskiy against the Senators, the team he faced when he made his first NHL appearance on Feb. 17, 2018, relieving Henrik Lundqvist in a 6-3 loss at Canadian Tire Centre. He had not dressed for another NHL game until Tuesday.

The two-way deal Halverson signed Monday is worth $775,000 annually at the NHL level and extends through the end of the 2025-26 season.

The 28-year-old was recalled from Syracuse, the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, as he was enjoying his best pro season. Halverson was 12-7-7 with a .918 save percentage, 2.20 goals-against average and four shutouts in 26 games for the Crunch this season while playing under an AHL contract. Among all AHL goaltenders who have played at least 20 games, Halverson is tied for first in shutouts, tied for second in goals-against average and is sixth in save percentage.

Vasilevskiy, a two-time Stanley Cup winner who’s also won the Vezina Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy, is locked in as the Lightning’s No. 1 goalie. But Tampa Bay has been dealing with some uncertainty because of an injury to backup Jonas Johansson – and Halverson’s impressive play at Syracuse earned him a call-up. He could get his first NHL start this weekend, when the Lightning play back-to-back afternoon road games against the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.

Halverson was the Rangers’ first pick (second round, No. 59 overall) in 2014 and turned pro in 2016-17 after twice playing for the United States at the World Junior Championship — winning a bronze medal in 2016. Shesterkin was taken in the fourth round (No. 118) that year, but the Moscow native remained in Russia and became a star in the KHL until he signed with the Rangers on May 3, 2019, and arrived in North America for the 2019-20 season.

By then, Halverson was already well-traveled.

Ex-Rangers goalie Halverson dresses for first NHL game since 2018

He split 2016-17, his first pro season, between the Rangers’ ECHL affiliate in Greenville, South Carolina, and Hartford, then did the same in 2017-18 — with the exception of Feb. 17, 2018. That’s when Halverson backed up Lundqvist and made his NHL debut after “The King” was pulled in the third period of a game against the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre, having allowed five goals on 27 shots.

Halverson stopped five of six shots in 12:33 of playing time in a 6-3 loss. That appearance made him the eighth U.S.-born goaltender to play for the Rangers. Keith Kinkaid became No. 9 when he played in 2020-21 and 2021-22, and Jonathan Quick, who joined New York last season as Shesterkin’s backup, is the 10th. Quick became the first U.S.-born NHL goalie with 400 wins when the Rangers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Sunday.

But the Rangers returned Halverson to AHL Hartford the next day, and he didn’t dress for another NHL game until Tuesday.

He wound up being the odd man out in New York. With Shesterkin having signed with the Rangers, Lundqvist still on hand and promising newcomer Alexandar Georgiev also seeking playing time, there was no place for Halverson after he split 2018-19 between Hartford and Maine of the ECHL. He became a free agent, spent most of 2019-20 with Norfolk of the ECHL and played four games for ECHL Wheeling in 2020-21 before a high ankle sprain ended his season. Halverson didn’t play at all in 2021-22 when he was recovering from knee and wrist surgery (instead, he worked on a farm), then returned to the ice in 2022-23 with Bayreuth in Germany’s second division.

Halverson went to camp in the fall of 2023 on a PTO with Syracuse, Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate, and won four of five decisions before earning a two-year AHL contract from the Crunch in late November. He ended up splitting time between Syracuse and Orlando, the Lightning’s ECHL affiliate.

But he excelled at the AHL level, going 7-3-3 in 14 games with a 2.18 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and one shutout. He was named Syracuse’s starter in the Calder Cup Playoffs, when he was 3-4 but finished with a 2.19 GAA and .916 save percentage.

New York Rangers GM Chris Drury and his counterparts around the League are making their lists and checking them twice as they look to see whether they’ll be buyers and/or sellers as the March 7 deadline approaches.

The Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche got things started on Jan. 24 when the Avalanche sent two-time 100-point scorer Mikko Rantanen to the ’Canes for forward Martin Necas, center Jack Drury and two draft picks. Carolina also traded another draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for forward Taylor Hall, who won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2017-18.

The Rangers pulled off a blockbuster of their own on Friday night by acquiring center J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks, giving up center Filip Chytil, rookie defenseman Victor Mancini and their first-round pick in the 2025 draft as long as it’s not in the top 13 — if it is, they’ll give up their 2026 first-rounder.

With five of the eight playoff berths in the East (two in the Atlantic Division, three in the Metropolitan) all but decided, teams also have to determine as the deadline draws nearer whether their playoff chances are worth adding talent — or if it’s time to sell.

Here’s an updated look at the Rangers and the teams they’re battling against for a playoff spot as trade season heats up. All deadline cap figures are from Puckpedia.

Related: NHL insider warns Rangers, NHL teams to do ‘homework’ on J.T. Miller before making trade

Breaking down what Rangers, East rivals could do ahead of NHL trade deadline

New York Rangers (24-22-2; 6th in Metro, 13th in East, 5 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $16,418,170

Even before acquiring Miller, the he remodeled Rangers had made two major trades in December, sending their captain, defenseman Jacob Trouba, to the Anaheim Ducks and forward Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken. The return was two defenseman, Urho Vaakanainen and Will Borgen, who’ve fit in well on the bottom four. The Rangers also claimed 23-year-old forward Arthur Kaliyev off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings; he has two goals and an assist in 10 games.

New York got back into the playoff hunt with an 8-3-3 mark in January after a disastrous 4-15-0 stretch in their final 19 games of 2024, although the Rangers are coming off back-to-back home losses to Colorado and Carolina. But the solid showing in January hasn’t been enough to put them into a playoff position — hence the reason that Drury made the big swing for Miller.

The question is whether Drury will try to make a big splash for Miller, a top-six forward or perhaps another defenseman, or ditch a contract or two (See: Ryan Lindgren Reilly Smith, Jimmy Vesey) and let some of the Rangers’ young talent, such as forward Brennan Othmann, see what they can do in the heat of a playoff race.

In playoff position

Ottawa Senators (27-20-4; 3rd in Atlantic)
Deadline cap space: $3,330,833

The Senators wasted a two-goal third-period lead on Thursday but defeated the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime to maintain their hold on third place in the Atlantic.

Newf and Pinto's battle on the boards 👏
Chabby's finish 👏
The vibes 👏#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/eKujGh3W8M

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 31, 2025

The Senators are surviving the absence of starting goaltender Linus Ullmark, who’s been out since Dec. 22 with a back injury, thanks to the play of Anton Forsberg and rookie Leevi Merilainen. But injuries have forced them to use AHL call-ups like Nikolas Matinpalo on defense and Zack Ostapchuk up front, so depth trades could be a priority.

Ottawa hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017-18, so expect GM Steve Staios to make whatever moves he feels his team needs to get back to the postseason. The most likely ones, if he can find a partner, would be to acquire a righty-shooting defenseman and/or a wing who can score.

Columbus Blue Jackets (26-19-7; 4th in Metro, first wild card)
Deadline cap space: $46,151,240

After their best player, forward Johnny Gaudreau, was killed in a cycling accident in late August, it would have been impossible to imagine that the Blue Jackets would be in the playoff hunt. But the Blue Jackets continue to ride a sensational season by defenseman Zach Werenski and breakout seasons by young players such as Kirill Marchenko as they battle for a playoff berth that few, if anyone, thought they even had a chance to earn.

Columbus opened its four-game road trip Thursday with a 2-1 overtime win at Vegas to move back into the second wild card, then rallied for a 3-2 victory against the Utah Hockey Club on Friday to gran the first wild-card berth

The Blue Jackets expect the return of captain Boone Jenner and rugged defenseman Eric Gudbranson will add some toughness to the lineup. But if GM Don Waddell goes shopping, don’t be surprised if he looks for big forwards who can produce some offense and offer some protection for the kids.

The one veteran Waddell may be willing to trade is defenseman Ivan Provorov, an impending UFA who has said he wants to stay. Cap space isn’t an issue, but if Waddell is afraid of losing him in free agency without any return, the 28-year-old would likely bring back a significant haul in talent and draft picks.

TSN’s Pierre Lebrun reported Thursday that the Blue Jackets are speaking with the Canucks about Elias Pettersson, in what would be a massive move on their part if a trade is consummated.

Tampa Bay Lightning (27-20-3; 4th in Atlantic; second wild card)
Deadline cap space: $1,792,070

Few general managers have been more willing that Tampa Bay’s Julien BriseBois to go for it as the trade deadline nears. Whether he’ll have the assets – the Lightning are without their first-round draft pick — and cap room to do more than tinker around the edges is the question.

If an NHL roster had 10-12 players, the Lightning would be in great shape. They have Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli up front, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Erik Cernak and J.J. Moser (when he returns from injury) on defense and Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal. Vasilevskiy was in goal for a 3-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Shutout hugs are the BEST hugs pic.twitter.com/vxCvVhguWV

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 31, 2025

The problem is that after third-line center Nick Paul, there’s no scoring depth in the bottom six. Expect BriseBois to try to bring in a low-priced two-way forward who can mesh with Paul and give the top six some support. Perhaps, that player could be two-time Stanley Cup champion Brandon Saad, who had his contract terminated with the St. Louis Blues this week but still appears to have something left in the tank on a League minimum deal.

In the chase

Boston Bruins (25-22-6; 5th in Atlantic, ninth in East; 1 point out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $5,718,334

The Bruins are hanging on in the race despite a minus-29 goal differential. It’s hard to see that lasting unless GM Don Sweeney makes some moves. Firing the coach won’t help — he did that in November by sacking Jim Montgomery.

Sweeney opened his checkbook last summer with the thought that bringing in Elias Lindholm would fill the hole at No. 1 center. That hasn’t happened; Lindholm has been demoted to the third line, with Pavel Zacha manning the top spot between David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie. Zacha is a useful player, but he’s not an ideal No. 1 center. The two goaltenders, Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo, each has a save percentage below .900.

Boston will look for an offense-minded center. Finding one isn’t likely to be easy, even if the Bruins are willing to give up a first-round pick this year or next. With the Bruins having already played 53 times, every contender has games in hand on them – some have two or three. If his team continues to struggle, Sweeney could be a seller instead of a buyer.

Detroit Red Wings (25-21-5; 6th in Atlantic, 10th in East, 2 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $8,397,971

The Wings appeared to be headed for their ninth straight non-playoff season when they reached the Christmas break at 13-17-4. But GM Steve Yzerman changed coaches, firing Derek Lalonde and bringing in Todd McLellan, and Detroit has looked like a different team since then. They won their fourth in a row on Thursday by overcoming an early two-goal deficit to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in a shootout to begin a four-game trip. The win moved the Red Wings within two points of the second wild card.

With his team so close to making the playoffs for the first time since 2016, it’s hard to imagine Yzerman being a seller (as it appeared he might be five weeks ago). If he adds, expect him to look for a scorer who can help not only this season but for years to come.

Whether that kind of player is available during the season is a separate issue, but the Wings need to add offense behind Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat — all three have reached the 20-goal mark; no one else on the team has hit double figures.

New York Islanders (23-20-7; 5th in Metro, 11th in East, 4 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $1,806,667

The Isles made it six wins in a row and nine in their past 11 games with a 3-0 victory against the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday. They still don’t score much, and their power play is horrendous, but coach Patrick Roy has them playing terrific defense (seven goals allowed during the winning streak) and they’ve leap-frogged the Rangers, among other teams, to give themselves a chance at a wild-card berth.

Hug. Your. Goalie. pic.twitter.com/x6w2UyvsQM

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) January 31, 2025

The Islanders have the League’s fourth-oldest roster, almost no cap space and a weak prospect pool, so GM Lou Lamoriello doesn’t have much to work with. However, he’s found bargain-basement pickups Tony DeAngelo and Scott Perunovich to plug the holes on defense left by injuries to Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock, who should be back at some point. The Isles added another bargain-basement veteran D-man Friday when they claimed Adam Boqvist from the Florida Panthers.

If Lamoriello decides to sell, he has veterans such as centers Brock Nelson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, as well as forward Kyle Palmieri, who should attract a lot of attention and bring in some more much-needed young talent.

Montreal Canadiens (24-22-5; 7th in Atlantic, 12th in East, 4 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $6,447,500

The Canadiens were flying high about 10 days ago, 10-2-1 in their first 13 games after the Christmas break. Then reality hit: Montreal is 0-3-1 in its past four games, including a 4-0 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

It’s hard to imagine the rebuilding Canadiens, led by former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton and loaded with young talent, doing any serious shopping. The lone exception might be on defense, where they need a right-handed shot to allow lefty-shooting Mike Matheson to go back to his natural side. The Canadiens also need to replace Kaiden Guhle, who’s out indefinitely after surgery to repair a lacerated quadriceps muscle.

Montreal has a lot of rentals, including veteran forwards Jake Evans and Joel Armia, as well as defenseman David Savard, who should attract interest if it decides to go in that direction.

Philadelphia Flyers (23-24-6; 7th in Metro, 14th in East, 5 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $5,023,177

The rebuilding Flyers have lost four of their past five games after a 5-0-1 run that got them into the playoff race. Philadelphia desperately needs to get better up the middle; until that happens, it’s hard to envision the Flyers not falling out of the race in the next couple of weeks.

They got a head start on the deadline Thursday by sending a pair of 25-year-old forwards, Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, to the Calgary Flames for forwards Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier, plus two draft picks.

Here's the heated exchange between John Tortorella and Matvei Michkov after the first Islanders goal. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/lDOFXC4WSc

— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) January 31, 2025

GM Daniel Briere doesn’t have any pending unrestricted free agents. Players who’ve been mentioned in trade talk (Rasmus Ristolainen and Scott Laughton are two of the most talked-about) have term left on their contracts, which figures to diminish interest.

Don’t be surprised if Briere does some more selling before the deadline as he prepares for the Draft in June, where he’ll have three first-round picks and four more in the second round.

MSG’s Joe Micheletti spoke for thousands of Rangers fans with that remark early in the telecast of their team’s 6-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. With most of the teams the Rangers are battling in the Eastern Conference playoff race in action, it would be hard to blame those in the sellout crowd of 18,006 from keeping one eye peeled for out-of-town results.

The victory against the Flyers extended the Rangers’ point streak to 10 games (7-0-3). The Rangers are off until the Colorado Avalanche come to town Sunday afternoon, so you can bet that they’ll be eagerly following the out-of-town action again on Saturday. The Carolina Hurricanes visit on Tuesday, and the Rangers then get three days off.

As for the game Thursday: Igor Shesterkin continued his superb play, finishing with 33 saves to extend his point streak to 6-0-1 as the Rangers improved to 24-20-4 – the same record as the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators, each of whom lost on the road when the Rangers were winning at home.

The Avs and Hurricanes will look different than the last time the Rangers saw them. Colorado traded high-scoring forward Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes on Friday night for Carolina’s top scorer, forward Martin Necas, and center Jack Drury. The ‘Canes also added forward Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks. All four players should be with their new teams by the time they arrive at MSG.

Here’s an updated look at the playoff scramble in the East (all records through Friday’s games):

READ: Daily — Rangers making contenders look like pretenders, Gary Bettman retirement talk

Metropolitan Division top three

None of the top three teams in the Metropolitan Division look like they’ll be threatened by anyone below them. The Washington Capitals are the leaders in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy, the Hurricanes are second in the division and the New Jersey Devils trail them by three points.

#NJDevils head coach Sheldon Keefe said Jacob Markstrom “will miss some time” following his injury in the second period of tonight’s game.https://t.co/FiNg3cdD1y

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 23, 2025

The third-place Devils lead everyone else in the division by at least seven points, although starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom is out 4-6 weeks with a sprained left MCL. Markstrom was injured and had to leave early in the second period of New Jersey’s 5-1 win against the Bruins on Wednesday; Jake Allen finished the game and will be relied upon to carry the load in Markstrom’s absence.

The 34-year-old should be back before the playoffs but this next month could prove interesting. If the Rangers remain hot and the Devils falter without their No. 1 goalie, a top-three spot in the division is not out of the question for the Blueshirts, who have two games in hand on their Hudson River rivals.

Ahead of the Rangers (current wild cards)

Boston Bruins (24-20-6, 54 points)

A 2-0 win over the visiting Senators on Thursday nudged the Bruins past the Tampa Bay Lightning and into third place in the Atlantic Division, behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers — for one night. But the Lightning (26-18-3) jumped back into third on Friday by rallying for a 4-3 overtime road win against the Chicago Blackhawks, dropping Boston back to the top wild card. The Lightning also have three games in hand on the Bruins and at least one on all the other playoff contenders as they prepare for the second of back-to-back road games against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Tampa Bay is coming off losses at Toronto and Montreal earlier in the week, but the Lightning’s .585 points percentage is sixth in the conference, and it’s hard to believe they won’t end up in the top three in their division.

However, the Rangers, Canadiens and Senators each have two games in hand on Boston.

The Rangers edged the Bruins 2-1 at the Garden on Jan. 2 and go to Boston a week from Saturday before hosting them four nights later. New York lost 6-2 at Tampa Bay on Dec. 28 and plays the Lightning twice in the final 10 days of the season.

Columbus Blue Jackets (23-19-7, 53 points)

Columbus dropped from the first wild card to the second after blowing a 2-0 lead in Raleigh on the way to a 7-4 loss to Carolina on Thursday that completed a 1-2-1, six-day road trip – including a 1-0 shootout loss to the Rangers on Jan. 18. The one win was a 5-1 victory in Toronto on Wednesday, with hometown boy Adam Fantilli getting his first NHL hat trick.

But the Blue Jackets can keep their suitcases packed; after a home game against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, they’re back on the road for four more games, beginning Jan. 30 against Vegas. Their last game before the 4 Nations break is against the Rangers on Feb. 8. Columbus comes to the Garden again on March 9 and hosts the Rangers six nights later.

Now’s a good time to point out that the Blue Jackets are 7-14-4 on the road this season.

Even with the Rangers

Montreal Canadiens (24-20-4, 52 points)

Even with a 4-2 loss at Detroit on Thursday, the Canadiens are 10-3-1 since the Christmas break – including a 5-4 overtime win against the Rangers at Bell Centre this past Sunday. They host New Jersey on Saturday.

The Canadiens, seeking their first playoff berth since losing to the Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, have come together under former Rangers forward Martin St. Louis after a 5-11-2 start that looked like it would doom them to another early summer.

The Rangers were 2-0-1 in the season series, winning 7-2 in Montreal on Oct. 22 and 4-3 at MSG on Nov. 30 before the OT loss.

Ottawa Senators (24-20-4, 52 points)

The Senators were on a 5-0-1 run before their offense disappeared in the past two games; they were shut out 5-0 at the Garden on Tuesday before being blanked 2-0 in Boston on Thursday. They hope playing back-to-back home games against the archrival Maple Leafs on Saturday and Utah on Sunday will help perk things up.

Though this won’t help the offense, Ottawa is hoping that No. 1 goalie Linus Ullmark, who’s been out injuring his back Dec. 23, will be ready to return shortly. Rookie Leevi Merilainen preserved the Senators’ playoff chances with a 6-3-1 record and two shutouts in Ullmark’s absence, but he struggled in his past two games and could be headed back to the AHL when Ullmark is ready to go.

New York defeated Ottawa 2-1 on Nov. 1 in their only meeting before this week’s win; New York makes its lone visit to Canadian Tire Centre on March 8.

Behind the Rangers

We’ll assume that the New York Islanders (47 points) and Buffalo Sabres (41), who are last in their respective divisions, have too few points and too many teams in front of them to have a realistic chance at the postseason. But there are three other teams that begin Saturday trailing the Rangers but still hold realistic playoff hopes.

Philadelphia Flyers (22-22-6, 50 points)

The Flyers’ loss at the Garden on Thursday dropped them two points behind the Rangers. The loss also ended a 5-0-1 run by Philadelphia after the Flyers looked like they might be falling out of the race two weeks ago.

Thursday began a busy stretch for coach John Tortorella’s team. The Flyers lost 3-1 to the Islanders at UBS Arena on Friday, then have a home-and-home against the Devils and host the Islanders on Jan. 30 – that’s five games in eight days. The Rangers don’t see them again until the Flyers come to the Garden on April 9.

Detroit Red Wings (22-21-5, 49 points)

The Wings are still looking to host their first playoff game at Little Caesars Arena, which opened in the fall of 2016, but it’s going to be an uphill battle. Detroit ran off a seven-game winning streak under new coach Todd McLellan, then was 1-3-1 in the next five games before defeating the visiting Canadiens on Thursday.

The pass. The finish. 🤌 pic.twitter.com/6ainBoJTQF

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 24, 2025

The Red Wings have home games against the Lightning on Saturday and the Kings on Monday before a swing through Western Canada and Seattle. The Rangers swept the three games between the teams in a season series that ended before Veterans Day, outscoring the Red Wings 13-3.

Pittsburgh Penguins (20-22-8, 48 points)

The Penguins have three games remaining on their marathon seven-game road trip that will take them through the end of January. They followed up one of their best efforts of the season, a 5-1 whipping of the Kings in Los Angeles on Monday, with a 5-1 clunker Thursday against the Anaheim Ducks, a team all but assured of missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season.

That loss dropped the Penguins two games below NHL .500, and they likely need to win at least two of the remaining three, beginning Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken, to stay in the hunt.

The Rangers are 2-0-0 against the Penguins, winning 6-0 in Pittsburgh on opening night and 4-2 at the Garden on Dec. 6. The teams play again at MSG on Feb. 7 and in Pittsburgh on Feb. 23.

Oh, and the Rangers won convincingly, 5-0, to move within two points of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

So, sure, the Rangers coach was able to smile and joke a bit after it was all said and done.

“That’s hockey man,” Laviolette quipped. “There’s always stuff going on around the crease. Goalies usually don’t get into it, but obviously he was offended.”

Yes, Shesterkin was offended, coach. After stopping a Ridley Greig shot 7:09 into the third period, Shesterkin was banged into the goal post by a hard-charging Tkachuk. That set off a full-scale wrestling match behind and to the side of the Rangers net.

COMPLETE CHAOS IN NEW YORK AS IGOR SHESTERKIN GOES AFTER BRADY TKACHUK 😱👊 pic.twitter.com/XldXUyTXmt

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 22, 2025

After Shesterkin collected himself, he saw Tkachuk grab Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider, so the goalie charged right at the rugged forward. Unfortunately for Shesterkin, he skated directly into a left hand and eventually was tossed to the ice. But he got up looking for more before all was said and done.

“I got a couple of punches from Tkachuk. To be honest, it just was a hit on me and I don’t really enjoy that because I was between the pipe and him,” Shesterkin explained postgame. “I didn’t want to jump there, but I saw he got in between our guy and their guy, so I just tried to hold him, but he wanted to fight. It’s tough for me because I cannot drop my gloves — if I do that I go to locker room. If I gave up one [goal] I could go fight.”

The final joking reference was Shesterkin speaking to the fact that he was working on his second consecutive shutout and didn’t wish to be tossed from the game and miss out on another shutout.

There were laughs afterward. But things were heated in the moment.

The Rangers made sure to get the last laugh, scoring a power-play goal with Tkachuk in the penalty box to put the game away.

Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from dominating win against Senators

‘Igor’s the man,’ Matt Rempe says about Rangers goalie

When asked about the bigger picture of standing up for each other and having an all-for-one mentality, Laviolette expressed pride in how the Rangers responded.

“I like the fact that we hung in there together in that scrum. Things just kind of unfolded pretty quick and it was good,” he explained.

Laviolette wouldn’t completely buy into that this was a huge sign of the team coming together as part of a nine-game point streak (6-0-3). He pointed out that many times good teams come together during adversity. Remember, it wasn’t long ago that the Rangers lost 15 of 19 games (4-15-0) and two popular teammates — Jacob Trouba and Kaapo Kakko — were traded away.

He also noted that things within the game, stating specifically blocking shots, brings the team together too.

Towering forward Matt Rempe was on the ice during the melee and picked up a pair of roughing minor penalties. So, what was he thinking in the heat of the moment?

“I was a little nervous because I don’t want anything to happen to him, but I love just because he’s a competitor. Just want to make sure I get in there and nothing happens, but it was awesome — Igor’s the man,” Rempe told reporters after the game.

The man, indeed. Forget his pugilist side. Shesterkin is 5-0-1 in six starts since being activated from IR, where he spent four games with an upper-body injury into the New Year. He’s allowed nine goals in those six starts and again resembles the goalie who earned the richest contract in NHL history for his position.

The man.

Believe it or not, the Senators are the team currently holding a wild-card spot in the East, and the Rangers are the team on the outside looking in, though they’re only two points out of a wild card right now.

The Senators (24-19-4) didn’t look anything like a playoff team Tuesday, due in large part to the all-around complete game played by the Rangers (23-20-4), who were better in every single facet. Heck, it could’ve been 7-0 if the Rangers weren’t offside twice, negating apparent goals by Sam Carrick in the first period and Arthur Kaliyev in the second.

The score only partly speaks to how completely the Rangers thrashed their guests. It was 2-0 after two periods and still felt like Ottawa didn’t have a chance.

The Rangers are on a season-long nine-game point streak (6-0-3), one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (whom they also shut out last weekend) and two behind the Senators, Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens (whom they lost to 5-4 in overtime Sunday). They are physically healthy and their game is healthy again.

This is simply night and day from that disastrous 4-15-0 stretch in November and December.

Related: Controversial former Rangers defenseman now NHL free-agent option

3 takeaways from Rangers shutout win against Senators

Here are three takeaways from the dominating win Tuesday.

1. All for one

The Rangers are again playing as a team, not a group of individuals. It shows in their defensive structure and commitment to one another, evidenced by allowing a season-low 20 shots Tuesday. It hasn’t always been perfect and there’ve been some serious breakdowns even in this current point streak (case in point Sunday in Montreal). But this group has come together, they are playing for one another and there’s no longer a question of compete when watching the Rangers play.

Igor Shesterkin enters the fray and goes after Brady Tkachuk after a scrum in front of the net pic.twitter.com/BfRtl09ztg

— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) January 22, 2025

Certainly that was evident in the third period when all five Rangers jumped in to defend Igor Shesterkin after the Rangers goalie was leveled by Senators captain Brady Tkachuk in a goal-mouth scrum. That Shesterkin joined the fray and went after Tkachuk after the Ottawa captain looked to fight Braden Schneider was the cherry on top for the fans and Igor’s teammates. Of course, all involved prefer that Shesterkin not get socked by the left hand Tkachuk greeted him with. But the point is that it was all for one, and the one is the Rangers name across the front of their jerseys.

Coach Peter Laviolette maybe wasn’t thrilled to see his $92 million goalie get involved. But he sure as heck appeared quite pleased discussing the melee in his postgame chat with the media.

“That hockey, man,” the coach quipped with a smile.

2. Twin towers

Great nugget dug up by Peter Baugh of The Athletic: when Matt Rempe scored his first goal of the season on a neat feed from Adam Edstrom in the third period, they became the tallest teammates in NHL history to combine with a goal and the primary assist on the same scoring play. At 13-feet-3-inches, Rempe and Edstrom passed Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton, who did it three times together with the Boston Bruins.

MATT REMPE WITH AN ABSOLUTE BEAUTY 🚨 pic.twitter.com/5BbB4OkLkQ

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 22, 2025

This was not a greasy fourth-line goal, either, not that there’s ever anything wrong with one of those, mind you. But this one started in the Rangers end with the fourth line defending well and winning a puck battle along the boards. Carrick chipped to Rempe, who quickly fed Edstrom. Then Edstrom took off the other way, eventually playing the puck to himself off the boards, before neatly passing it over to Rempe bursting down the middle toward the Ottawa net. Rempe made a sweet forehand-backhand finish and The Garden exploded.

Edstrom’s play improves by the day and Carrick has provided a massive lift offensively since the start of the New Year, though his all-around game has been consistently solid all season. Only recently did Rempe work his way back to the NHL and into a regular role on the fourth line, and he had himself a strong night Tuesday.

Rempe played a smart, physical game in just under 10 minutes TOI, He was second behind Artemi Panarin (five) with four shots on goal, nearly scored a second goal late in the third period off another rush chance and was right in the middle of things to stand up for his goalie. Not many teams can match up on the fourth line to the twin towers of Edstrom and Rempe, if they play as they did Tuesday.

3. It takes everyone

Shesterkin backstopped his second straight shutout. The Rangers had five different goal scorers. Thirteen of the 18 skaters recorded a point. New York allowed only eight scoring chances all game, never more than three in any one period, per Natural Stat Trick. They scored two power-play goals, including Will Cuylle’s first extra-man marker this season. They were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and didn’t allow the Ottawa power play a single shot on goal.

It was a thoroughly dominant outing for the Rangers. And it was as complete a total team effort as they’ve had all season. This is what it will take throughout the stretch run and when they line up against stiffer competition. This was the blueprint.