The Rangers kept their home floor spotless again, and Alexis Lafrenière set the tone almost immediately.
New York beat Tampa Bay with a first-minute goal from Lafrenière, who scored 1:02 into the game and finished with his second multi-goal outing of the season. He’s now scored in four straight games, the second-longest active streak in the NHL and the longest scoring run of his career. With seven goals, he’s tied for second in the league.
The win pushed the Rangers to 5-0-0 at home to start the season. That’s the third time in franchise history they’ve opened with five straight home wins, joining the 1990-91 team, which went 8-0-0, and the 1983 club, which started 6-0-0. Their five-game home winning streak is now the longest active run in the NHL.
New York’s overall numbers continue to jump off the page, too. The Rangers are tied for the league lead with six wins, rank second in the NHL with 12 points, sit second with a 1.75 goals-against average, and are third with 27 goals scored.
They also kept Tampa Bay to one goal or fewer, marking the third time they’ve done that this season. That ties them for the most such games in the league.
The penalty kill held up as well, going 4-for-4 and extending the Rangers’ run of perfect kills to three straight games. On the season, they’re 22-for-24, good for fifth in the NHL at 91.7 percent.
Dylan Garand continued his strong start in net. He’s won back-to-back games and is 3-0-0 in three starts this season.
In six career starts, he matched Igor Shesterkin and Cam Talbot for the fewest starts by a Rangers goalie to reach five wins. Garand is tied for fifth in the NHL with three wins, and among goalies with at least four starts, his 1.15 goals-against average and .951 save percentage both rank second.
Mika Zibanejad added another shorthanded marker, his 16th career and 14th with New York. That ties Don Maloney for the fourth-most shorthanded goals in franchise history. Among Swedish players, he’s now tied for sixth all-time in NHL shorthanded goals.
Adam Fox kept his home point streak rolling, extending it to five straight games. That’s the longest such streak in the league.
He also became the sixth player in Rangers history to open a season with an assist streak of five or more home games. For defensemen league-wide, Fox is tied for the lead with seven assists and tied for third with seven points.
Will Cuylle also stayed hot, scoring at least once in back-to-back games. He piled up a career-high 11 hits, the most by any player in a game this season. On the year, his 37 hits lead the NHL, and his 889 hits since the 2023-24 season rank second.
J.T. Miller stretched his point streak to five games, putting up one goal and five assists in that span, and his assist streak reached four games, tied for the third-longest active run in the league.
For Tampa Bay, Tye Kartye has now posted two points in back-to-back games, with two goals and two assists over that stretch.
In Other News...
Rangers Bring Early Heat Back To MSG Against Tampa Bay
The Rangers are back at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to face the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the building should again have the feel of a team that has started fast and fed off its home ice. New York is unbeaten in its four games at MSG so far, and the early numbers around the club have matched the eye test, with the Rangers sitting near the top of the league in a handful of key categories.
Alexis Lafrenire has been a big part of that surge, earning the NHLs Third Star of the Week after scoring in three straight games and giving New York another top-line threat to lean on. Tuesday also brings Hispanic Heritage Night to the Garden, with a pregame community program and a check presentation tied to the celebration, adding another layer to a matchup that already carries plenty of energy. [Read more 🡒]
Scott Morrow Is Stuck In A Rangers Roster Squeeze
Scott Morrow is still waiting for his first game of the season, and the logjam in front of him explains why. The Rangers have kept their blue line intact, with Sean Durzi and Braden Schneider both entrenched in the lineup, and there is little indication either one is headed for the press box anytime soon. For a club that has leaned on its defensive structure while searching for more consistency on the offensive side, Morrows profile still stands out as the kind of player who could help tilt the ice the other way.
The catch, of course, is that his game comes with questions on the defensive end, which makes the roster decision more complicated than simply finding an open spot. Unless the Rangers create room through an injury or a trade on the back end, Morrow may remain in a holding pattern while the group in front of him stays healthy and intact. For now, he is the lone skater on the roster without an appearance this season, which says as much about the teams depth chart as it does about his own place in it. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Goalie Depth Suddenly Feels Far More Important Than Expected
Callum Tungs night in Hartford offered a promising snapshot of the Rangers organizational depth at a position that can change a season in an instant. The Wolf Pack goaltender turned aside 28 shots in a 2-0 win over Providence on Oct. 9, a performance that stood out on its own before New Yorks bigger-picture goalie concerns quickly made every crease performance feel a little more relevant.
The timing around the Rangers only sharpened the focus on what comes next. With Igor Shesterkin dealing with a right knee injury and Joonas Korpisalo also unavailable, New York has already recalled Spencer Martin and is expecting Dylan Garand to be the next man up, turning what once looked like routine depth into a far more urgent part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]