The Rangers are stacking wins, and this one came with the kind of all-around control that keeps showing up early this season. New York beat Utah after another strong 60 minutes, good for a third straight victory, and did it while navigating its fourth game in six nights. They had just blanked Detroit on the road a few nights earlier, then turned around and handled a playoff team in Utah with pace, pressure, and a lot of time spent in the right end of the ice.
Even after Joe Veleno’s injury left them with 11 forwards early, the Rangers didn’t lose their grip on the game. They kept pushing play forward with odd-man rushes, a few breakaways, and sustained offensive-zone pressure. Utah had stretches, but New York spent most of the night dictating the terms.
One of the clearest bright spots has been Eeli Tolvanen, who looks like a late-summer bargain and has already carved out a real job. He beat out the kids for a roster spot and has settled in next to Noah Laba and Will Cuylle on the third line.
That unit has done damage against softer matchups while the top six takes on the heavier lifting, and Tolvanen’s work away from the puck has been a big part of it. He’s not being asked to become a 25-30 goal scorer, and he doesn’t need to.
What the Rangers are getting is depth scoring, which was missing last season.
Vlad Gavrikov has brought the same game he showed a year ago, and that’s a huge reason New York looks so steady. He can handle just about everything, and he opened the scoring with a shot from the blue line after a strong team shift.
On the winner, his assist to JT Miller wasn’t flashy, but it was effective: get the puck to the net and let the scramble work for you. The Rangers created that bounce themselves, which is a different feel from last season.
With the ice time split looking a little more balanced than it was a year ago, it will be interesting to see how close Gavrikov gets to the 14 goals he scored last season, though that seems unlikely.
There’s also a case to be made that David Quinn may have something cooking as an assistant coach, even if he’s not the easiest name to praise. While the power play sorts itself out, the defense has been excellent at 5-on-5, and the minor changes Mike Sullivan talked about seem to be taking hold early. The bigger test will come when opponents adjust, but for now the Rangers look like a team that belongs in the conversation.
And then there’s Igor Shesterkin, who has been every bit as steady as the team in front of him. He even picked up an assist, giving him two points on the season and placing him fifth on the team in scoring.
More important, he looks calmer and happier in net than he has in recent seasons. The shot volume is down too - he’s seeing 25.6 shots a game - which speaks to how much better the Rangers are defending and how much cleaner they are at exiting the zone.
Fewer shots usually means more wins.
It’s not just about volume, though. New York is also forcing tougher looks and protecting the middle of the ice.
Against Utah, the Rangers allowed only five high-danger chances in all situations, according to Steve Valliquette’s tracking, while creating 10 of their own. That’s a major shift from where things were five months ago, and it’s a big reason the Rangers suddenly look like a team that’s for real.
In Other News...
Alexis Lafrenire Just Became The Face Of This Rangers Surge
The Rangers latest surge kept rolling at home with a 5-2 win over the Islanders, their fourth straight victory, and it came with a little bit of everything the building could have asked for. Cole Beaudoin made his NHL debut after being recalled because Joe Veleno was sidelined by injury, while Semyon Varlamov got his first regular-season start in 676 days after going through knee surgeries. It was the kind of night that felt like another small marker for a team trying to stack wins and settle into something sturdier.
Alexis Lafrenire was at the center of it again, driving the offense in a game where the Rangers looked increasingly comfortable pressing the pace and closing it out. His latest performance only added to the sense that New York has found a reliable front-facing spark during this run, especially with the way the wins are starting to come in different forms. The bigger question now is whether this stretch is the start of something more lasting, with Lafrenire right in the middle of it. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Face A Different Capitals Threat In Ovechkins Final Run
The Rangers have responded to an opening-night shutout loss by rattling off four straight wins, but the next stretch of the schedule brings a different kind of attention to the Metropolitan Division. Washington is still built around Alex Ovechkins presence, and the Capitals remain one of the leagues more familiar rivals for New York as this young season starts to settle in.
Ovechkins final NHL run gives every meeting with Washington a little extra weight, even as the Capitals have quietly adjusted their look up front. With new faces around the roster and a franchise icon in his last lap, the matchup carries both the usual division stakes and a hint of transition, making the Rangers next check-in with the Caps feel like more than just another early-season game. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Sullivan Is Already Changing The Feel Around These Rangers
The early tone around the Rangers has shifted quickly this season, and Mike Sullivan deserves a big share of the credit for it. New York has looked sharper and more connected in the opening stretch, with better chemistry and a more competitive edge showing up in the way the team is playing. Sullivan has already left his mark not just on the bench, but in the way the roster is being handled and in the steadier performances coming from the lineup.
For a team that spent so much time searching for the right mix, that matters. The change in feel is obvious enough that Sullivan is already drawing attention beyond the day-to-day results, with some of the early-season buzz centering on what his impact could mean over a full year. The Rangers are moving in the right direction, and the next question is how long this momentum can last once the league starts testing them more seriously. [Read more 🡒]