The Rangers may be forced to break up the same blue-line group they’ve used all season when they face the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
Two regular defensemen missed practice Saturday. Sean Durzi sat out because of an undisclosed injury, while Braden Schneider was unavailable because he’s sick. Both are right-shot defensemen, which leaves the Rangers a little thin on that side if neither can go.
Scott Morrow is the only extra defenseman on the roster, and he’s also a right-handed shot. He has been a healthy scratch in every game so far this season. By early Saturday afternoon, the Rangers still had not brought up a defenseman from Hartford of the American Hockey League.
There are options in the organization if they need them. Vincent Iorio is a right-shot defenseman with NHL experience at Hartford, and Drew Fortescue has already played on his off side with Hartford this season. Fortescue also appeared in nine games with the Rangers last season after finishing his junior year at Boston College.
Durzi’s situation has been building for a while. Coach Mike Sullivan said more than once over the past week that Durzi was dealing with something and playing through pain.
The injury may have happened late in New York’s 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 19, when a shot through traffic struck him in the arm/wrist/hand area. Even with that issue, the 28-year-old kept dressing and kept logging minutes, including 21:08 of ice time last Saturday in a 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
His workload dipped Monday against the Los Angeles Kings, when he played a season-low 15:10 and slid to the third pair with rookie Alberts Smits. Schneider stepped up to take Durzi’s spot next to Marcus Pettersson.
The Rangers did have both Durzi and Schneider on the ice Friday, which makes Saturday’s absences notable. Schneider, for his part, played all 82 games last season and had missed only three games across five-plus NHL seasons before now.
Production-wise, Durzi has been one of the more productive Rangers defensemen, sitting third on the unit with five points - two goals and three assists. Schneider is tied for third on the team and leads Rangers defensemen with 30 hits.
New York enters Sunday at 7-6-1 and is trying to snap a three-game losing streak after a five-day break in the schedule. Connor McDavid and the Oilers are next.
In Other News...
Oilers Could Arrive Shorthanded For Rangers After Early Injury Scare
The Rangers may catch a break on the schedule with Edmonton dealing with an early injury scare from Isaac Howard, who went down after a knee-on-knee collision against the New York Islanders and needed assistance getting off the ice. For a moment, it looked like the Oilers might be facing a much bigger problem, but head coach Mike Babcock said the injury is not as serious as first feared, which at least eased the immediate concern around the winger.
Even so, Howard is expected to miss the upcoming game against the Rangers while the Oilers continue to sort through his status and adjust their lineup. Edmonton is already considering different options to fill the opening, and how it handles that spot will be worth watching for a team trying to keep its forward group intact through a busy stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Sullivan Is Already Facing The Rangers Pressure Test
Mike Sullivan arrives behind the Rangers bench with the kind of rsum that usually buys a coach some patience, but New York rarely offers much of that. He steps in after Peter Laviolettes exit, inheriting a team that has already gone through a difficult first season, a front office reset under Chris Drury and the sort of retool language that signals expectations are still very much alive. Even before a full training camp has settled in, Sullivan is being asked to shape a roster that has been trying to find its footing while carrying the weight that comes with coaching in this market.
The early read is encouraging enough to make the job even more interesting. The Rangers have improved after a season in which injuries and inconsistency could have sent them backward, and Sullivan has already had to adjust his approach to fit the realities of New York pressure. With the team still in the thick of the race, the challenge is no longer just about installing a system. It is about proving that the new voice can steady a group that has to perform while everything around it keeps asking for more. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Face A Brutal Test As Lineup Questions Linger Out Of Break
The break is over, and the schedule does not exactly ease the Rangers back in. They open a demanding eight-game stretch in 16 days Sunday at Madison Square Garden against Edmonton, a matchup that immediately asks a lot of a team trying to settle back into rhythm after time off. The Oilers arrive with Connor McDavid and the leagues highest-scoring attack, while New York is still sorting through some uncertainty on the back end because of injuries and illness among its defensemen.
Dylan Garand is set to start in goal, giving the Rangers another look at a netminder who has been thrust into a heavy workload since Igor Shesterkin went down with a season-ending knee injury. Edmonton is expected to counter with Matt Tomkins, but the bigger issue for New York is how its lineup holds up against a top-tier opponent when the blue line is not fully settled. For a team trying to navigate a brutal run of games, Sunday feels like an early stress test. [Read more 🡒]