The Rangers are back at The Garden on Sunday night with a familiar set of numbers working in their favor: three straight home wins, no first-period goals allowed through six games, and a roster that’s been setting the tone early and often.
They’ll face the Vancouver Canucks for the first time this season at 6:00 PM ET, with New York set to play three of its next five at home. The Rangers will also wear their thirds jersey for the first time this season.
This start has pushed New York near the top of the league in plenty of places. The Blueshirts are tied for second in the NHL with four wins, sit third with 170 hits and 1.83 goals against per game, rank fourth with 95 blocked shots, and are tied for fourth with eight points and 27 takeaways.
Through 18 periods, they’ve led or been tied after 15 of them. Over the full 360 minutes, they’ve been leading for 200:06, tied for 133:46, and in control for 333:52 total.
The defensive start has been especially sharp. The Rangers are tied for the league lead with four games in which they’ve allowed two goals or fewer, and they’ve already posted a shutout, one of 10 teams to do so this season.
Their penalty kill has handled 17 of 19 chances. They also own a league-best plus-6 goal differential in the first period, while their overall plus-6 mark is tied for eighth.
At 26.47 years old on average, New York currently has the youngest roster in the NHL.
The matchup also comes with a few familiar faces. J.T.
Miller spent parts of six seasons with Vancouver from 2019-20 through 2024-25, piling up 437 points (152G-285A) in 404 games. Mike Sullivan also has a Canucks tie, having served as an assistant coach there for one season in 2013-14.
On the other side, Vancouver assistant coach Jason Krog played nine games for the Rangers in 2006-07 and scored two goals. Canucks defenseman Victor Mancini was drafted by the Rangers in 2022 and appeared in 15 games for New York in 2024-25.
Adam Fox has opened the season in top form, with five assists through his first six games. Among NHL defensemen, he’s tied for third in assists and tied for sixth in points, and he leads the Rangers in assists while sitting tied for second in points.
On Oct. 1, he collected his 76th career multi-assist game as a Ranger, moving past James Patrick and into a tie with Ron Greschner for the second-most by a defenseman in franchise history. That also put him alongside Greschner and Mika Zibanejad for the eighth-most multi-assist games by any Ranger.
Since 2019-20, Fox’s 76 multi-assist games rank third among all NHL defensemen, and his 108 multi-point games in that span also rank third.
Alexis Lafrenière is rolling too. He has scored in back-to-back games and carries a three-game point streak built on four goals and two assists.
He leads the Rangers in goals, points and plus-minus at plus-4, and he is tied for ninth in goals across the league. On Oct. 6, he scored his third career hat trick, one of five hat tricks in the NHL this season, and added his second career four-point game.
That same night gave him his 56th career multi-point game, and since 2022-23, his 49 multi-point games rank fifth among Rangers skaters.
Mika Zibanejad has also been productive early, with five points through six games on one goal and four assists. He’s second on the team in assists and tied for second in points.
On Oct. 4, he picked up his 134th career assist on a go-ahead goal, moving past Mark Messier for sixth in franchise history. He is six points shy of tying Walt Tkaczuk for sixth on the Rangers’ all-time list with 678.
Zibanejad also scored New York’s first power-play goal of the season on Oct. 1, the 137th power-play goal of his career. Since 2017-18, his 121 power-play goals rank fourth in the NHL, and his 238 power-play points rank ninth.
J.T. Miller has chipped in as well, posting points in three straight games with a goal and two assists.
He scored his first goal of the season on Oct. 4.
Since 2021-22, he is the only NHL player with more than 400 points and more than 700 hits, and his 269 assists in that span rank 13th in the league. Last season, he finished with a career-best 61.5 faceoff win percentage and ranked third in the NHL among players who took at least 500 faceoffs.
Since the 2024-25 season, his 59.2 faceoff win percentage ranks fourth among players with at least 1,000 faceoffs taken.
In Other News...
Oilers Suddenly Have A Tristan Jarry Decision To Make
The Rangers goaltending picture has been thrown into immediate disarray, and it is the kind of problem that tends to send a front office scanning the league for every plausible answer. With Igor Shesterkin and Joonas Korpisalo both unavailable, New York is left weighing internal options while also staying alert to the trade market, where even teams not planning to move a goalie can suddenly become relevant.
One of the names now floating into the conversation belongs to Edmonton, where a recent strong outing from Tristan Jarry has only sharpened the decision the Oilers have to make. His status depends in part on how Frederik Andersens recovery progresses and how Devon Levi performs, and that leaves the Rangers watching a situation that could shift quickly if Edmonton decides to keep its options open rather than hold tight. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Start Is Raising One Big Lineup Question
The Rangers goaltending search has taken on a familiar midseason feel, with Igor Shesterkin out and Joonas Korpisalo sidelined, leaving the club to weigh stopgap options while the standings keep moving around them. In that kind of market, any prominent name naturally draws attention, and Connor Hellebuyck was no exception as speculation swirled around whether New York might try to make a splash.
But the buzz has not matched the reality of the situation. Salary cap concerns make a blockbuster difficult, and the sense around the league is that the Rangers are leaning toward a shorter-term veteran solution rather than chasing a major long-range answer. For now, the bigger question is not whether New York can land a headline-grabbing goalie, but how it stabilizes the position without overcommitting before its regular options are back. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Face An Early Goalie Test After Brutal Injury Shakeup
The Rangers are heading into their meeting with the Canucks with a very different look in net, and the timing of it only adds to the uncertainty. Igor Shesterkin is out for the season with a lower-body injury, forcing New York to turn to Dylan Garand, while Vancouver arrives without Thatcher Demko, setting up a matchup where both clubs are trying to manage around a major absence in goal.
Garands assignment comes after a recent stint in the minors, and it lands at a moment when the Rangers are also adjusting up front, with changes made to the top two lines before puck drop. It leaves New York trying to settle a lineup on the fly while leaning on a goaltender who has suddenly been pushed into a much bigger spotlight than anyone expected this soon. [Read more 🡒]