The Rangers kept the points rolling Friday night, stretching their winning streak to three games and making it two straight at The Garden. New York has been in control early and often this season, leading or tying after 11 of its first 12 periods and allowing a goal in just four of those frames. The result has the Rangers sitting atop the league with six points, while their 11 goals are the sixth-most in the NHL.
A few individual runs are starting to pile up, too. Eeli Tolvanen scored again to push his goal streak to three games, the longest active streak in the league.
Adam Fox and Gabe Perreault also stayed hot, each extending his point streak to three games, which is tied for the longest active run in the NHL. Fox has four assists in that span, while Perreault has two goals and an assist.
Will Cuylle, Tye Kartye and Igor Shesterkin each added to two-game point streaks as well, with Cuylle posting two assists, Kartye adding two assists and Shesterkin collecting a goal and an assist.
Shesterkin’s night stood out for more than just the points column. With a win and a point in back-to-back games, he became only the third Rangers goaltender in franchise history to do it and the first since Henrik Lundqvist in 2010-11. His assist came on Tolvanen’s goal.
There were more milestones sprinkled through the lineup. Vladislav Gavrikov scored his first goal and recorded his first multi-point game of the season, finishing with a goal and an assist. Mika Zibanejad picked up an assist on Perreault’s go-ahead goal, the 134th time he has assisted on a Rangers goal and enough to move him past Mark Messier for sixth in franchise history.
J.T. Miller also got on the board with his first goal of the season, and Alexis Lafreniere picked up his first assist of the season.
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 🡒]