The Rangers have turned Madison Square Garden into a problem for everyone else. They’re 6-0-0 at home to start the season, a sharp reversal after last year’s mess, when they were shut out in their first three games at MSG and didn’t pick up a home win until mid-November.
That kind of start has given the Rangers a real foundation, but the next step is obvious: they have to carry it onto the road. So far, that part has been uneven. New York has only one road win this season, a third-game shutout of the Detroit Red Wings by Dylan Garand, and it has dropped four of five away from home.
Those losses have come in very different flavors. The opener was a 3-0 defeat to the Boston Bruins, a night when the Rangers looked like a team that still hadn’t fully come together.
Against the Washington Capitals, Igor Shesterkin was injured and the game stayed tight until the finish. Then came a rough 7-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
Most recently, the Rangers fell in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets after getting three power plays in the third period and failing to cash in.
Home ice has looked nothing like that. The Rangers have beaten the Tampa Bay Lightning twice, along with the Utah Mammoth, the New York Islanders and the Anaheim Ducks, and they’ve done it by coming out of the gate fast.
They have not trailed in any home game this season, and in each of their last three at MSG, they scored within the first two minutes. From there, they’ve played fast, physical and relentless hockey, and nobody has found a way to slow them down in their own building.
The challenge now is taking that same edge on the road. The Rangers’ next two games are away against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, and those are the kind of trips they need to turn into points if they want to keep building.
They also need more from their highest-paid forwards. Alexis Lafreniere has seven goals, but no other forward on the roster has more than four.
Pavel Dorofeyev, Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller have combined for just six goals in 11 games, with two apiece.
Even with that lack of production, the Rangers are still 7-3-1 and have played well without their best player.
There has been some help from the depth chart, with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen providing useful scoring. But that won’t be enough if the top end stays quiet, especially with Dorofeyev.
He was brought in to score goals, and right now he has yet to look fully comfortable in his new uniform. The chances are there, the shots are there, but the finishing hasn’t followed.
He has been streaky before, and the Rangers need one of those streaks to start now.
The power play needs that lift too. Dorofeyev’s struggles have fed into that problem, and the unit has been lackluster so far.
New York has already shown what it can do at home. Now the question is whether it can bring that same pace and bite onto the road. If the Rangers can handle Toronto and Ottawa and build from there, they could be positioned as one of the top teams in the league this season.
In Other News...
Rangers Prospect Pipeline Has One Encouraging Sign Fans Should Notice
A small but welcome batch of updates came in last week from the Rangers European prospect ranks, where five young players were in action across several leagues. Tom Chrenko kept helping HK Nitra stay hot in Slovakia, Ivan Patrikhayev settled back into CSKA Moscows lineup with more ice and an assist, and Mikkel Eriksen added another milestone with his second SHL goal for Frjestad BK. Rico Gredig also saw action for EV Zug in Switzerland, while Samuel Jung continued his recovery path by skating with KalPas U20 team in Finland after a concussion.
Chrenkos recent work has been especially notable for New Yorks development staff, since it has come during a winning stretch for Nitra and given him a steadier offensive footprint overseas. Patrikhayevs return matters too, because getting back into the lineup with expanded minutes is the kind of step the Rangers want to see from a prospect trying to climb the depth chart. For a system that still needs more homegrown momentum, even these scattered signs from Europe are worth keeping an eye on. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Keep Finding Painful New Ways To Lose On The Road
The Rangers had already done the hard part at Scotiabank Arena by clawing back late to tie Toronto in the third period, only to watch the night slip away in familiar fashion. The Maple Leafs then spent the final minute pressing with urgency and found the finish they needed, leaving New York with another one-goal loss on the road and another frustrating reminder of how thin the margin has been away from home.
It was the kind of finish that has made this trip so aggravating for the Rangers, who keep finding ways to get themselves back into games only to come up short in the closing moments. Toronto got the last break in a back-and-forth matchup, while Sergei Bobrovsky added a notable milestone with his 459th NHL win, tying a franchise record in the process. [Read more 🡒]
Adam Fox Is Giving The Rangers A Bigger October Story
Adam Fox has opened the 2026-27 season looking every bit like the Rangers most reliable organizer from the blue line, piling up assists early and once again driving the offense from the back end. Through the first 10 games, the 28-year-old has already separated himself as the clubs assist leader, and his start is the kind that reminds you why he remains one of the leagues top Norris Trophy candidates.
There is also a quieter layer to what he has done so far, because his work with Vladislav Gavrikov has given the Rangers a pairing that is not just surviving shifts, but tilting them. For a team looking for structure as much as production, Foxs influence is stretching well beyond the score sheet, and the early returns suggest his October may end up being only the first chapter of a much bigger season-long case. [Read more 🡒]