The Rangers are back from their five-day break, and the schedule does not ease them in. New York opens a brutal run of eight games in 16 days on Sunday night against the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden.
The timing of the reset matters, but so does what happened before it. The Rangers (7-6-1) last played Monday and dropped a 6-3 decision to the Los Angeles Kings, their first home loss of the season and their third straight defeat overall, matching their worst skid of the year.
Even with the time off, the lineup picture wasn’t fully clear after Saturday’s practice. Coach Mike Sullivan would not say exactly how the Rangers will line up, and defensemen Sean Durzi, who is dealing with an undisclosed issue, and Braden Schneider, who is sick, both missed the session.
New York has used the same six defensemen in every game so far, but it added some insurance by recalling Matthew Robertson from Hartford of the American Hockey League. Scott Morrow is also available, and Sunday will be his 24th birthday, though he has remained a healthy scratch all season.
One certainty: Dylan Garand gets the start in goal. Sullivan confirmed that at the optional morning skate, and it will be Garand’s 10th straight appearance since Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending knee injury on Oct.
- Garand, 24, is 4-5-1 with a 2.69 goals-against average, a .899 save percentage and one shutout.
The challenge in front of him is obvious. Edmonton enters with the league’s most dangerous offense, averaging 4.21 goals per game, and Connor McDavid has been on a tear from the opening night of the season. He has picked up at least one point in every game and leads the NHL with 37 points - eight goals and 29 assists - in 14 games.
“I just focus on stopping the puck, it doesn’t matter who’s shooting it,” Garand said with a chuckle about facing the red-hot McDavid. “They’re a good team, and they have some really good players, so it’s exciting, for sure.”
The Oilers (10-2-2) have also looked sharper in their own end under new coach Mike Babcock, and they come in atop the Western Conference after winning five of their last seven. That stretch includes a 4-0 shutout over the Islanders on Saturday.
Edmonton is expected to turn to Matt Tomkins in goal for his first start with the club. Tristan Jarry played Saturday, while Damon Levi and Frederik Andersen are both on IR. Tomkins, 32, has spent most of his career in the minors and appeared in six games for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2023-24 season.
The Rangers and Oilers split last season’s series. New York won 4-3 in overtime in Edmonton on Oct. 30 after being blanked 2-0 at MSG on Oct.
- More broadly, the Rangers have lost four of their last five against the Oilers.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Pavel Dorofeyev - Mika Zibanejad - Alexis Lafreniere
Tye Kartye - J.T. Miller - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Will Cuylle - Noah Laba - Gabe Perreault
Eeli Tolvanen - Luke Glendening - Taylor Raddysh
Valdislav Gavrikov - Adam Fox
Marcus Pettersson - Sean Durzi
Alberts Smits - Braden Schneider
Dylan Garand
James Reimer
Rangers vs. Oilers: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Edmonton Oilers
When: Sunday, November 1 at 6 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
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 Already Face A Big Development Question With Their Top Pick
The early returns on Alberts Smits have given the Rangers something to monitor closely, even if it is far too soon to draw any firm conclusions. The fifth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft has been in the NHL from the start of the season, and his first month has offered a look at how the organization plans to handle a young defenseman learning on the fly. He has settled into a third-pair role with Braden Schneider, which at least gives him a manageable landing spot while the staff evaluates what comes next.
The bigger question now is how the Rangers balance patience with progression. Smits has already drawn a C+ grade from Bleacher Reports Hannah Stuart, and the discussion around his development is less about raw talent than about the best way to accelerate it without overloading him. A possible change in defensive partners is part of that conversation, along with the idea of giving him more ice time, which would make this an early test of how aggressively the Rangers want to push their top pick. [Read more 🡒]