The Rangers head into Saturday night looking to stop the bleeding away from home, with a trip to Canadian Tire Centre to face an Ottawa Senators team sitting on the same kind of early-season footing.
New York is 7-4-1 overall, but the road has been a problem. The Rangers have gone 0-3-1 in their last four away from Madison Square Garden and are just 1-4-1 on the road this season.
Their lone victory away from home came with Dylan Garand in net during a shutout in Detroit on Oct. 2.
Since then, the Rangers have been outscored 16-6 over their last four road games.
That latest loss stung. In Toronto on Thursday, the Rangers did claw back to make it 4-4 on Alexis Lafreniere’s team-leading eighth goal with 5:35 left in regulation. But a defensive lapse during a delayed penalty gave up a Troy Stecher goal with 28 seconds remaining, and New York left empty-handed.
Now the Rangers are trying to put together a cleaner effort against a Senators club that is 7-4-0 and dealing with the same kind of goalie problem. Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark is on IR with a lower-body injury suffered earlier this week. The 33-year-old had opened the season by winning seven of eight starts and was leading all NHL goalies in wins and save percentage at .945, while ranking second in goals-against average at 1.33.
New York’s own No. 1, Igor Shesterkin, is out for the season with a serious knee injury, so Garand is again expected to carry the load. He’ll make his seventh straight start after giving up a career-high five goals against the Maple Leafs.
Across the ice, Jonas Johansson is set for his Senators debut after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sept. 25.
The Rangers held an optional morning skate, and coach Mike Sullivan didn’t reveal the full lineup. One expected change is the debut of veteran Luke Glendening, who should slide in as the fourth-line center after signing Thursday. Justin Dowling was sent to Hartford of the American Hockey League to make room.
There’s also a question on defense. Sean Durzi took another maintenance day Friday and hasn’t practiced this week, though he was on the ice for the morning skate and played both games. If he can’t go, New York could turn to Scott Morrow, who was a healthy scratch for the first 12 games, or Matthew Robertson, recalled Friday from Hartford.
The projected Rangers lineup has Gabe Perreault, Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere on the top line, with Tye Kartye, J.T. Miller and Pavel Dorofeyev next.
Will Cuylle, Noah Laba and Eeli Tolvanen make up the third line, while Oliver Bjorkstrand, Luke Glendening and Taylor Raddysh are listed on the fourth. On defense, Valdislav Gavrikov is paired with Adam Fox, Marcus Pettersson with Sean Durzi, and Alberts Smits with Braden Schneider.
Garand is listed as the starter, with Spencer Martin backing him up.
Saturday’s game is set for 7 p.m. ET.
In Other News...
Rangers Fans Have A New Reason To Watch Hartford Closely
The Hartford Wolf Pack finally got a result they could build on, ending a five-game skid with a 2-0 shutout of the Providence Bruins. For Rangers fans keeping one eye on the affiliate, it was a notable night because James Reimer stepped in for his Wolf Pack debut and looked very much like a veteran stabilizer, while Hartford got goals from Liam Greentree and Carey Terrance to snap the slump.
Reimer stopped 35 shots and gave the Wolf Pack the kind of calm, steady performance they had been missing during the losing streak. The bigger payoff for Hartford, and potentially for the organization, came from the way the game tightened late before Greentree delivered the key goal on the power play in the third period, giving the Rangers' minor-league club something to build around after a rough stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Must Avoid One Blue-Line Mistake Fans Have Already Seen
The Rangers added some depth on the blue line before heading into Ottawa by recalling Matthew Robertson from Hartford, a move that looked more like insurance than a guarantee of ice time. With the back end still being managed carefully, Mike Sullivan said Sean Durzi would be evaluated before the game, leaving the club with some uncertainty as it sorts out its defensive combinations on the fly.
Robertsons presence also comes with a wrinkle the Rangers have to monitor closely, since his NHL game count remains tied to contract-status considerations. If Durzi is unable to go, the more immediate question may not be whether Robertson dresses at all, but how Sullivan chooses to arrange the pairings and which defenseman gets the next look in a lineup that still has one moving part left to settle. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Have An Oliver Bjorkstrand Problem They'd Love To Solve
Oliver Bjorkstrand has done exactly what the Rangers hoped he might do, only in a role that has made the fit look a little awkward so far. Even while skating on the fourth line, he has already scored multiple goals, giving the club a useful scoring punch from a spot in the lineup that usually does not produce much offense. For a team still sorting through its forward mix, that kind of production has made Bjorkstrand impossible to ignore.
Mike Sullivan has made it clear he wants to get Bjorkstrand on the ice more often, and the Rangers are looking at different ways to make that happen without creating another hole elsewhere. The addition of Luke Glendening was meant to help steady the center depth after Joe Veleno's injury, but it also adds another layer to the lineup puzzle as the Rangers try to balance veterans, depth needs and the best way to use one of their most productive scorers. [Read more 🡒]