A week into the 2026-27 season, the Rangers have already packed in enough drama for a month.
There was the season-opening flop in Boston. Then came the response: a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay in the home opener, a goalie goal from Igor Shesterkin, Dylan Garand’s first NHL shutout the next night in Detroit, and a 4-2 finish against Utah that pushed New York to the top of the NHL standings with six points.
Now the challenge shifts from a burst of early momentum to something harder - keeping it going.
The Rangers are 3-1-0 after one week, and they head into the new slate with a 2-0-0 record at Madison Square Garden. That already matches their home win total from the first two months of last season.
Not everything has been clean, though. New York has scored only eight non-empty net goals, is 2-for-11 on the power play, and only four players have more points than Shesterkin, who added an assist against Utah to go with his goal against Tampa Bay.
Still, the first week gave the Rangers a lot to build on. Shesterkin has allowed just five non-empty net goals in three starts, and his back-to-back games with a win and a point made him the third Rangers goaltender - and the first since Henrik Lundqvist in 2010-11 - to do that. Garand’s 22-save shutout in Detroit put him in rare company too, as the fourth goalie in Rangers history to record a shutout within his first four NHL starts, joining Steve Baker, Mackenzie Skapski and Lundqvist.
The only real nitpick so far has been Braden Schneider, who got undressed on the clinching goal against Boston and didn’t record a point in four games.
The schedule doesn’t ease up much this week. The Rangers finish a stretch of five games in eight nights, get a two-day break, and then return for a busy Friday-Sunday back-to-back set.
First up is the Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. It’s the first of four meetings between the suburban rivals, and the Islanders swept last season’s series.
Rookie Matthew Schaefer’s post-draft promise that the Islanders wouldn’t lose to the Blueshirts - at least in his first season - became reality in 2025-26. This one also brings another chapter in the goalie duel between Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin, who comes in off a 37-save shutout against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Sorokin got the better of Shesterkin last season, going 2-0-0 with a shutout and allowing one goal on 54 shots. Shesterkin was 0-2-0 against the Islanders, giving up five goals on 50 shots.
Neither goalie has a winning career record in the matchup: Shesterkin is 9-10-1 against the Isles, and Sorokin is 5-6-2 against the Rangers. The all-time regular-season series is as tight as it gets, with the Rangers holding 142 wins, the Islanders 140, and 19 ties in 301 games.
The Rangers then head to Washington on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. on MSG and NHL Network for their first visit of the season to Capital One Arena. That building hasn’t been kind to them lately.
New York won 7-3 there last Dec. 23 to snap a four-game losing streak in Washington, but the Capitals answered with a 6-3 win on New Year’s Eve. That gave Washington eight wins in its past 10 home games against the Rangers, and since April 2017 the Capitals are 15-4-0 at home in the matchup.
Alex Ovechkin, who announced Monday that he’ll retire at season’s end, has scored 46 of his 929 goals against the Rangers. He did not score in the four games between the teams last season after scoring four times against New York in 2024-25.
One odd note: two of his five career short-handed goals have come against the Rangers. Shesterkin is 10-5-1 all-time against Washington with a 2.62 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
The week wraps with Vancouver visiting the Garden on Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. on MSG. It’s J.T.
Miller against the team that traded him to New York on Jan. 31, 2025, as the Rangers and Canucks meet for the first time this season. Miller was pointless in two games last season when the teams split road shutout wins.
Jonathan Quick, who posted New York’s shutout in one of those games, is retired, and Thatcher Demko, who did it for Vancouver, is injured, so neither of those goalies will be in this one. It could be Garand’s second straight start after his shutout in Detroit.
The game also marks the Rangers debut of defenseman Marcus Pettersson, acquired from Vancouver in July. Pettersson didn’t record a point in New York’s four games last week, but he was plus-3 and averaged 21:05 of ice time.
Vancouver’s opening week has been chaotic: it blew a three-goal third-period lead before beating Edmonton 6-5, lost 9-7 to the Oilers two nights later, then scored four times in the third period Saturday to beat Calgary 4-1.
If there’s one current Ranger who has made a habit of producing against the Canucks, it’s Mika Zibanejad. He has 25 points - 12 goals and 13 assists - in 24 career games against Vancouver.
In Other News...
Rangers Are Building Something At MSG And Fans Can Feel It
Madison Square Garden had a little extra edge to it Friday night, and the Rangers fed off it. New York beat the Utah Mammoth 4-2 behind Igor Shesterkin, who stopped 27 shots and even picked up an assist, while the club closed strong with three third-period goals to turn a tight game into another convincing home result. Utah did get a power-play goal, but the Rangers kept their composure and found a way to finish on the right side of a game that felt like more than just another regular-season date on the calendar.
Vincent Trochecks return to the Garden added another layer to the night, with the former Ranger now skating for Utah after the trade that sent him out of New York. The matchup had the kind of familiar faces and late-game urgency that can make a building buzz, and the Rangers looked like a team comfortable playing in that atmosphere. For a club trying to keep building momentum at home, it was the sort of win that gives fans a reason to believe there is something taking shape at MSG. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Suddenly Have A Center Depth Problem They Can't Ignore
Joe Velenos night ended almost as soon as it began against the Utah Mammoth, and the Rangers were left sorting through the fallout of a lower-body injury that came early in the first period. Veleno was hurt while trying to slow down a Mammoth forward and needed help off the ice before being ruled out for the rest of the game, an abrupt exit for a team that has leaned on its center depth to keep things steady.
The concern for New York goes beyond one lost shift because the roster does not currently feature an extra center. If Velenos injury keeps him out longer than just one game, the Rangers may have to look to Hartford for reinforcements, turning a single in-game injury into a depth problem they cant really afford to let linger. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Win At MSG Came With One Immediate Concern
The Rangers got the kind of result they needed at Madison Square Garden, beating the Utah Mammoth 4-2 in a game that had plenty of scoring and just enough pushback to keep the crowd engaged. Vladislav Gavrikov, Gabe Perreault, J.T. Miller and Eeli Tolvanen all found the net for New York, while Nick Schmaltz and Andrew Peeke answered for Utah, giving the home side a win that looked comfortable enough on the surface.
Joe Velenos exit was the immediate concern, though, and it cast a shadow over an otherwise productive night. Veleno was hurt in the first period and had to leave the game, a development the Rangers will be watching closely as they sort through what the result means and what the next lineup decision might have to be. [Read more 🡒]