The New York Rangers wasted little time turning their return to Madison Square Garden into a statement, jumping on the Anaheim Ducks early and never giving them much room to breathe in a 5-2 win.
After dropping two straight on the road and getting blanked Saturday night, New York came out with a quick answer. Just over a minute into the game, Sean Durzi got the Rangers rolling with his second goal of the season.
Pavel Dorofeyev and Tye Kartye picked up the assists, and J.T. Miller played his part by parking himself in front and helping screen the puck through to the net.
The Rangers had a chance to put even more pressure on Anaheim when they went up two men, but they couldn’t cash in on the five-on-three. Dorofeyev had a prime look at an empty net and rang it off the post instead.
Even with that miss, New York had the edge early, and Dylan Garand backed it up. He made 13 saves in the opening 20 minutes and helped keep the Ducks from settling in.
The offense really opened up in the second period. The Rangers got an early power play, and the top unit delivered.
Adam Fox fired the shot, Miller got to the front of the net again, and this time he got a piece of it for his second goal of the year. Fox earned his 10th assist of the season, and Alexis Lafreniere picked up his fifth.
A few moments later, New York struck again with its top line. Lafreniere found Mika Zibanejad, and Zibanejad set up Gabe Perreault for his fourth goal of the year, stretching the lead to 3-0.
Anaheim briefly had some life after a sloppy turnover, but Oliver Bjorkstrand made it hurt. He buried the chance for his third goal of the season and pushed the Rangers further ahead.
The home side kept the pressure on to open the third. Bjorkstrand scored again, this time finishing with help from Taylor Raddysh and Braden Schneider. It was Raddysh’s first assist of the year after being recently brought up, and Bjorkstrand’s fourth goal of the season.
By the end, it felt like one of New York’s cleanest complete efforts of the season. The Rangers were sharp at five-on-five, dangerous enough to keep extending the lead, and once again looked like a different team offensively at MSG. Garand didn’t get the shutout, but the 5-2 result still gave New York exactly what it wanted at home.
The Rangers now head to Canada for games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators.
In Other News...
Rangers Suddenly Have A Tye Kartye Decision They Didn't Expect
Tye Kartye arrived in New York as a waiver claim from Seattle, the kind of low-risk pickup teams make to deepen a roster and see if a hard-working winger can carve out a niche. Instead, the undrafted left winger has quickly turned into much more than depth, earning trust with the Rangers for the way he competes, handles his defensive responsibilities and helps steady the kind of line that can tilt a game.
What makes the situation interesting is how quickly Kartye has moved from hopeful addition to someone the staff has to keep in a meaningful role. His fit with the clubs top offensive players has already changed the conversation around what the Rangers thought they were getting, and now the bigger question is whether this early stretch is a real sign of staying power or simply the latest surprise in a season that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Sean Durzi Solves One Rangers Need While Exposing Another
Sean Durzi has already given the Rangers what they hoped to get when they brought him in over the summer: a steadier blue line and a presence that seems to fit naturally in the room. The comparison to Vincent Trocheck is obvious enough for anyone around the team. Both are similar in build, both play with a similar edge, and both come with the kind of workmanlike reputation that tends to travel well in New York. Durzi has also brought a little of the same personality and energy that made Trocheck so useful to the Rangers beyond the stat sheet.
What the move has also done, though, is shine a brighter light on the other side of the ledger. Trochecks departure left a hole down the middle, and the Rangers are feeling the effects in their center depth as the season goes along. Durzis past injury history is part of the broader picture too, because the Rangers know the upside is real but the margin for error is thin when a player has had to battle through health issues before. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Hot Start Still Hasnt Solved One Bigger Problem
The Rangers strong start has done plenty to build optimism in New York, but it has not yet changed the way star players view the organization when bigger decisions come up. Dylan Larkin has reportedly widened his trade wishlist from three teams to 10, and the club on Broadway still is not on it, a reminder that early-season momentum does not automatically make a team a destination for elite talent.
The latest list apparently does include several familiar Eastern Conference names, with the Hurricanes, Devils and Capitals among the teams Larkin is open to. For the Rangers, that leaves a familiar kind of frustration: they can look like a contender on the ice and still find themselves on the outside when the leagues top names start narrowing their options. [Read more 🡒]