The New York Rangers have landed in a five-day pause that feels less like luxury and more like rescue.
It was never meant to be a true bye week, just a scheduling quirk, but the timing could hardly be better. The Rangers are stuck in a 1-4-1 skid, have dropped three straight, and suddenly this quiet stretch arrives exactly when the noise around the team is getting louder.
What the break gives them first is a chance to breathe. This season opened like a longer preseason in a lot of ways, with a roster full of turnover and plenty of line and pair combinations that still need proper testing.
The 6-2-0 start bought some goodwill, but it also papered over the fact that the team still needed real time to sort itself out. That didn’t happen.
Before Igor Shesterkin got hurt, the goaltending was covering for some shaky defense-pair decisions, especially the Marcus Pettersson-Sean Durzi combination.
Those pairs never really got the kind of shakeup they probably needed. The biggest lineup change was moving Oliver Bjorkstrand around. Now the Rangers finally have a window to tinker in practice and figure out what actually works.
The other obvious gift is rest. They looked spent against LA, and that wasn’t hard to see.
James Reimer was thrown into the net unprepared and gave up two goals on the first two shots he faced, then was bombarded with high-danger looks in his lone period. Dylan Garand, who badly needed a night off, handled the final two periods and surrendered three goals while the defense offered no meaningful help.
The whole group looked slow, and Garand in particular seemed like he had run out of gas after looking that way in the previous two games as well.
Now the Rangers get a week off, and Garand should have a chance to come back refreshed when Edmonton visits on Sunday. That means the former future Ranger Connor McDavid is coming to town with the Oilers.
After the last three games, the panic crowd was out in force, but the broader picture still matters. A 7-6-1 record is not some shocking collapse, especially for a Rangers team that has been leaning on third- and fifth-string goalies, or fourth string if you want to argue semantics.
The early adrenaline rush faded. So did the boost from Garand’s first run in the starter’s role.
What’s left is a team that needs to reset and get back to work.
That phrase gets thrown around constantly in sports, but in this case the Rangers really do need to rediscover what made them effective in the opening stretch. They were sharper in structure, better at limiting high-danger chances against, and even spent more time in the offensive zone than expected, though the possession numbers didn’t fully support that.
For a team in that middle playoff-bubble tier, structure is the thing that lifts them into something more dangerous. It held until the Devils game, and then it unraveled.
Since then, the Rangers have allowed double-digit high-danger shot attempts in each of the last nine games. Over the last four, they’ve given up 59 high-danger chances against in all situations, per NST. In the last three games alone, opponents converted 10 of them.
That’s the real worry, more than the goaltending.
The Rangers are not going to replace Igor Shesterkin, not individually and not by piling together replacements. What they need is league-average goaltending, a tighter defensive structure, strong special teams, and more reliable offense.
If the structure from the first two weeks returns, the team can still put itself in position to make the playoffs. Even with uneven scoring, a defense that clamps down on dangerous chances gives them a real base to work from.
This break is useful, but it isn’t the same thing as a fix. Chris Drury and Mike Sullivan still have to sort through the roster and figure out what changes are actually coming. At minimum, the Rangers need help in three areas: the defense pairs need to be shuffled, the offense needs to become more consistent, and the backup goalie situation needs clarity.
There’s been talk that Joonas Korpisalo will solve everything once he’s healthy. That’s not realistic.
He’s a backup, and even that label comes with questions right now. Garand’s struggles may also be tied to fatigue, and the only certainty is that neither Garand nor Korpisalo can duplicate what Shesterkin brings.
The aim has to be something much more grounded: average goaltending, better structure, and more consistency across the board.
How those adjustments are handled is its own issue. Braden Schneider, who has been the statistical worst defenseman on the team, was bumped up to the second pair against LA and saw more ice time with Marcus Pettersson.
That pair did post solid numbers, though the score effects from being down 3-0 and 5-1 may have helped. Sean Durzi moved down, and the way things are lined up suggests he could be the healthy scratch to open minutes for Scott Morrow, although that is not confirmed.
It could also be a way to showcase Schneider. The problem is that the Rangers can’t do both without sitting Durzi, and that’s a mess that seems avoidable if not for how the offseason played out.
In Other News...
Ducks Moving On From Chris Kreider Looks More Telling Now
Chris Kreiders change of scenery has not produced the early bounce Montreal was hoping for. After signing a one-year deal with the Canadiens in September, the former Rangers winger has managed just one goal and three assists in 11 games, a modest return for a player who spent years as a dependable offensive piece in New York and also helped the Ducks during their playoff push before moving on.
The surface numbers only tell part of the story, and the deeper ones have been even less encouraging. Kreiders possession impact has lagged behind most of his teammates, with a 49.6 percent Corsi for and an expected-goals profile that sits among the teams worst regulars, which is the kind of backdrop that makes Anaheims decision to move on from him look a little more revealing now. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Suddenly Have A Goalie Problem They Didn't Need
James Reimers status has quickly become another concern for a Rangers team that did not need one in net. He was pulled from Mondays game after allowing three first-period goals, with Dylan Garand taking over, and then missed Tuesdays practice with an upper-body injury that has him listed as day-to-day.
The timing leaves New York in an awkward spot as it looks ahead to its next game. If Reimer is not ready by Sunday, the club may have to recall Spencer Martin while also keeping an eye on Joonas Korpisalo, who has yet to make his debut while working back from a lower-body injury. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Crease Debate Just Got More Interesting After Fowlers Statement
With Igor Shesterkin sidelined, the Rangers moved quickly to shore up their goaltending depth by signing James Reimer to a one-year deal. It was a pragmatic response to a fragile situation, and it came after Reimer had been working on a PTO with Hartford before earning the chance to join New York. For a team that cannot afford uncertainty in net, the timing mattered as much as the name.
Reimers path to the contract only adds to the intrigue around how the Rangers will manage their crease in the short term, especially with Jacob Fowler drawing attention in Montreal after a 33-save performance in an outdoor game against Winnipeg. The broader goaltending market has already been shaken by other moves around the league, including New Jerseys acquisition of Connor Hellebuyck, and it leaves New York trying to stabilize its own situation while the rest of the division keeps making noise. [Read more 🡒]