There were a few tense moments in the New York Rangers’ 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, but not the kind that had anything to do with the scoreboard.
The bigger worry came from the injury scare department, where three different Rangers briefly had everyone on edge. Mika Zibanejad, Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi each had moments that looked worse than they turned out to be, and for a club already navigating a thin margin, that was the real story.
Pettersson took the first hit to the nerves late in the opening period when Jeff Malott drove him hard into the boards. He appeared to be favoring his right leg, but after regrouping during the intermission he came back and finished with 19:02 of ice time. He was important on the penalty kill, and he also ended the night at plus-3.
Zibanejad’s scare came at 11:57, when Nick Jensen clipped him under his shield on the follow-through of a pass. Zibanejad went down bleeding behind the goal line, and while there was no penalty on the play, he did head to the dressing room for repairs.
The good news for the Rangers was that it was only a small facial cut. He returned quickly, logged 18:42, and picked up an assist in the win.
Durzi was the last concern, and it came late in the third period while he was defending in front of his own net. A hard shot caught him in his right hand, wrist or forearm area and left him visibly in pain.
He winced, squeezed his hand, and headed to the bench, but he stayed in the game long enough to play the final shift and celebrate with his teammates after the horn. Durzi scored his second goal of the season, blocked four shots, finished plus-3, and was named the game’s Second Star.
He also spoke with reporters after the game, which suggests he came out of it okay, even if it likely left a painful bruise.
That’s the part that matters for the Rangers right now: they escaped Monday clean. But the scares also served as a reminder of how fragile this start can feel.
New York is already without Igor Shesterkin for the season because of a knee injury, and the club is also without Joe Veleno, Adam Sykora and Joonas Korpisalo for the longer term. There are still 73 games left, and the team can’t afford many nights where key pieces are wobbling around at the same time.
The win itself was part of a strong home opening stretch that has New York at 6-0-0 at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers still haven’t trailed for a single second at home this season, which makes the current run feel a lot sturdier than some of the nights they’ve had in the past.
Monday also included some other note-worthy Rangers items. John Kreiser has the full game story on the 5-2 result.
There’s also a breakdown of the biggest takeaways from the victory, including notes on Pavel Dorofeyev, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Dylan Garand and the Blueshirts’ mindset and game plan. Zibanejad also isn’t overly worried about the power play’s slow-ish start, and there’s a detailed look at why the Rangers signed Luke Glendening to a PTO and what it could mean for the fourth line.
There’s also a timely look at the Rangers’ Bjorkstrand issue and the push to get him more ice time and more chances.
Elsewhere around the hockey world, Gavin McKenna said he was “pretty fired” up after scoring his first NHL game-winning goal, a third-period power-play marker that sent the Toronto Maple Leafs past the San Jose Sharks 3-1. McKenna did it with the player picked directly behind him at No. 2 overall, Ivar Stenberg, watching from the Sharks bench.
In Anaheim, coach Joel Quenneville called out his best players after the loss to the Rangers and said a bad travel day and long delays before the game were no excuse for the Ducks’ poor play.
Around the league, Daniel Amoia followed Elliotte Friedman’s report that Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon used his no-move clause to veto a trade last season. James Nichols also dug into the numbers on how Sheldon Keefe compares with each of his recent predecessors behind the Devils bench since 2017-18, Nico Hischier’s rookie year.
There was injury news out of Long Island too, where Ethan Sears reported that the battered Islanders will be without Calum Ritchie for 4-6 weeks because of a lower-body injury, while Mattias Maccelli is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with the same issue.
TSN reported that the Ottawa Senators extended coach Travis Green through the 2030-31 season. In Minnesota, John Hynes said Filip Gustavsson is skating on his own after offseason hip surgery, though he still remains at least a month away from game action.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now broke down the latest frustrations for the reeling Penguins after their 5-4 loss in Utah to the Mammoth. And in Winnipeg, the Jets recalled Brayden Yager from the AHL after a hot stretch that included five points in his past two games and nine points overall in six games.
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 🡒]