The Rangers get one night at home before the schedule sends them back across the border, and they’re carrying a rare early-season mark into Madison Square Garden: a perfect 5-0-0 record on their own ice. That’s only the third time in franchise history they’ve opened with five straight home wins at MSG, a sharp turn from last season, when their fifth home victory didn’t arrive until Dec. 20.
Monday night’s matchup with the Anaheim Ducks is the lone stop in New York before a two-game trip through Ontario, with visits to Toronto on Thursday and Ottawa on Saturday. The pattern is familiar. Last week brought one home game and two on the road, and the Rangers came out of it with a 4-1 win over Tampa Bay at the Garden, then losses in New Jersey and Columbus.
The trip to Newark was the ugly one. The Rangers were beaten 7-1 by the Devils in a night where everything went sideways.
The next game, a 1-0 overtime loss at Columbus, looked very different. That one showed that the effort level and the defensive structure coach Mike Sullivan wants are still there, even if the results didn’t follow.
The bigger issue right now is finishing. The Rangers have scored 28 goals in 10 games, which doesn’t sound alarming until you strip away the six empty-net goals.
That leaves 22 at even strength and 2.2 goals per game. The penalty kill has been a major strength, giving up just two goals on 31 chances for a 93.5 percent success rate that ties for second in the NHL.
The power play, though, has not matched that standard. It’s at 20.0 percent, going 6 for 30, and it has also allowed two shorthanded goals.
That imbalance showed up in the loss to Columbus. New York had three third-period power plays and couldn’t convert on any of them, then watched the Blue Jackets take over the final stretch and score the game-winner through Kent Johnson. Dylan Garand kept the Rangers in it by holding Columbus without a goal for more than 63 minutes, which made the one-point outcome sting even more.
Alexis Lafreniere was the bright spot in a week where the Rangers scored five goals. He had two of them and assisted on another, and he now leads the team with seven goals and 11 points.
On the other side of the ledger, Noah Laba’s defensive work is drawing praise. He has earned attention for his penalty killing, his commitment away from the puck and his chemistry with Will Cuylle and Eeli Tolvanen.
But the offense still hasn’t come. Laba went without a point in all three games last week, has only two assists in 10 games, and hasn’t scored since March 14 last season - a stretch of 21 games.
Anaheim’s visit on Monday brings a different look than the Ducks team that swept the Rangers last season and ended a 10-game losing streak in New York with a 4-1 win on Dec. 15, 2025.
Ryan Strome, Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba are no longer part of that group. The Ducks arrive in New York at 3-0-0 on the road and beginning a four-game trip that will take them to all three New York-area teams.
They’re also trying to steady themselves after back-to-back 4-2 losses to Calgary and Boston dropped them to 1-3-0 at home. Two of Anaheim’s four losses came after it jumped out to 2-0 leads.
The Rangers have controlled this matchup at the Garden, going 16-8 with one tie all-time against Anaheim at home. Mika Zibanejad and J.T.
Miller have both put up strong numbers against the Ducks. Zibanejad has 12 goals, 27 points and a plus-13 rating in 22 games against them, while Miller has nine goals and 29 points in 26 games.
Anaheim’s top threat is center Leo Carlsson, the team’s $90 million man. He has one goal and seven assists in five games against the Rangers, and this season he leads the Ducks with seven assists and nine points after Anaheim matched a big offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers over the summer.
Toronto comes next, and it’s the Rangers’ only trip of the season to Scotiabank Arena. They lost both games there last season and have dropped three of their last five against the Maple Leafs.
Toronto enters at 3-4-2 after a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, but the headline there is Auston Matthews, who is healthy again and producing at a familiar level with six goals and 13 points in the Maple Leafs’ first nine games. He has 11 goals and 24 points in 26 career games against the Rangers.
William Nylander has also started fast with five goals and 12 points.
There’s another milestone hanging over that game: the Maple Leafs’ first goal against the Rangers will be Toronto’s 2,000th all-time against New York. One familiar name won’t be part of that scene, though.
John Tavares is week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered in a 5-4 overtime loss to Buffalo, and Toronto says that could mean as much as six weeks out. Defenseman Chris Tanev is also on injured reserve.
Zibanejad has 17 goals and 34 points in 43 career games against the Maple Leafs.
The week wraps in Ottawa, where the Rangers have already had one win in their only road trip to Canadian Tire Centre last season, a 4-2 victory on Dec. 4.
Ottawa took both meetings in New York, including a 2-1 win on March 23 when it outshot the Rangers 33-10. The Senators are 6-3 after nine games despite a 3-1 loss to the previously winless Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, and Linus Ullmark has been a major reason why.
He’s 6-1-0 and has allowed just nine goals in seven starts. His career numbers against the Rangers are 6-3-1, with a 2.83 goals-against average and .899 save percentage.
Claude Giroux, meanwhile, has piled up 65 points - 16 goals and 49 assists - in 76 career games against New York. Zibanejad has also had success against his former team, with 10 goals and 25 points in 22 games against Ottawa.
In Other News...
Rangers May Have A New Goaltending Question After Brutal OT Loss
The Rangers got a needed point out of a 1-0 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, but the bigger takeaway may have been the way Dylan Garand handled the net. Called into a tough spot, Garand looked steady throughout the night, stopping 28 of 29 shots and helping the Rangers survive on penalty kills for long stretches as the road struggles continued and the club slipped to 1-3-1 away from home.
Dylan Garand's performance also adds another layer to the goaltending picture for a team still trying to settle things down in goal. New York did not get the result it wanted, but it did get a glimpse of a young netminder who was forced to carry a heavy load in a tight, low-scoring game, and the way he responded should keep the conversation going as the Rangers look for stability on the road. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Could Trigger The Goalie Domino That Reshapes This Market
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For the Rangers, the bigger question is whether they choose to act before the market tightens further. If they do, they could end up shaping where Hellebuyck lands without ever entering that bidding themselves, and that is the kind of indirect leverage teams look for when a top goalie becomes available. Nothing has been finalized yet, but with multiple teams circling and Winnipeg still exploring options, New Yorks next step could wind up carrying more weight than it first appears. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Just Got Another Reminder About Jaroslav Chmelar
Jaroslav Chmelars latest turn with the Rangers did not produce a point, and his ice time was limited across seven games in New York. Back in Hartford with the Wolf Pack, though, the winger has at least given the organization a reminder of why it remains interested in his development, scoring a goal in a recent game while leading the team with six shots on goal.
The Rangers have now sent Chmelar back to Hartford to keep building his game and confidence, while veteran Taylor Raddysh has been recalled to fill the NHL roster spot. For Chmelar, the path is still about translating flashes in the AHL into something more consistent at the top level, and the organization will be watching closely to see how he responds after another reset. [Read more 🡒]