Hellebuyck Trade Should Solidify Devils

Posted on October 26, 2026 by Derek

When Sunny Mehta indicated to reporters that he preferred not to invest significant assets to upgrade the goaltender position a few months ago, it was all a smokescreen by the new Devils team president and general manager.

Instead of remaining status quo in net, Mehta pulled off the unthinkable last Friday, Oct. 23 by acquiring Connor Hellebuyck from the Jets in a shocking power move that should solifify the Devils as a serious player this season.

Due in large part to the disgruntled Hellebuyck putting Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff in a tough situation, he wasn’t able to get good enough value back for the three-time Vezina winner.

That meant agreeing to trade the former Hart winner for a package that was highlighted by Dawson Mercer. A versatile two-way forward, the former Devils 2020 first round pick has scored at least 20 goals in three seasons. Nicknamed Merc Dawg by former teammates, he made his Jets debut in the Heritage Classic for Winnipeg on Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the Canadiens outdoors.

From a Devils vantage point, Mehta only subtracted a top nine forward, injured checking center Nick Bjugstad and backup goalie Nico Daws off a roster that looks pretty deep. He also included recent 2026 first round pick Alexander Command, a 2029 second round pick, and a 2027 seventh round pick to get the franchise altering deal done.

On paper, it was a no brainer. By adding a proven number one goalie who can carry most of the workload, Mehta addressed the Devils’ biggest weakness. Since entering the league, the 33-year-old Hellebuyck has been one of the game’s best goalies who ranks among the elite with rating Vezina winner Andrei Vasilevskiy, injured Rangers starter Igor Shesterkin, and Islanders backstop Ilya Sorokin.

A player who’s won over 40 games twice, including an NHL-leading 47 two years ago when he captured both the Hart and Vezina thanks to a 2.00 goals-against-average, .925 save percentage, and eight shutouts, Hellebuyck is capable of stealing games.

It was earlier this year that he was superb in leading USA to its first Olympic gold medal in men’s ice hockey since 1980. He finished with 41 saves in a memorable 2-1 overtime victory that’s remembered for current Devils star Jack Hughes scoring the golden goal on Feb. 22. Now, the two American stars are reunited in New Jersey.

While Hughes has gotten most of the attention since the Devils selected him with the first pick in 2019, he’s never gotten them past the second round in his career. Despite teaming with captain Nico Hischier and linemate Jesper Bratt, the Hughes era has been disappointing so far with only two postseason appearances and one series win that came over the Rangers in 2023.

In fact, the Devils have only made the playoffs three times since appearing in the 2011-12 Stanley Cup Finals. When ownership decided to make a necessary change by replacing Tom Fitzgerald with Mehta, it was with restoring the franchise’s previous success that included winning three Stanley Cups over a nine-year period.

Under Hockey Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello, the Devils were one of the most successful NHL teams for better than a decade. Built around all-time great Martin Brodeur, whose NHL records in victories (691) and shutouts (125) will probably never be broken due to the philosphical change in goaltending, they were constructed from the goal out.

That included Hall of Famers Scott Niedermayer and captain Scott Stevens. Due to how tough they were defensively and in the net, those Devils teams were hard to deal with. Their championship rosters also prominently featured Claude Lemieux, John MacLean, Stephane Richer, Neal Broten, Ken Daneyko, Bruce Driver, Brian Rafalski, Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott, Scott Gomez, Alexander Mogilny, Bobby Holik, Randy McKay, and Sergei Brylin.

Sunny Focused on Making Devils a Winner

A former high stakes poker player who grew up in Wycoff, New Jersey and graduated from Ramapo High School, Mehta received his master’s in data science from the City University of New York.

Astonishingly, he went from playing professional poker and authoring books to doing statistical analysis of NHL games and publishing articles about it. Eventually, he became the Devils director of hockey analytics, which he ran from 2014 until 2017.

In 2020, he was hired by the Panthers as vice president of hockey strategy and intelligence. Eventually, he got promoted to assistant general manager and head of analytics in 2023. What soon followed were consecutive Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025. While he wasn’t the architect behind all of their success, with Bill Zito in place as the GM, Mehta was a key part of the organization.

Now, he’s gotten the chance to run the team he rooted for while growing up in New Jersey. Already, Mehta has been able to move off of Jacob Markstrom, who ironically was traded to the Panthers in exchange for key depth forwards Evan Rodriguez and Jesper Boqvist. Rodriguez has fit in nicely as the Devils third center while Boqvist has been a solid addition to the fourth line, which includes Cody Glass and Amadeus Lombardi, who Mehta acquired from the Red Wings last summer.

Despite a relatively slow start to the season for Hughes, he still has 12 points in 11 games. However, it’s been the strong improvement from second-year forward Arseny Gritsyuk that’s given a boost to the Devils top scoring line. He’ll bring a career-high five-game goal streak into tomorrow’s matchup versus the Stars.

One of Mehta’s best moves was trading for Luke Evangelista from Nashville and extending him for $7.25 million over the next six years starting in 2027-28. Although he missed three games due to battling an illness, Evangelista has seven points in eight games. His addition has helped improve the Hischier line that also includes Timo Meier. While both are scoring, Meier remains an enigma with only one goal so far.

Anthony Mantha was signed for one year with the anticipation that he could provide scoring help in the top six. However, after finding no chemistry with Hughes, he fits better on the third line with Rodrigues and Connor Brown.

When he was congratulated by a reporter for acquiring Hellebuyck, Mehta didn’t take any credit for the poker move. Instead, he was focused on his main objective.

If there’s one thing that’s easy to respect about Mehta, it’s his honesty when he speaks to the media. Unlike Fitzgerald, who hid from cameras, he’s usually available and gives well thought out responses to questions.

For the fans that root for the Devs, it’s a welcome change.

A Clearer Goalie Picture

Before the big Hellebuyck acquisition, the Devils had a lot of questions about how strong they were in goal. Veteran Jake Allen was still the starter while Daws backed up.

They also had Remi Poirier, who was claimed from the Stars on waivers before the beginning of the season. The 25-year-old goalie remains on the roster despite having not started a game.

With Hellebuyck slated to make his Devils debut sometime on the current road trip that includes stops in Colorado and Vegas later this week, it looks like Allen might remain the starter for Tuesday night at Dallas. Head coach Sheldon Keefe hasn’t indicated who will play yet.

By adding Hellebuyck, Mehta has his guy in net for the foreseeable future. He currently has four years remaining on a deal with an $8.5 million cap hit. The contract doesn’t expire until the conclusion of 2030-31. His full no-movement clause becomes a modified 10-team list starting next season.

With Hellebuyck the clearcut number one in Newark, Allen can go back to being the backup.

Hellebuyck Must Shed Playoff Label

The only thing missing from his career is a Stanley Cup. Hellebuyck has only reached the Conference Finals once way back in 2018, when the Jets fell to the Golden Knights in only his third season. Since then, he’s only been past the first round twice. However, he hasn’t performed well in the playoffs historically.

For a great goalie who’s won 345 games while posting a 2.58 GAA, .916 save percentage, and 45 shutouts during the regular season, Hellebuyck must perform better in the postseason. His 24-34 record with a 2.90 GAA and .903 save percentage is much worse for a goalie of his stature.

Hellebuyck frequently fared better at home than on the road with Winnipeg in the playoffs. His road struggles continued two years ago in a six-game second round series loss to the Stars. The difference was that the Jets lost all three games on the road, including a 2-1 overtime defeat in Game 6 on May 17, 2025.

Although he played better overall by posting a 2.20 GAA with two shutouts and a .903 save percentage, it wasn’t good enough for him to advance. Jake Oettinger outdueled Hellebuyck by posting a 2.02 GAA and .929 save percentage.

If it’s going to work in New Jersey, Hellebuyck will need to be better when the playoffs roll around. Assuming the Devils return for the first time in two years, they’ll need to get past the Hurricanes to get out of the Metropolitan Division.

The defending champs still look like the best team in the East despite going with a tandem of Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov in the net. Despite losing captain Jordan Staal and recently placing Taylor Hall on injured reserve, the Hurricanes are off to a fast 9-2-2 start due to the improvement from younger stars Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven. With Seth Jarvis finally returning, they look like a handful.

If the Devils can beat out the Capitals for second in the division, that could give them an edge. That’s assuming the Rangers don’t fall out of it completely now that Dylan Garand has fallen back to earth. It’s too early in the year to accurately predict what will happen. Last year, the Pens shocked many by edging out the surprising Flyers for second in the Metro. It could be a different story this time around.

Whatever happens, the Devils expect to be more competitive now that Hellebuyck is in the fold. We’ll see if he can deliver the goods in Newark.

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Reimer to Get First Start As Ranger

Posted on October 26, 2026 by Derek

When the Rangers return to Madison Square Garden to host the Kings later tonight, it’ll be with a new goalie in the net.

James Reimer will get his first start as a Ranger. Following a pro tryout in which he pitched a shutout by making 35 saves for the Hartford Wolf Pack in a 2-0 shutout against the Providence Bruins last Friday night, the Rangers signed Reimer for one year, $850,000 yesterday.

When he debuts against the Kings, he’ll wear number 47. As I previously noted, it’ll officially be Reimer’s ninth NHL team. The Rangers are his 10th stop due to having two different stints in San Jose.

We’ll see if he can provide them with a capable backup who can be trusted. They refused to play journeyman Spencer Martin before sending him down to Hartford.

With Reimer all set for tonight’s game, that’ll provide a much needed break for Dylan Garand. After playing extremely well early on as the Rangers’ new number one goalie, he’s cooled off considerably. Garand has allowed 10 goals on 47 shots over the last two games, which translates to a 5.04 goals-against-average and .787 save percentage.

It hasn’t all been his fault. In each loss on the road at Toronto and Ottawa, the Rangers didn’t play well in front of him. They made a lot more mistakes defensively and with puck management. Key areas that haven’t been issues on home ice, where they’ll bring a 6-0-0 record into Monday’s game against the Kings.

On the road, they’ve been a mess. In three of the five losses away from MSG, they’ve given up five goals or more. That included allowing seven to the Devils on Oct. 15, five to the Maple Leafs on Oct. 22, and seven to the Senators on Oct. 24. When they finally have a four-game Western swing next month, they’ll have to figure it out.

With only two games on this week’s schedule, the Rangers get to play at home where they’ve been more comfortable. So far, they’ve outscored opponents 29-10. Aside from handling the disappointing Ducks last week and the lowly Canucks two weeks ago, they’ve beaten the Lightning twice, the Mammoth, and the Islanders at the Garden.

After the Kings visit, the competition picks up when the Oilers come to town this Sunday to start November. If they beat the Kings, they’ll be a perfect 7-0 entering that showdown against the otherworldly Connor McDavid, who’s putting up video game numbers thus far by leading the league with 33 points in 11 games. That’s 10 more than teammate Leon Draisaitl. Evan Bouchard ranks first among NHL defensemen with 21 points.

For now, they can focus on stopping former Ranger Artemi Panarin, who’s still producing at a point-per-game clip on the low scoring Kings. Panarin leads LA with nine points (3-6-9) in nine games. Following a slow start to the season, he had five points in road wins over the Capitals and Islanders. The Bread Man was shut down by the Devils over the weekend in a 3-1 loss this past Saturday.

The Kings don’t have much around him. However, Adrian Kempe remains an overlooked star. A two-time 30-goal scorer the past two seasons, his eight points rank second behind Panarin. An exceptional skater with a good release, Kempe can score and set up teammates.

Former Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette returns to MSG for the first time as the Kings bench boss. He indicated that Mats Zuccarello is out with an injury. However, they’re hoping Quinton Byfield can return to the lineup.

Darcy Kuemper is expected to make the start for the Kings. The veteran netminder is 2-3-1 with a 3.55 GAA and .890 save percentage.

Dorofeyev to Remain On Third Line

As expected, Pavel Dorofeyev will remain on the third line for the start of tonight’s game.

After struggling to establish anything with J.T. Miller or Tye Kartye against the Senators, he was moved down to play with Noah Laba and Will Cuylle. With the Rangers trailing Ottawa 5-3, Dorofeyev buried a one-timer on a nice feed from Cuylle to score his third goal.

Head coach Mike Sullivan wants to see what it looks like. He’s hoping that Dorofeyev can improve in some key areas while not overthinking too much.

“Simplify your game. Keep shooting. Take some of the thinking out of it, but maybe place the focus off of that element of your game, and just staying in the moment and playing the right way — winning puck battles, being strong on the wall, making sure you’re reloading in the offensive zone when the puck changes sides, knowing what your responsibilities are off a lost face-off, things of that nature.’ And if he plays the game the right way, I think the byproduct will be he’ll score goals.”

The Rangers certainly need more consistency from Dorofeyev, whose three goals are underwhelming considering some of the scoring chances he’s had. We’ll see if he can bring more to the table.

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Demoted Dorofeyev Finds A Goal

Posted on October 25, 2026 by Derek

It’s been a rough start for Pavel Dorofeyev. The scoring forward was acquired by the New York Rangers this past summer from the Vegas Golden Knights to be a difference maker. Instead, he’s been anything but so far.

Dorofeyev entered last night with only two goals and four assists over his first 12 games. Despite continuing to lead the Rangers in shots and total attempts, they hadn’t been going in. In fact, he had five of the team’s 12 goalposts and crossbars combined.

Despite head coach Mike Sullivan doing everything possible to get him going, he’d seen enough of Dorofeyev in the top six. With nothing happening for the second line anchored by Rangers captain J.T. Miller, Sullivan demoted Dorofeyev to the third line by the middle of Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

In elevating Oliver Bjorkstrand up to the second unit and dropping Dorofeyev to the third unit anchored by Noah Laba, Sullivan’s moves netted some positive results. After being dominated by the Senators in the first half to fall behind 4-1, the Rangers turned it around thanks to the line changes.

Bjorkstrand provided a spark for the second line. He helped set up a Miller goal that cut the deficit to two 1:33 after Dylan Cozens had put Ottawa ahead by three. Miller was able to steer in an Adam Fox rebound for his third of the season.

Although the new trio of Miller, Bjorkstrand and Tye Kartye didn’t factor in on another goal, they dominated most of their shifts together to finish with an 84.62 Corsi rating (11-2) at 5-on-5.

After being unable to get anything going on the second line, Dorofeyev was more successful with Laba and Will Cuylle. The move seemed to give him a jolt. He played with better energy while Laba and Cuylle provided the gruntwork on the forecheck.

Following a Jake Sanderson goal that put them behind by two, Dorofeyev finally found a goal that cut it to 5-4 with 4:28 left in regulation. On a play Laba started with some hustle by keeping the puck in the Senators zone, Cuylle fed Dorofeyev across for a snapshot that beat Jonas Johansson to give him just his third goal in 13 games.

Perhaps that can provide a lift for the streaky scorer. Assuming he stays put on the third line to start tomorrow night’s game when the Rangers play host to the Los Angeles Kings at Madison Square Garden, we’ll see if Laba and Cuylle can unlock Dorofeyev.

With only seven points so far, he’s a team worst minus-11. Dorofeyev will blow out the candles on his 25th birthday Monday. He’ll want to improve his overall play while finishing more. His 41 shots rank first on the Rangers, but the 7.1 shooting percentage is less than half what he shot with Vegas in 2025-26. He scored a career-high 37 on 230 shots for a much better 16.1 percentage.

In order for the Blueshirts to be successful, they need Dorofeyev to produce. If he can snap out of it, it would provide a significant boost to a team that’s been heavily reliant on Fox (team-leading 16 assists) and Alexis Lafreniere (leads team with 9 goals) offensively. They can’t do it alone.

Following Dorofeyev’s goal that made things interesting, Lafreniere nearly tied it. Set up perfectly, the emerging scoring forward had his shot from the left circle hit the outside of the goalpost late.

Instead, the Rangers allowed two empty netters, including one to Drake Batherson, who completed the hat trick for the Senators.

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Rangers’ Loss of Structure Hurting Garand

Posted on October 25, 2026 by Derek

In their latest road loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, the New York Rangers had no one to blame but themselves for the 7-4 defeat at Canadian Tire Centre.

Similar to a 5-4 defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs that came in the final minute of regulation on Oct. 22, the Rangers lost their structure against the very skilled Senators to fall to 1-5-1 on the road this season.

In fact, since suffering a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 15, the Rangers have allowed 20 goals over their last three losses away from Madison Square Garden. Aside from a much more competitive 1-0 overtime shutout defeat versus the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 17, they’ve been outscored 19-9 in the other three defeats.

It’s a disturbing trend that can’t continue. With the Rangers turning to Dylan Garand as their number one goalie, it’s a lot of pressure to ask an unproven rookie to carry a much heavier workload than he’s used to. In the previous four seasons with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League, he never started 40 games. The most he made was 39 twice.

A notable difference between the NHL and AHL is that while one league plays regularly during the week, the other has most of its games on weekends. That allows for more recovery time when teams are often off between Monday through Thursday, with at most maybe one game on the schedule. A stark contrast between the AHL and NHL.

Even with the Rangers having a favorable schedule thus far, which has included only one back-to-back that Garand won by recording his first career shutout against the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 2, he didn’t take over as their starter until Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending right knee injury against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 9.

After winning his first two games as the new number one goalie, he was chased by the Devils for four goals on nine shots over two weeks ago. That marked the only game that journeyman Spencer Martin appeared in. It didn’t get any better with Martin giving up three goals on 18 shots due to poor defensive coverage. A common denominator in the Rangers’ recent losses at Toronto and Ottawa.

The 24-year-old Garand has shown some chinks in the armor the past two games by allowing some bad rebounds that resulted in goals. That included Jake Sanderson putting in a rebound to give the Senators a 5-3 lead with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation last night. That followed relentless pressure from the Rangers, who came close to rallying back from a 4-1 deficit.

To be fair, Sanderson’s goal was also due to another defensive breakdown from all five Rangers skaters. After Braden Schneider sent a weak backhand towards the net that was blocked, the Senators quickly transitioned up the ice without any resistance. Michael Amadio easily gained entry into the Rangers zone by going around Vladislav Gavrikov, who then puck watched as Ridly Creig drove to the net for a shot that Garand gave up a rebound on, which led to Sanderson putting it away.

New fourth line center Luke Glendening wasn’t even close on the backcheck with the other forwards trailing the play. It was a poor example of how not to defend in a one-goal game that the Rangers chased due to a bad start that saw the Senators score twice in a lopsided first period that could’ve been worse than a 2-0 deficit.

With the game still scoreless earlier, the Sens grabbed the lead when Sanderson easily found a wide open Drake Batherson for his first of three goals on the night. It was a sloppy rotation from the Rangers, who had the fourth line out with Gavrikov and Marcus Pettersson. Batherson had plenty of time to beat Garand, who couldn’t get across in time due to the botched coverage.

Over a minute later, it was more of the same from the Rangers. Schneider couldn’t handle a tough pass from J.T. Miller at the blue line, which led directly to Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund combining to set up Tim Stutzle for a pretty goal to make it 2-0. Neither Schneider nor Miller were in the right position defensively. Rookie Alberts Smits was unable to prevent the pass across while partner Schneider didn’t pick up Stutzle, who also beat Miller on the play.

The defensive issues continued on Batherson’s second goal that made it 3-0 early in the second period. Dylan Cozens had a shot bounce right to Batherson, who beat Garand again with only Gavrikov in the picture.

Following a nice play from Noah Laba, who led Will Cuylle for a shorthanded goal, Dylan Cozens was left alone to deflect in a Batherson pass that put the Rangers behind 4-1. He beat Pettersson for the goal.

Aside from the Sanderson rebound that he should have had, Garand was hung out to dry for a second straight game. In the previous one-goal loss to the Leafs, he gave up a bad rebound to Kirill Marchenko for a power-play goal. He’ll need to work on controlling rebounds during a relatively light week ahead.

After they host Artemi Panarin and the Los Angeles Kings at MSG tomorrow night, the Rangers are off the next five days. That should give them plenty of time to work on things. They haven’t started well lately, falling behind early the last two games. An area they’ll need to be better at in order to survive without Shesterkin.

Reimer Signed by Rangers

Following a pro tryout with the Wolf Pack, the Rangers signed veteran netminder James Reimer to a one-year, $850,000 contract.

A well traveled backup who’s been in the league a long time, the 38-year-old Reimer will join his ninth NHL team. Once upon a time, he was the Leafs starter when they first returned to the postseason in 2012-13. They lost the first round in seven games to the Boston Bruins.

After spending the first part of his career with Toronto, Reimer also played for San Jose, Florida, Carolina, San Jose again, Detroit, Anaheim, Buffalo, and most recently Ottawa. In 14 appearances for the Senators last season, he went 7-4-2 with a 2.42 goals-against-average, .886 save percentage, and one shutout.

Over a 16-year career, Reimer has appeared in 539 games and went 232-191-67 with a 2.87 GAA, .909 save percentage, and 32 shutouts.

With Garand having made the last seven starts, there’s a good possibility that Reimer could make his Rangers debut on Monday night against the Kings. That’ll depend on what head coach Mike Sullivan decides is best for his slumping team that’s lost some of its steam due to the poor performances on the road.

They’re still 7-5-1 entering tomorrow’s match. However, that’s largely due to a perfect 6-0 home record in which they’ve outscored opponents 29-10.

Rangers Send Martin and Robertson Down

After recalling Matthew Robertson due to the status of Sean Durzi, who took a couple of maintenance days, the Rangers sent the defenseman back down to Hartford. Joining him is Martin, who’ll return to playing in the AHL.

The Rangers never showed enough trust to have Martin make a start with the heavier workload catching up to Garand. It was evident that Reimer would replace him on the roster with Joonas Korpisalo just starting to skate. He’s been out with a foot infection since the start of the season.

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A Review of Rangers’ 5-4 loss to Maple Leafs, Tributes Pour in for Duguay

Posted on October 23, 2026 by Derek

Last night, the Rangers suffered a crushing 5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs up at Scotiabank Centre. They were 27 seconds away from forcing overtime before unheralded Toronto defenseman Troy Stecher scored the game-winner to deny them of getting even a point.

To say it was disapponting would be an understatement. It’s the fourth consecutive loss on the road, which so far hasn’t been kind to them. Unlike the previous season, when they managed to do their best work away from Madison Square Garden by posting a 20-19-2 record, the Rangers are a dismal 1-4-1, having been outscored 19-8. It’s becoming an alarming trend with their next game at the Senators tomorrow night.

Despite falling behind early on a wide open Easton Cowan breakaway goal due to a bad line change less than two minutes in, the Rangers fought back thanks to Mika Zibanejad deflecting in a Vladislav Gavrikov shot to tie the score. It was his first goal at 5-on-5 this season. Adam Fox helped set it up with a secondary assist. He had a big night finishing with four helpers to continue his torrid start. He leads all NHL defensemen with 14 assists and trails only Evan Bouchard in points amongst top blue liners.

The Rangers were sloppy throughout the contest due to the Leafs pushing the pace. Even their fourth line did some damage by taking advantage of poor coverage to score twice. That included Teddy Blueger putting in a rebound of a Brandon Duhaime shot past Dylan Garand, who didn’t have his best game.

He didn’t get much help from his defense with Albert Smits and Braden Schneider having a rough night. Twice, Schneider was beaten for goals against due to being in the wrong position. Playing in his 12th game, Smits was an adventure defensively against the very skilled Leafs. On one sequence, he took the wrong angle on William Nylander at his own blue line, which allowed Nylander to slip past him for a breakaway that he missed. It was a lesson learned for the neophyte.

Despite continuing to put themselves in trouble, the Rangers kept battling back. Some hustle from Justin Dowling led to Oliver Bjorkstrand scoring for the third time in two games. For a journeyman, Dowling plays with a lot of determination and grit. He outmuscled a Leaf to get in and force a rebound on Sergei Bobrovsky that Bjorkstrand stuffed home for his fifth. It was a great effort from Dowling, who was effective in nine shifts (6:56) at even strength.

Pavel Dorofeyev had a second straight strong game even though he didn’t score a goal. He was on the puck a lot and made things happen. That included a smart defensive play in his zone that led directly to a 2-on-1 with Tye Kartye able to put away a Fox rebound for the Rangers’ first lead.

Unfortunately, Dorofeyev again hit a goalpost on a steal and high-danger scoring chance. So far, he’s hit four goalposts and missed on several point blank opportunities. He’s getting closer to breaking out.

A Marcus Pettersson neutral zone turnover allowed the Leafs to quickly counter for the tying goal. Normally, he makes smart decisions with the puck. However, his pass was intercepted by Blueger, who sent Zack MacEwen in for a routine shot that Garand mishandled. That allowed Duhaime to pounce on the juicy rebound that tied the game.

The refs let both teams play by only calling three penalties. Unfortunately, Alexis Lafreniere took the first one when he got caught chasing and had to hook Jack Roslovic from behind late in the second period. The end result was the dangerous Leafs converting on their first power play when Kirill Marchenko was left wide open in the slot for a shot that Garand got his glove on. However, he fumbled the puck which allowed Marchenko to hustle in and put in the rebound for a 4-3 Toronto lead.

Rebounds were an issue for Garand in this game. He had trouble with the Leafs going high on him. Despite having a great glove that later denied a bid from Auston Matthews, he needs to work on controlling rebounds. Perhaps due to the skill and speed of the opponent, it affected his game. Combined with the lack of structure from his team, it resulted in him allowing five goals on 35 shots.

Rangers bench boss Mike Sullivan has ridden Garand since Igor Shesterkin went down to a right knee injury for the regular season. It was his sixth consecutive start. As well as he’s played, it’s an awful lot on the 24-year-old rookie to be asked to carry the workload. Perhaps it could be time to give him a breather and go with Spencer Martin this weekend. While that might sound crazy, the team has usually responded well to playing in front of a backup after a tough loss. We’ll see what Sullivan decides to do.

With the Rangers still trailing the Leafs in the third period, a set faceoff play led to Lafreniere tying the game with his team-leading eighth on a blast inside the blue line with 5:35 remaining. Zibanejad won the offensive draw back to Fox who got the puck over for a Lafreniere shot through traffic that Bobrovsky didn’t track well enough. It was his first goal in four games. He continues to lead the Rangers in scoring with 14 points in the first dozen.

On another shift, Lafreniere was dangerous in the offensive zone. He nearly created another goal with the game tied. On a night when he was fairly quiet for two periods, except for the costly minor that led to a Marchenko power-play goal, the former 2020 top pick continues to grow into a more complete player under Sullivan. He’s now an established first line scorer who plays on the number one power play unit. A gigantic step for the 25-year-old who’s now in his seventh season.

Ultimately, it wasn’t enough for the Rangers to get a win. A neutral zone turnover allowed Nick Paul to come back into the zone and outhustle Schneider to push the puck around the net for Duhaime. He then was taken down by Kartye, who gave up on the play that led to Morgan Rielly finding an uncovered Stecher for a great shot that beat Garand top shelf for the deciding goal at 19:32.

Despite continuing to battle hard, the Rangers’ lack of focus cost them. Sullivan referred to the defensive issues following the game.

“There wasn’t a lot [defensively],” head coach Sullivan said. “I just didn’t think we managed the puck. I didn’t think we played with structure. We chased it, you know? We chased the game. It wasn’t a collective effort. You got to know your job, do your job, trust your linemates are going to do theirs. I just thought the types of chances we gave up tonight is uncharacteristic of this group.”

Fox basically admitted that they got into the wrong kind of game against the Leafs. Even on a relatively quiet night when their stars were held in check, it didn’t matter. 2026 number one overall pick Gavin McKenna was a nonfactor at 5-on-5, but he picked up an assist on the Marchenko goal on the power play.

“We were definitely giving them a lot of chances and a lot of Grade-A’s too,” Fox told reporters after setting up all four Ranger goals. “[Garand] had to make some big saves there as well. They got a lot of fire power, so you’re giving guys dangerous chances that I don’t know if that’s the recipe for our team to win games. Can we? Yeah, but just felt like we kind of played it to how they wanted to play tonight.”

Schneider A Net Negative

Overall, the Rangers’ defensemen struggled mightily. With the lone exception of Fox and Gavrikov, who both were on the ice for their four goals, the rest of the blue line had a night to forget about.

It even affected the normally dependable Pettersson, whose costly giveaway led to the Leafs’ fourth goal late in the second period. On a night partner Sean Durzi turned 28, they had a tough game with each on for two goals against. But like Sullivan recently said in response to the metric nonsense about how high the expected goals against are for the second pair, they get important minutes and usually limit most chances to the outside. They’ll look to bounce back on Saturday.

In particular, it was a rough night for Schneider. After both he and Smits were beaten for a Blueger goal that made it 2-1, the six-year veteran was trusted by Sullivan to get the Rangers to overtime in the final minute.

Following a misplay in the neutral zone that allowed the Leafs to gain reentry, Schneider lost a board battle with Paul. He took a poor angle on the former Lightning center, who was able to hang onto the puck and get past him to help create the game-winner that Stecher scored.

Once Schneider lost that battle, it put a tired Rangers five-man unit in a bad spot. The Leafs had been pressing hard for the last two minutes, but Garand denied them of going ahead. He more than did his part to try to get a point. He desperately needed some help from his teammates, who never got the puck past center ice. That more than anything is what led to the coup de grace.

With Kartye taking a delayed penalty on Duhaime, who outhustled him, the Rangers got caught overloading the left side. That allowed the Leafs with an extra man to find Stecher for a great shot past Garand that won the game.

In that situation, you can ill afford to lose the battle. On that play, both Schneider and Kartye did. It probably wasn’t the wisest idea to have their slowest defenseman out late against a quicker opponent. Sullivan went with Schneider and Gavrikov probably due to how Pettersson and Durzi played. It didn’t work out well for the Rangers.

Rangers Pay Tribute to Duguay

Before and during the game, the Rangers paid tribute to Ron Duguay, who passed away yesterday due to colon cancer.

In a well produced video narrated by MSG reporter John Giannone, they showed highlights of his career that included over seven years spent in Manhattan. In a piece I wrote yesterday on Duguay’s 12-year NHL career, I misspoke when I said that his first season with a point-per-game came with the Red Wings in 1983-84.

It was during 1981-82 that he went over a point-per-game as a Blueshirt by having 40 goals with 36 assists for 76 points in 72 games to become an NHL All-Star. For his Rangers career, which included a brief return from 1986-87 to 1987-88, Duguay finished with 164 goals and 176 assists for 340 points in 399 games.

Prior to that return, he totaled 311 points (151-160-311) in his first stint from 1977-78 until 1982-83. Had he been better received by Herb Brooks, who didn’t like how much time he spent at Studio 54, it says here that the Rangers wouldn’t have traded Duguay to the Red Wings for a return that brought back Willie Huber, Mark Osborne, and Mike Blaisdell on June 13, 1983. The Rangers also sent Eddie Mio and Eddie Johstone to Detroit in the six-player deal.

Plenty of tributes have poured in from former players on how close they were to Duguay, who was well liked by his peers with former Devil Ken Daneyko among them.

Duguay and Daneyko in studio during Hockey Night Live was always a bundle of laughs for fans to watch.

Sullivan and Duguay played together on the San Diego Gulls in 1990-91. Duguay had 39 points in 51 games at 33. Sullivan put up 35 in 74 contests two seasons before playing for the NHL expansion San Jose Sharks in 1991-92.

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Popular Ranger Ron Duguay Passes Away At 69

Posted on October 22, 2026 by Derek

On Thursday, Oct. 22, popular Ranger Ron Duguay passed away at age 69. He lost a courageous battle to Stage Four colon cancer.

An immensely well liked player who spent his first six seasons of a 12-year career on Broadway, Duguay entered the league as a 20-year-old who the Rangers selected 13th overall in the 1977 NHL Draft. It didn’t take him long to establish himself as a fan favorite.

As a rookie, he posted 20 goals and 20 assists for 40 points in 1977-78. Following a preliminary loss to the Sabres, the Rangers put together a better season in 1978-79. On a younger roster that still featured Phil Esposito, Carol Vadnais, and Walt Tkaczuk, Duguay was sixth in team scoring with 27 goals and 36 assists for a total of 63 points.

After finishing third in the Patrick Division, the Rangers upset the heavily favored Islanders in the NHL Semifinals. Duguay finished the series with a goal and assist as John Davidson carried the Blueshirts to the Stanley Cup Finals. Rookie Don Maloney paced them with eight points versus the Islanders. The Rangers lost to the Canadiens in for the Stanley Cup in five games.

Duguay’s best season came in 1981-82 when his 40 goals led all Rangers. He also added 36 helpers for a career-high 76 points to tie former 1980 USA Olympic hero Mark Pavelich for second in team scoring. In the postseason, they defeated the Flyers in the Division Semifinals to meet the Islanders in the Division Finals. The Rangers lost to their bitter nemesis in six games. Duguay totaled five goals and six points during that run.

By then, he was well known in the New York City inner circle for being a frequent visitor to Studio 54. After a win over the Islanders on Jan. 20, 1982, he was photographed with Cher at Studio 54.

A heartthrob due to his unique style and looks that included his long locks of flowing hair, Duguay danced with Cher at the famous nightclub and then were set to attend a famous actress Liza Mannelli’s party at her apartment.

However, an impatient Cher changed plans due to the long wait where she instead took the younger Duguay to Gene Simmons’ townhouse, which he described as “beautiful.” They spent the night together. A story he revealed on the debut episode of Up In The Blue Seats a few years ago.

His early fame actually came during his second year when he shot a memorable commercial with Rangers teammates Esposito, Anders Hedberg, and Dave Maloney advertising Sasson jeans in 1979. The famous expression, “Ooh, la-la” is still looked back on fondly from not just Rangers fans, but the hockey world.

Duguay was married to model Robin Bobo in 1983. They later got divorced. He eventually remarried Kim Alexis in January 1993. They had three children together before divorcing in 2016.

Following a down year in 1982-83, Duguay was traded to the Red Wings in a six player deal. In his first season with Detroit, he put up a point-per-game for the first time when he had 33 goals with a career-high 47 assists for a new personal best 80 points in 80 games. Teamed with future Red Wings star captain Steve Yzerman, he helped them return to the playoffs for the first time since 1978.

Ironically, he played on a roster that included former Rangers’ great Brad Park, who finished his Hall of Fame career in Detroit following the trade that sent him and Jean Ratelle to the Bruins for Esposito and Vadnais, which stunned fans on Nov. 7, 1975.

Duguay also teamed up with future Blueshirts John Ogrodnick and Kelly Kisio. The Red Wings roster also included Colin Campbell, who replaced Mike Keenan as Rangers head coach following the Stanley Cup in 1994.

His best season came in 1984-85 when he finished tied for second with Yzerman in team scoring with 38 goals and career bests in assists (51) and points (89). The Red Wings were swept by the Blackhawks in the Norris Semifinals.

His final year with the Red Wings came in 1985-86. It proved to be a dismal one for Detroit who finished with only 17 wins and 40 points to miss the postseason. In 67 contests, Duguay had 19 goals and 29 helpers for 48 points. A bad roster included future Rangers enforcer Joey Kocur, who actually was teammates with dance partner Bob Probert. Keeping with the Rangers theme, Gerard Gallant was on the roster.

During that season, Duguay was dealt to the Penguins on Mar. 11, 1986. After putting up 13 points in the final 13 games, he spent the first part of the next season with the Pens before being traded back to the Rangers for Chris Kontos on Jan. 21, 1987.

By then, his big scoring days were behind him. Duguay totaled 13 goals and 29 points in his second stint as a Ranger. They eventually sent him to the Kings where he concluded his NHL career in 1988-89.

Duguay finished with a respectable 274 goals, 346 assists, and 620 points over 864 games. That included 63 power-play goals and 14 shorthanded goals for an exciting player who remains a beloved figure in New York City.

To his credit, he didn’t stop playing hockey. After spending a year overseas, Duguay played in the Independent Hockey League for the San Diego Gulls for 1990-91 and 1991-92. In 1995-96, he came out of retirement to help the Gulls win the West Coast Hockey League championsip.

He continued to play sparingly in San Diego before winding up with the Jacksonville Barracudas, who he coached to their first championship in 2003-04. Without him, the Barracudas wouldn’t still exist.

At 51, he appeared in two games for the Brooklyn Aces and Jersey Rockshoppers in the Eastern Professional Hockey League. His two-day, two-game contract was pledged to the Garden of Dreams Foundation.

Following retirement, Duguay was a Rangers studio analyst for MSG Networks from 2007 to 2018. He brought the same flair and passion with him that Rangers fans identified with. Despite being unceremoniously dumped by a Madison Square Garden employee, Duguay worked with NY Post Rangers beat writer Mollie Walker and legendary Slap Shots columnist Larry Brooks on the Up In The Blue Seats podcast for a brief time.

He spent his final days in the hospital fighting cancer. Girlfriend Sarah Palin was by his bedside when he passed.

Duguay is survived by daughters Shay Thomas, Amber Stavros, son Noah Duguay, along with grandchildren Aiden, Jayden, Cole, Norah, and Ranger.

RIP Ron Duguay (July 6, 1957 – October 22, 2026)

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Bjorkstrand Tallies Twice in Rangers’ Win over Ducks

Posted on October 20, 2026 by Derek

They’ve now played six games at home. Raising their record to 6-0 at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers cruised past the Ducks 5-2 on Monday night.

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice to highlight the latest win on home ice that snapped a two-game losing streak. The Rangers have now outscored opponents 29-10 at MSG this season. If they can figure it out on the road, who knows how good they can be.

A quick start led to an early goal from Sean Durzi that made it 1-0. On an excellent shift from the second line, Tye Kartye and Pavel Dorofeyev combined to set up a Durzi shot that went through a J.T. Miller screen past Ville Husso at 1:18.

Dorofeyev was all over the ice during his shifts, hunting for a goal that never came. He was more aggressive and very active throughout the game. He led all Rangers skaters with five shots and attempted 10.

Despite a much better effort, Dorofeyev remains snake bit. He had several great chances to score, but either was denied by Husso or missed entirely.

Perhaps his best opportunity came when set up directly in front with an empty net, yet he somehow blew it. He also came in on Husso on a breakaway but had his Forsberg attempt slide off his stick. It’s been that kind of start so far for him. If he continues to play like he did last night, it won’t be long before he snaps out of it.

After allowing 14 shots to the Ducks in the first, the Rangers dominated the second period. They outscored the Ducks 3-0 and outshot them 12-7. It wasn’t even that close.

While Dylan Garand handled the Ducks’ shots, the Rangers went on the attack to turn a close game into a blowout.

After failing to capitalize earlier on an abbreviated two-man advantage, the top unit finally connected on the power play thanks to a simpler approach. Alexis Lafreniere got the puck up for Adam Fox, whose wrist shot was tipped in by Miller to make it 2-0.

Following a successful kill of an Albert Smits minor, some fancy passing from the number one line produced the Rangers’ third goal.

On a great play along the boards from Lafreniere, he maneuvered around a Ducks player and made a nice backhand feed across for Mika Zibanejad, who one-timed a diagonal pass that Gabe Perreault finished for a 3-0 lead. The goal ended a three-game pointless streak.

Less than three minutes later, some strong pressure from Justin Dowling forced Beckett Sennecke into a turnover. His giveaway allowed Bjorkstrand to skate in and snap a wrist shot past Husso to make it 4-0.

In the third, Bjorkstrand added his second of the game thanks to some nice teamwork from Braden Schneider and Taylor Raddysh. They combined to feed Bjorkstrand for his fourth to make it 5-0. For a player who hasn’t played a lot due to how he’s been used, it’s nice to see him get rewarded.

The only drama left was whether Garand would get his second shutout. Considering how well he’s played aside from a hiccup last week in New Jersey, he certainly deserved it.

But with time winding down, Nick Jensen spoiled the fun on a one-timer set up by Alex Killorn with 1:09 left.

A.J. Greer had his centering feed bank in off Garand at 19:27 to close the scoring.

At the end of the day, it was a strong response after two straight losses. The Blue Jackets’ overtime defeat was hard fought. Garand was brilliant that night as well.

For an unknown commodity whose future was up in the air before the season, he’s been unflappable. It isn’t easy for a young goalie to take over after one of the game’s best goes down. The way he carries himself is a big reason for his early success.

There’s a very good young goalie in Montreal who’s getting plenty of accolades. While Jacob Fowler looks like a Calder candidate for the Canadiens, perhaps Garand will enter the picture if he continues to play well for the Rangers.

They have to be pleased with where they are. Most of the credit goes to Garand for their 7-3-1 start. We’ll see how he does this Thursday against the Maple Leafs, who boast their own top rookie in Gavin McKenna.

THREE STARS

3rd Star Pavel Dorofeyev, NYR primary assist, team-leading 5 SOG in 17:57

2nd Star Alexis Lafreniere, NYR 2 assists, 3 SOG, +1 in 17:00

1st Star Oliver Bjorkstrand, NYR a pair of goals (3rd, 4th), +1 in 12:08

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Rangers Sign Glendening to a PTO, Edstrom trade backfires

Posted on October 19, 2026 by Derek

On Monday, Oct. 19, the Rangers signed Luke Glendening to a pro tryout (PTO).

A veteran checking center who’s played for five different teams, including the Red Wings, Stars, Lightning, Devils, and Flyers, the 37-year-old could replace Justin Dowling on the fourth line soon. Glendening is strictly a defensive-minded pivot who can win faceoffs and kill penalties in a small role.

For his 13-year career, Glendening has played in 934 games while totaling 85 goals with 90 assists for 175 points. For the first half of his career, he spent it with the Red Wings lasting eight seasons in Hockeytown. A gritty player, he reached double digits in goals three times and eclipsed 20 points twice for the Winged Wheel.

A fixture on the penalty kill, he scored four shorthanded goals with Detroit. He’s always been a gritty player who finishes checks and blocks shots. Assuming he takes over the fourth line role from Dowling, who’ll take part in his third game when the Rangers host the Ducks tonight, Glendening is more dependable due to his resume.

In 2025-26, he was waived by the Devils after playing in 52 games. The rival Flyers picked him up for the remainder of the season. In 18 games, he put up two goals and three assists with a 57.2 faceoff percentage to help the Flyers qualify for the postseason.

After averaging less than 10 minutes for the first time in his career, Glendening was trusted by Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet, who gave him 12:23 ATOI down the stretch. In 10 playoff games, Glendening had a goal and plus-3 rating while going 48.7 percent on draws (56-and-59).

Reaction to Glendening Move

When I learned of the move, my reaction was that he’s an upgrade over Dowling, which isn’t meant to be disrespectful. Dowling gives an honest effort and even made a couple of nice plays, including leading Oliver Bjorkstrand in for a high-danger scoring chance. However, he isn’t going to play enough to make a difference.

A once perceived team strength is now a weakness due to the longterm injury to Joe Veleno. With him out for the next two months, they gave prospect Cole Beaudoin a few games to see what he’s capable of.

It was a mixed bag for the younger 20-year-old center. He was okay on faceoffs, going 16-for-33. His size and skating are pluses, along with the defensive instincts he possesses. However, he had a giveaway that led to a goal against and took a couple of penalties. Despite that, Rangers bench boss Mike Sullivan liked what he saw from him.

Since they sent Beaudoin down to Hartford, he hasn’t played a game yet. He’s day-to-day with an injury. Hopefully, he heals quickly and can be available later this week when the Wolf Pack return to action for the Providence Bruins on Friday and then the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday.

After going down, Jaroslav Chmelar scored a goal in a 4-2 loss to the Charlotte Checkers. Top prospect Liam Greentree scored his third on the power play. Greentree is tied for the team lead in goals with Taylor Raddysh, who was recalled to replace Chmelar over this past weekend.

Edstrom Trade Backfiring on Blueshirts

Near the conclusion of 2025-26, Adam Edstrom fell out of favor under Sullivan. Despite wanting to see what he could do playing at center, Sullivan abandoned that experiment by healthy scratching Edstrom in favor of vets Conor Sheary and Jonny Brodzinski.

The oft-injured forward returned last March. He got into 11 games and scored a goal versus the Winnipeg Jets on Mar. 12. Despite being a good penalty killer and solid physical presence who brought size and speed, Edstrom was traded by the Rangers to the Predators last June 27 in exchange for a 2026 fifth round pick (Luken Huff) and minor leaguer Massimo Rizzo.

For some reason, they gave away Edstrom for nothing. To the surprise of no one, he’s rebounded with his new team in Music City. A trusted defensive player, he scored two empty netters in a win over the Canadiens on Oct. 8. In two of his last three games since, Edstrom has a pair of shorthanded goals for the Predators.

Unlike his time spent with the Rangers, he’s seeing an increased role in Nashville where he averages 13:42 of ice time. As usual, the 26-year-old is doing his part physically with 40 hits and 10 blocks. He’s still featured in a fourth line role with former Hurricane Jack Drury, but both are used more frequently.

Given the current situation with the fourth line, which now consists of placeholder Dowling, Raddysh, and the under utilized Oliver Bjorkstrand, it looks like the Rangers miscalculated badly with Edstrom, who makes $975,000 this season before turning restricted next summer.

Sometimes, it’s the moves you don’t make that don’t hurt you. This is on Sullivan, who obviously preferred Chmelar and even Matt Rempe over Edstrom. The preseason injury to Adam Sykora hasn’t helped matters. He’s definitely missed by the Rangers.

Considering how it’s played out so far, they screwed up.

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Garand Steals A Point For Rangers

Posted on October 18, 2026 by Derek

Two days after getting pulled in a lopsided 7-1 loss to the Devils, Dylan Garand bounced back with a superb performance in a tough 1-0 loss in overtime to the Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

In a much different game that was tightly contested, the Rangers relied on Garand to steal a point on the road. He finished with 28 saves on the night.

https://x.com/SnarkMessier/status/2111637763518771686

Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets’ 29th shot from Kent Johnson beat him for the winner at 3:26 of overtime. He didn’t have much of a chance on it. Zach Werenski set up Johnson for a rocket that went top shelf to send the Rangers to their second straight loss.

Jet Greaves stopped all 29 shots to earn the shutout. It was the second time the Rangers were held without a goal this season. The first time came in a 3-0 defeat in Boston on Sept. 29.

In an early trend that could be a concern, the Rangers have only scored four goals in five road games. Aside from getting blown three days ago, they’ve been competitive in three of the five away from Madison Square Garden.  However, they’re not supplying enough run support. Something that needs to change moving forward.

Unlike last season, when they had a better road record while struggling offensively at home, it’s the total opposite. When they return to MSG tomorrow for the Ducks, they’ll put a perfect 5-0 record on the line. They’ve outscored opponents 24-8 in the five wins, which included triumphs over the Lightning twice, the Mammoth, the Islanders, and Canucks.

In their first meeting against the Blue Jackets, the Rangers failed to score on the power play in three chances. Most notably, the first unit failed miserably to generate enough quality chances against Greaves, who turned aside four shots while his team was down a man.

Adam Fox had a rough night handling the puck. He was tentative and wasn’t aggressive enough when shots were available. He also turned the puck over, which didn’t help.

Pavel Dorofeyev had a quiet game, only getting two shots on goal. His best opportunity came on a quick one-timer on a Fox setup in the right circle. But Greaves read it perfectly to get over and shut it down.

If there’s an early critique of Mike Sullivan, it’s that he hasn’t shown enough patience with Dorofeyev, who was dropped back down to the second line. Alexis Lafreniere was moved back up to play with Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault.

If they’re going to be successful, Dorofeyev needs a longer leash on the top line to gel with Zibanejad and Perreault, who was easily the best forward with a team best six shots yesterday.

On a strong offensive shift, Perreault made a great move to the net, but he was denied twice by Greaves on the doorstep. It was his best effort over the last three games that’s seen him go without a point.

A player that’s not getting enough ice time is Oliver Bjorkstrand, who Sullivan has no use for. Signed in the offseason for $4.5 million, Bjorkstrand continues to be stuck on the fourth line, which has seen its minutes cut since Joe Veleno went down.

Even on a night when he created a couple of chances, Bjorkstrand only played 8:43 in 14 shifts against his former team. It doesn’t make sense. He continues to be featured on the second unit on the power play. But a streaky player who’s a good skater should have a better role on a team that’s offensively challenged.

Justin Dowling had a couple of good shifts, including one when he led Bjorkstrand in on Greaves. But Bjorkstrand lost the puck as he was making his move. Dowling played a team low 6:26. In his season debut on the fourth line, Taylor Raddysh received 7:23.

Late in regulation, Will Cuylle was called for a phantom interference minor that put the Blue Jackets on the power play. Despite the bad call, Garand made some critical stops to get the Rangers a point.

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Devils Brought Back to Reality in Loss to Caps

Posted on October 17, 2026 by Derek

If ever there was a chance for a letdown game, it came for the Devils in the form of a 4-2 loss against the Caps in D.C. this afternoon. The defeat ended a two-game winning streak to even their record to 4-4-0 on the season.

Coming off an emotional 7-1 blowout victory over the Hudson rival Rangers, when everything went their way, the Devils were unable to build on scoring the first goal for the third consecutive game. Instead, it was the heavier Caps who roared back by scoring four straight goals to build an insurmountable 4-1 lead that proved too much to overcome on Saturday.

The difference in the contest was the goaltending along with some defensive breakdowns that cost the Devils a chance at picking up a second road win this week. They had earlier went into Detroit and defeated the Red Wings 5-4 on a 3-on-3 overtime winner from cheat code extraordinaire Jack Hughes. He’s scored both his goals in 3-on-3 so far with none coming at 5-on-5. That’ll have to change soon for the Devils’ best player.

The first period was back and forth. In the early going, it was the Caps that generated some quality scoring chances against Jake Allen, who made a couple of strong saves to keep the game scoreless.

Following an empty first power play in which the second unit got the only two shots while the first unit struggled, the Devils got another crack at it when Boone Jenner was sent off for a cheap interference minor on Timo Meier, which sent him to the locker room. It was a bit of a high hit, but Meier was okay to return.

After the number one unit again spent too much time skating around and setting up to the right side due to mostly featuring left-handed shots, the second unit came on and made a difference that resulted in the game’s first goal. On some strong work down low from Stefan Noesen, Dawson Mercer worked the puck to Arseny Gritsyuk at the left circle. With nowhere to go with it, Gritsyuk wisely chose to take the shot that fooled Logan Thompson by sneaking in short side just after the power play expired.

It was his third goal in four games, with the second-year forward picking up his play since head coach Sheldon Keefe elevated him to the top line. In Thursday’s win over the Rangers, Gritsyuk had a key put away for a 4-0 cushion that chased Dylan Garand in the second period. The 25-year-old has continued to show growth from a rookie season that saw him produce 13 goals with 18 assists for 31 points in 66 games. He looks healthier since having off-season shoulder surgery.

Following the goal, Jesper Bratt nearly made it 2-0. Hughes and Bratt almost combined on one due to their speed that created a high-danger scoring chance in front, which Thompson made a key stop on to deny the bid. That proved to be a turning point in the period.

The Caps were able to earn a power play due to Lane Hutson using his speed to draw an interference minor on Brett Pesce. For most of the penalty, the Devils looked to be in good shape. However, a momentary lapse in coverage allowed Ryan Leonard to tie the game with a power-play goal.

On a play that was started by Thompson up to Jakob Chychrun, he led Leonard through the neutral zone. He was able to then do the rest by faking out Luke Hughes by getting inside on the entry and then coming in and beating Allen with a nice forehand tuck that made it 1-1.

The second period was one to forget. The Devils were outscored 3-0 and outshot 12-7 in a disappointing period that looked eerily similar to last season against a good opponent.

On a play that was started by Vincent Desharnais, he moved the puck up for Alex Ovechkin, who gained the zone. With enough time and space to make a play, Ovechkin made a nice saucer pass across for an open Ilya Protas, whose snapshot beat Allen glove side for a 2-1 lead just 76 seconds into the period.

Jonas Siegenthaler left a bit too much space. However, the Devils had players back defensively. The onus was on Allen who didn’t make the stop his team needed.

Following a pair of saves from Thompson that kept Hughes and Cody Glass from tying it, the Caps top line struck for the second goal of the period. On a good forecheck from Jordan Kyrou, he and Alex Tuch combined to find Dylan Strome for a backhand put away in front that made it 3-1 only 3:20 later.

With only Jonathan Kovacevic back, he couldn’t take both players. Unfortunately, Hughes was late on the coverage that allowed Strome to score an easy one. That wasn’t the only time Hughes was in the wrong position on a goal against.

The Devils had trouble establishing their offense when they fell behind by two. They rely heavily on their team speed and transition game. However, the bigger Caps did a good job limiting them to the outside while blocking shots. Their physicality was a noticeable difference in the period.

Washington got a backbreaking fourth goal with less than nine minutes left. Following a successful penalty kill of a Luke Hughes hooking minor, older brother Jack lost a faceoff and then his man on a Jenner tally that put the Devils behind 4-1. Since he signed with the Caps, Jenner has gotten off to a good start. His four goals rank second behind Tuch, who leads them with five so far.

With the remainder of the second played entirely at 5-on-5, the Devils found it tough to get shots through on the sturdy Caps defense, which was still without Rasmus Sandin (long-term injured reserve) and Matt Roy. They had 15 blocks through two periods.

Before the second expired, Allen prevented Strome from extending the lead to four with a big stop on another play in front. For the day, he finished with 21 saves on 25 shots. If there’s an early concern, Allen has allowed four goals in each of his last two starts. Even though he wasn’t totally to blame, he hasn’t performed well as the Devils 1A starter. In fact, he’s given up four or more in three of five starts this season.

Now trailing by three in the third period, the Devils were more aggressive by creating good opportunities early and often. However, Thompson didn’t cooperate. He made some big saves on Hughes, Bratt, and then later denied Nico Hischier.

Despite having the territorial edge in play by outshooting the Caps 17-5, the Devils couldn’t get the puck by Thompson, who continued to solidify why he’s become one of the league’s best goalies. With Igor Shesterkin out for the season, and Connor Hellebuyck still hoping for a trade outside of Winnipeg, it looks like Thompson will be in the mix for the Vezina. He finished with 29 saves to earn the game’s first star.

By the time the Devils made it 4-2, it was too little, too late. On a power play drawn by Evan Rodrigues, Meier got his first with less than 20 seconds remaining from Gritsyuk and Jesper Boqvist.

For one of their highest paid players, it felt like a goal in garbage time. Let’s put it this way. Before the Yankees won the World Series in 2009, Alex Rodriguez used to hit a lot of meaningless home runs. So much so that fans used to refer to them as an A-Rod homer, which meant almost like stat padding.

This isn’t to make Meier’s goal feel insignificant, but Devils fans are used to him not delivering when it really matters. At least he picked up a pair of primary helpers on Thursday. So, he has three of his four points in two games. We’ll see if he can follow up his goal with a big week coming up that has the Devils on a three-game homestand against the high-powered Avalanche Oct. 20, the Ducks Oct. 22, and the Kings next Saturday, Oct. 24.

First Power Play Unit Too Predictable

Having seen them fail badly on a full two-minute 5-on-3 against the Rangers, the Devils first power play unit isn’t generating enough shots. On Thursday night, the five-man unit that features both Hughes brothers, Hischier, Bratt, and at least for now, Rodrigues is too focused on setting up from the right side.

With their four best players left-handed shooters, it makes it predictable for a good penalty killing unit to defend. They know that both Jack and Luke will do a lot of skating and give and goes with Bratt usually in the trigger position while the one righty Rodrigues plays in the left circle. Hischier will either come up high in the slot or be directly in front. It’s taking too much time to get going.

Considering how successful the second unit is due to being more simple by looking to shoot, it’s no wonder that they’ve looked better thus far. Both the Devils’ goals came with Gritsyuk out. He scored once a power play expired and set up Meier on the man-advantage.

Perhaps Keefe should consider making a switch. As skilled as Luke Hughes is, it would probably be wiser to feature Dougie Hamilton on the point. With a proven right-handed shot, he could one-time the puck from the left side to keep opponents from cheating over.

Noesen and Mantha Find Chemistry

In the loss, it wasn’t all negative. Both Noesen and Mantha continue to find chemistry on the third line with Rodrigues, who’s been a good fit so far after coming with Boqvist from Florida in exchange for Jacob Markstrom.

In addition to picking up a point for the third straight game Noesen nearly had Mantha for a goal when it was close. For a player that was available on waivers, the veteran has done a nice job since returning to the lineup. As for Mantha, he’s fit in better since Keefe switched him to the third line. He was twice set up in strong position, but Thompson denied Mantha on both shots.

Evangelista Remains Out

For a third straight game, Luke Evangelista remained out of the lineup due to battling an illness. In five games, he has two goals and an assist for three points. He hasn’t played since Oct. 12.

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