On what continues to be a puzzling theme early in the season, the New York Rangers still are winless on home ice. Even after rallying back from 3-1 and 5-4 deficits, they found a way to lose to the previously winless San Jose Sharks at Madison Square Garden.

I pretty much predicted it. The Sharks had to win sometime. They did it under David Quinn a couple of years ago at MSG. Quinn is now back as an assistant coach of Mike Sullivan’s staff. Nothing changed. The Sharks picked up their first win by defeating the Rangers 6-5 in overtime on a goal from Will Smith.

In what can best be described as an ugly game full of lackadaisical play, the Rangers lost despite Taylor Raddysh recording a hat trick. His second career three-goal game was the only highlight in a frustrating loss that had Sullivan boiling afterward.

In what was an otherwise dreadful first period that saw Macklin Celebrini lead the Sharks to three goals, including one in the final 10 seconds, Raddysh got the Blueshirts on the scoreboard by converting his second from Sam Carrick and Carson Soucy.

But in a period where they quickly fell behind 2-0, Celebrini got his second of the game when he was left in the slot to fire home a wrist shot past Igor Shesterkin.

Predictably, the Rangers got back in it and even took the lead thanks to scoring three straight times in the second period.

After J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafreniere combined to set up Mika Zibanejad on the power play, Conor Sheary was able to find a cutting Juuso Parssinen in front to tie the score. Parssinen showed good patience by faking out Alex Nedeljkovic and beating him with a forehand deke.

With the Rangers on the penalty kill, Raddysh forced a turnover at the blue line and came in on a two-on-one with Zibanejad. Using Zibanejad as a decoy, he roofed a shot past Nedeljkovic for a shorthanded goal that made it 4-3 Rangers.

But with time winding down in the period, Celebrini released a bomb off a Smith feed by Shesterkin to tie the score. A Lafreniere turnover earlier in the shift allowed San Jose to come in transition and send the teams to the locker room all even at four apiece.

The goal gave Celebrini his second career hat trick. He’s still only 19. The Sharks 2024 number one overall pick has all the tools to be a superstar. After a slow start, he’s heating up. On Thursday night, he burned the Rangers for five points.

After Smith put the Sharks back ahead in the third period, it was once again Raddysh who came to the rescue. Coming off the bench on a line change, he took a Miller pass and took a slap shot from the right circle that went top shelf for the hat trick.

It was a beauty of a shot from Raddysh. Brought in as a secondary player, he played well enough to earn a promotion. Will Cuylle continued to struggle, taking an offensive zone penalty. Sullivan bumped Raddysh up with Miller and Sheary. He deserved the reward. We’ll see if that continues on the Rangers’ four-game road trip that begins this weekend.

As for Cuylle, he remains stuck on one goal in nine games. He’s having a hard time replacing Chris Kreider. The disappointing aspect is the inconsistency from shift to shift. Normally, that isn’t a characteristic for Cuylle, who usually brings it. Maybe he’s feeling more pressure in a contract year. Whatever the reason, they desperately need Cuylle to wake up soon.

In overtime, it was a total mismatch. Shesterkin tried a long stretch pass that was intercepted by the Sharks. In a twist of irony, Nedeljkovic started the winning goal by moving the puck up for Celebrini.

He escaped a Miller check along the boards and centered across for a Smith one-timer that was in and out of the net quickly for the overtime winner. Miller was too soft on Celebrini, and Braden Schneider wasn’t even close to Smith.

In falling to a remarkable 0-4-1 at home, the Rangers are a miserable team right now to watch at The Garden. At least they got the Knicks and St. John’s. It looks like the hockey tenant could be in the lottery. Considering who’s available in 2026, that might be for the best.

Kudos to Raddysh on having a great game.