In an unsurprising roster move, the Rangers placed James Reimer on waivers. Reimer will still serve as the backup for tonight’s game against the Flyers.
As expected, Dylan Garand makes his 12th straight appearance when he gets the start for the Rangers. If he can follow up a strong 32-save effort in a 3-1 victory over the Blues on Nov. 5, that could help the Rangers finish 2-2 on a four-game homestand, which began with losses to the Kings and Oilers.
Reimer was signed out of necessity due to the team’s issues in net. He made one start against the Kings and gave up three goals on eight shots before being chased after one period on Oct. 26. Since then, he’s been the backup the past two games. Thursday night could mark his third and final appearance in that capacity.
Korpisalo Due Back for Rangers
Following a start for the Hartford Wolf Pack in which made 34 saves on 37 shots during a 4-1 loss to the Hershey Bears last night, Joonas Korpisalo is due back soon for the Rangers. He’s expected to join the team this weekend during their four-game road trip that begins on Saturday against the Kraken on Nov. 7.
In the meantime, Korpisalo could get another tuneup with the Wolf Pack visiting the Rochester Americans tomorrow night.
Durzi Placed on Injured Reserve
In another move that didn’t come as a surprise, the Rangers placed Sean Durzi on the injured reserve retroavctive to Oct. 26.
Acquired in the offseason from the Mammoth as part of the Vincent Trocheck trade that also netted 20-year-old center Cole Beaudoin, Durzi had been paired up mostly with Marcus Pettersson. In 14 games together, they had a 46.86 Corsi rating and were on for six goals for and seven goals against over 187:28 per Natural Stat Trick.
Durzi was playing through an injury before Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan finally sat him out for the last two games. Taking his place in the lineup has been Scott Morrow. So far, he’s played well by picking up his first assist of the season and being on for two goals. If he continues to show improvement from 2025-26, it could force Sullivan to make a tough decision when Durzi returns.
“Of course there is. Performance matters. Guys that make an impact — a positive impact on the game — are going to be in the conversation for being in the lineup. We have these discussions before every game as a coaching staff. Which 12 forwards and six defensemen give us the best chance to win tonight, and why? I always start with that question. I know it sounds simplistic. We drill into a whole lot of detail after that, but that’s the question that we’re trying to answer every single day,” Sullivan told reporters earlier today.
The Rangers have gotten better play from Braden Schneider over the last two games. A potential candidate to come out of the lineup for Morrow, he’s stepped it up while playing with Pettersson on the second pair. Schneider had one of his strongest showings on Tuesday finishing with five hits, a blocked shot, and six attempts in 22:10, which included some stellar work while shorthanded (5:43).
Sullivan Looking for More from First Line
For the second straight game, Sullivan will stick with the same lineup. That includes the newly formed first line, featuring Pavel Dorofeyev alongside Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere. He’s looking for more from the line as a whole to keep them together.
“There’s more there. We’re hoping that they can establish some chemistry. We rely on those guys to produce offensively for us on a consistent basis. I think that line has the makings of being a line that can make an impact for us. We’re trying to be patient with them. We’ll wait and see how it goes, but I do think there’s more there.”
Dorofeyev had just one shot and two attempts in 13:15, including 9:54 at 5-on-5 while working with Zibanejad and Lafreniere. As a line, they had a 66.67 CF but were outshot 5-3. Despite creating several scoring chances, including two high-danger chances, they didn’t factor into the scoring.
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