Devils’ season comes to a head as Luke’s mistakes and the fans’ booing become the flashpoint for a franchise in crisis

Posted on January 6, 2026 by hasan4978

When I made my last post in the preseason about stepping away, I wasn’t sure if I was retiring or just going on a semi-scaled back version of posting. Long story short, I just wasn’t having fun writing about this team anymore and ranting about them semi-regularly had gone past being therapeutic and into masochism. I was tempted to post when the Devils had their eight-game winning streak early in the season but I just couldn’t bring myself to fully trust this franchise and they’ve shown why since then, going 14-17-2 in their last thirty-three games which honestly looks better than it’s been in actuality.

So why post now? Succinct version: It feels like we’re at a literal DEFCON 1 moment as a franchise here.

I’ve often used the old Wargames clip as a barometer for when crisis was at its highest in a given season, but what’s happened lately goes beyond even just another season going down the drain. This could well be a fork in the road moment for a franchise that needs to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask uncomfortable questions of themselves and the people around them, unfortunately I’m not sure if they have the stomach to do so. Before I even get to Luke Hughes and the disaster that was last night (see above for the abridged version), a quick recap of the first half if you will.

We started the season just the way we ended 2024-25 – losing a sloppy game in Carolina, but unlike last year the Devils responded from that setback and won their next eight games with a lot of them coming against tough teams. I’m shocked looking back on that now that we managed to beat teams like Tampa, Colorado, both of last year’s Cup finalists, etc…but things did actually look good at that point, much as they looked good for the first half of last season before the roof fell in. However, it didn’t take that long for the roof to start caving in on this season as they lost three of four games on a West Coast trip and have gone up and down like a medical chart since, although the downs have been more frequent and more time-consuming than the upward swings.

You also wouldn’t think it to look at things now, but the Devils actually won nine of their first ten home games with an OT loss being the only blemish at Prudential Center early in the season. Losing four straight at home in late November-early December put an abrupt end to our good form in front of the paying customers though, and started the clock ticking on the fans’ patience with the team that already had started to struggle on the road even before that point. Incredibly, they’ve gone 2-8-1 in New Jersey since starting the season 9-0-1 at home.

There are a million games and things I could point to from the first half that have been annoying – getting pumped twice by the Flyers inside of eight days, the home game against Tampa when Jacob Markstrom hit his nadir, giving up three goals inside the first several minutes and finally causing Sheldon Keefe to give him a deserved early hook, losing their heads against Columbus when the Blue Jackets started cheap shotting guys and blowing an early 2-0 lead when the Devils forgot to play hockey, etc etc

If I went back through all the lows of the first half I’d be here all night though. Honestly, while I’ve compared last season to 2009-10 when the Devils also had a great first half followed by a poor second half and anticlimactic early playoff exit, I never dreamed I would be comparing this season to the start of 2010-11, but at times it’s felt like we’re just a more talented, better coached version of the John MacLean-led disaster class given that most of our best players have stopped remembering how to score goals, like that team.

Not that I’m giving Keefe a pass for what’s happened the last calendar year by saying we’re better coached than 2010, on the contrary. He’s got his hands all over this mess now, between the scoring drought and with his utter lack of holding anyone not named Simon Nemec accountable for anything. At best, he’s a puppet for hapless GM Tom Fitzgerald, whose definition of a team being a family usually includes backing away from even the public appearance of tough love. When guys do the same things over and over again and don’t get punished, you wonder why players start to go through the motions and/or stay stuck in bad habits. It took two years for Fitz to finally get mad enough to call out Dawson Mercer in the end-of-season breakup meeting last year, at least he’s had a better year this year than the last couple although he’s certainly not been the force he was three years ago.

As awful as things have been on the ice, they’ve been even more dreadful off the ice starting with Fitz’s idiotic two-year extension for Markstrom, hurrying to double down on a guy who’d been playing poorly for the better part of an entire calendar year (thankfully he’s finally put together a string of at least decent games in a row after his save percentage was like .860 forever), culminating with the aforementioned disaster against Tampa at home where he was jeered off the ice.

Even with his recent improvement, you can’t really trust the guy long-term to A) stay healthy, and B) re-find his game immediately after coming back from injury-related absences and now we have to walk that tightrope for another 2.5 seasons. Forget about ever giving Nico Daws a chance or any other young goalie for that matter, we can’t have that. There were even rumors of poor Nico mulling a KHL offer, before turning it down.

Even that’s become trivial now given what was to follow, much of it centering around the Hughes clan (and that’s even before getting to last night). Luke’s preseason holdout set him back the way Mercer’s did last year though to be honest, it’s not like he was playing all that great at the end of last season either. Still, he held out before he got his $9 million a year and then has been dreadful for large chunks of this season. Do I think he got his money and stopped caring, no – clearly he does if you saw that reaction of him on the bench earlier in the season after missing a goal needing to get calmed down by big brother Jack…but he also still has a maturity issue that isn’t helped by the fact the organization clearly caters to both brothers. I’ll get to that more later.

Speaking of Jack…in a lot of ways the most annoying thing from the first half of the season came when he somehow sliced open his finger at a team dinner. Not knowing the details (I’m not sure if I buy the team’s state media version of it just being an unfortunate accident without alcohol or roughhousing involved), and even if you want to give Jack the benefit of the doubt, the fact is he has missed time in multiple seasons now. And he can no longer clap back at reporters like he did earlier in the season when he was questioned about his recent injury record. Sure, a guy checking him into the boards is one thing a la Jack Eichel last year but he did this one to himself, and the team’s downturn largely coincided with his exiting the lineup…not that it’s been helped by his return since though.

Oh and let’s not forget the saga over the Hughes brother that isn’t even here…the Quinn trade rumors finally came to a head in mid-December when the Wild (in Quinn’s words) ‘sacked up’ and traded for him, conveniently right before we were set to play the Canucks at home in what could have been an awkward situation for everyone involved.

What’s annoying isn’t even so much that we didn’t get him, it’s that we couldn’t even entertain the notion of getting him because Fitz had made a cap mess so deep he couldn’t possibly beg his way out of it. This goes back in part to his hair-trigger panic signing of Jonathan Kovacevic last year after he had a good first half of the season, and Nemec had a poor first half coming off of injury. Since then, Kovacevic’s play dipped in the second half, he got injured and is now just about ready to come off the injured list, further complicating an already messy cap situation. Even if you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt on signing Kovacevic, it’s not ideal to have so many defensemen already making big money with Luke’s extension imminent, and part of why Fitz’s panicked, reactionary GM’ing has led to him being up against a wall now.

It also came out in the wake of the failed Quinn trade, that Fitz had asked at least one player to waive his no-trade and was rebuffed. Reading between the lines (i.e. him not denying it when directly asked about it), it seems that player was Dougie Hamilton – who’s also the highest paid defenseman on the team with Luke. Do I blame Hamilton for nixing a trade, no I do not…what I do blame him for is dude, if you want to be here then at least give effort. He’s spent much of the first half of the season floating and committing penalties, without the dynamic offensive gifts of the past that might have at least canceled out some of that. Dougie’s situation might be the closest parallel to 2010-11 I can make, since it’s eerily reminiscent of Jamie Langenbrunner being asked to waive a no-trade, then skating around the first half of the season in who cares mode. At least act like you want to be here, or do us all a favor and waive for a team that wants you. Just being in who cares mode, ole’ing the greatest goalscorer in history is just embarrassing and doesn’t help anyone.

Of course it would be Dougie that was asked to waive his NTC because Ondrej Palat’s production for his money has been so bad basically from the minute he signed his deal that it’s not even worth it to try to attach a pick to get rid of him IF he even waived his own NMC, he’ll likely be a buyout at the end of this season with one year left on his deal and a spectacularly bad free agent signing, with not even one good season among the four he’s played here. At least he’s tried, I’ll say that much for him but given the fact he was lauded for veteran leadership, I haven’t exactly seen that at all from him here given how disappointing this franchise has been for the better part of three years now.

He’s just another guy who doesn’t rock the boat and get in people’s faces, we have too many of them here including the captain and head coach. Which is why it stands out when someone actually does, like Jack in the Capitals game – the same one as that Ovechkin goal above – when he called the team out after giving up a last-second goal in the first period…only to have a careless turnover in front of his own net, leading to a three on the goalie goal less than twenty minutes later. At least he tried, but holy heck what a way to self-own. It took one of the newest Devils – Connor Brown – to lay into the team after a typically deadass two periods at Columbus on New Year’s Eve, that finally seemed to wake them up in a three-goal explosion in the third period, followed by an impressive win (at home no less!) against Utah on Saturday where for a hot moment it seemed as if maybe we were a game away from getting back on track here…too bad it was against the dreaded Canes.

Now we can get to last night and the impetus for this post (well actually two nights ago now by the time I finish this since I’ve already gone over midnight and will now finish the rest of this off tomorrow morning)…

First things first, no I wasn’t in the building for the Canes game – it’s been hard to get motivated to even watch this team anymore, much less go to the games. My only attended games all of December were two fiascoes I’ve already alluded to, the 8-4 loss to Tampa Bay with Markstrom hitting rock bottom and a 4-3 OT loss to the Caps where basically every goal was caused by someone’s catastrophic mistake. If it wasn’t Jack giving up a 3-on-0 or Dougie watching Ovechkin shoot the puck by him it was Jonas Siegenthaler committing the cardinal sin of trying to play the puck in the last five seconds of a period rather than just eating it at the boards, turning it over as the Caps scored a goal with less than a second remaining. Fittingly, the game ended in OT on a Luke mistake when he tried to force the puck to Paul Cotter, who was covered and wound up springing the breakout the other way that proved decisive.

Even that wasn’t as mind-numbingly stupid as what he pulled Sunday night though. I didn’t have any inkling what happened until I saw this Tweet from Kristy Flannery alluding to it:

Shocked that our fans actually targeted anyone much less a popular kid, I immediately had to suss out what happened on a message board and when I heard Luke had scored TWO own goals, I was like…really? Did he get drunk with holiday cheer or something? I was expecting maybe he deflected one in and had one bounce off him but the actual highlights were far worse. Now you can’t help but think in this age if there’s going to be a FanDuel burner account investigation, the second one in particular was actually that bad. Technically it might not have been an own goal but he more or less did hand it to Taylor Hall (ironically) on a silver platter, skating basically from the blueline to the front of his own net while Hall trailed him like a shark, then pounced to finish off the goal.

Going from 1-0 up to 2-1 down entirely because of Luke’s cavalier carelessness – eventually becoming a 3-1 loss – seemed to be the final straw that made the crowd snap and boo him the rest of the night every time he touched the puck. Oh, it’s been building…the crowd finally turning on Markstrom against Tampa was a tell, and certainly in the Caps game you could feel it when the team was booed off the ice after a first period that wasn’t even that bad, but Siegenthaler’s bonehead play ruined it for everyone. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a Devils skater (non-goalie) targeted for wrath of the crowd though, certainly not to this degree. Even Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010 – yikes, another 2010 comparison – wasn’t getting it quite this bad, it was almost comical when they had Happy Thanksgiving messages on the jumbotron and Kovalchuk was booed there.

While I didn’t get the annoyance of seeing these plays in live time, or the totality of the defeat, I did have my eyes firmly rolling at the reaction afterward where the coach, players and team personnel put more effort into backing Luke off the ice than they’ve done for a lot of actual games in recent weeks.

Nico Hischier speaking on a day he wasn’t scheduled to just to offer Luke support was portrayed as some grand gesture on Twitter, in some ways that’s a perfect encapsulation of the problems around here. Nico is a nice kid and to be fair that’s something you should do as a captain for a teammate, but also maybe things don’t even get to this point if Nico and others had come down on Luke beforehand – not like Sunday’s the first time he’s played poorly and made lazy, braindead mistakes, they were just the most obvious examples for all to see. Perhaps if the team tried to self-police the garbage they’ve been putting out on the ice, the crowd wouldn’t have been compelled to do it themselves on Sunday.

Do I think the crowd went too far? Yes, I do agree with Mike Rupp and others when they say booing the first shift was fine, after that it just became counterproductive. I’m pretty sure I would have done just that if I was there (booed only the first shift), but why was Luke even still out there shift after shift in the first place? That’s where if you actually had a strong coach, Luke would be sitting down at least through intermission but Keefe, like the rest of this organization is too soft to really go after the golden boy players. And Keefe even mocked the suggestion in the postgame that he should have benched Luke, like really dude? I know your roster is limited – despite being mostly healthy now – but sometimes you have to make a point for the greater good, and sometimes a kid just needs to reset. You could argue for either of those to have been the case, and that’s all the more why not benching Luke for even a single shift was arguably just as annoying as his braindead mistakes.

To a degree I do feel like the crowd was over the top harsh on Luke – which included dumb bronx cheers when he tried to skate through the entire Carolina defense and got put on his backside – because he conveniently put the target on his back in front of everyone and inadvertently took a bullet for the whole organization, not like he’s the only one who’s been a disappointment (far from it) although the fact he held out getting a new contract when we have cap issues doesn’t help either. At this point I feel like the GM is the one who should be getting the fans’ ire for causing and putting a lot of this mess together, hopefully he’ll get his soon enough.

I don’t feel bad for Luke in any case, maybe this was the kick in the ass he needed and wasn’t ever going to get from a pathetically soft locker room. Just the audacity of him saying he’s played pretty good hockey this year shows that there’s been no critical feedback at all until Sunday when the fans did it for the staff and the team. Not that anyone else gets it from the team either other than maybe a kid like Nemec, he’d have been sent to Siberia if he pulled what Luke did last night. We know they won’t do crap about Douglas’s floating nonsense – he just keeps leading the blueline in icetime night after night.

Things must change on and off the ice, and in a hurry before changes are eventually forced on them. Firing another coach and/or finally banishing some underperforming players won’t fix the root issue of there being a lack of in-house discipline. This team’s fast on pace to miss the playoffs for a second time in three years after 2022-23 was supposed to be a signal of the Devils becoming the next great force in the league. While I’m down on Keefe right now clearly it’s not just a coach problem at this point – heck, look at Lindy Ruff in Buffalo, they can’t lose a game since they canned their rubbish GM and enforced some form of accountability for years of losing. Maybe he wasn’t ever the problem here after all.

Does make you wonder what would happen if we also canned our own rubbish GM (and actually replaced him with an outsider, not just another in-house promotion)…

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Shesterkin leaves game with serious injury

Posted on January 5, 2026 by Derek

The Rangers appear to have lost Igor Shesterkin to a serious injury. During the first period against the Mammoth, Shesterkin was accidentally run into by J.J. Peterka, who was searching for a rebound following a save on Dylan Guenther.

After Peterka banged into Shesterkin and knocked him over inside his crease, he was in a lot of pain while lying flat on his back. The injury occurred with seven minutes remaining in the period.

Rangers trainers immediately came out to tend to him. Noticeably limping off while being helped to the locker room, Shesterkin couldn’t put any weight on his right leg.

Jonathan Quick immediately replaced the injured Shesterkin in the net. Before he exited the game, Shesterkin made nine saves in a scoreless period. Quick came on in relief and stopped all three shots.

When the game concludes, we’ll learn more about the right leg injury Shesterkin suffered. If it’s as bad as it looked, he could be lost for the remainder of the season.

The 30-year-old netminder entered the game with a 17-12-4 record, a 2.47 goals-against-average, .912 save percentage, and one shutout.

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Zibanejad Becomes First Player to Get A Hat Trick at Winter Classic in Rangers’ Win Over Panthers

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Derek

In what’s been a disappointing season, how many people had Mike Zibanejad on their bingo card in last night’s Winter Classic? Playing for the sixth time in an outdoor game, the Rangers made it a perfect six-for-six by going into loanDepot park and defeating the Panthers 5-1 in Miami before a capacity crowd of 36,153.

Zibanejad put on a memorable performance by becoming the first player to ever score a Winter Classic hat trick while setting an outdoor record with five points to highlight the Rangers’ win. It came after being officially named to Team Sweden for his first Olympics.

By factoring in on every goal including the shorthanded empty netter that put an exclamation point on the victory, Zibanejad became the third player to win the Cocoa Cup that was presented by Darren Pang in the NHL on TNT presentation. When asked about it, a smiling Zibanejad had few words to say other than thanking the fans who came out to support the NHL’s signature event.

It really was all about the Winter Classic MVP. Zibanejad broke open a scoreless tie by burying an Alexis Lafreniere feed for a power-play goal that came with 4:51 remaining in the first period. On a play Artemi Panarin started through the neutral zone, he passed across for Lafreniere who made a perfect pass that Zibanejad buried to tie him with Camille Henry and former teammate Chris Kreider for the most power-play goals (116) in franchise history.

Over a minute later, the same three players combined on another goal. This time, it was Panarin who got his team-leading 15th goal from Zibanejad and Lafreniere. After Zibanejad passed him the puck, Panarin skated into open ice up top before firing a wrist shot that went through a maze of players past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 2-0. The shot looked to change direction off a Panther stick.

Before a minute was played in the second period, Zibanejad was at it again when he finished off another Lafreniere pass for his second of the game. This time, the play was created by a diving Vincent Trocheck, who managed to still move the puck ahead for Lafreniere into the zone. That created a two-on-one with Lafreniere able to slide the puck by Niko Mikkola for an easy Zibanejad finish that put the Rangers ahead 3-0 at 58 seconds.

Shortly after, Vladislav Gavrikov was called for a dubious hooking minor on Evan Rodriguez. The TNT replay clearly showed that it was a stick lift from Gavrikov. Despite the penalty, the Rangers were able to kill it off. In fact, special teams played a pivotal role in their success with the penalty kill limiting the Panthers to one power-play goal in six opportunities. Conversely, the Rangers went 2-for-3 on the man-advantage.

Despite the Panthers holding a 25-12 edge in shots, it took until the third period for them to break through on Igor Shesterkin. With Jonny Brodzinski off for tripping Mackie Samoskevich, Sam Reinhart connected on the power play to score his team-leading 23rd for Florida at 2:20. That cut the Rangers’ lead to two with still plenty of time left.

For most of the first part of the period, the Panthers spent a lot of time in the Rangers’ end on the forecheck. However, they were unable to draw any closer thanks to Shesterkin, who had one of his best games of the season by turning away 36 of 37 shots. He played extremely well by making some key stops when his team needed it most.

With Matthew Robertson in the box for a delay of game, the Panthers had a lot of setup time, but they were unable to get any shots through due to the shot blocking of Gavrikov. He had a couple with one even going off his helmet and out of play. Gavrikov finished with a game high five blocks. As a team, the Rangers blocked 27, including four from Braden Schneider and three piece from Adam Fox and Brodzinski. Gabe Perreault also had a pair of blocks.

The Rangers finally stemmed the tide thanks to some hard work from the fourth line. A strong shift from the trio of Sam Carrick, Brett Berard, and Matt Rempe led to Uvis Balinskis hooking Rempe to put the Rangers on the power play, which they made the most out of.

On some more superb passing that was started by Zibanejad, Trocheck got the puck into the slot for Panarin, who beat Bobrovsky for the second time with a high shot to make it 4-1 with 7:35 left. The goal took the wind out of the Panthers’ sails.

They thought they made it 4-2 on a power play. However, the refs made the right call by ruling that Reinhart kicked in a loose puck, which was quickly confirmed on video review. With the Panthers lifting Bobrovsky for a six-on-four, Zibanejad completed his hat trick by firing the puck down into the open net with 1:28 remaining.

That gave him an outdoor record five points.

Dowling Makes Season Debut

With an upper-body injury to Noah Laba, Justin Dowling was recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack. He made his season debut for the Rangers by logging 7:05 in 12 shifts while playing on the third line.

Berard Returns

Due to the Rangers placing Conor Sheary on long-term injured reserve, they brought back Berard. He had recently been sent down to Hartford following the return of Fox. However, that changed due to the injuries.

In his return, Berard took 11 shifts (7:27) while playing with Carrick and Rempe on the fourth line.

Jones Leaves Early for Cats

It was a brief stay for Seth Jones in the Winter Classic. The Team USA selection took a puck to the face, which forced him to leave the game early for the Cats.

Despite getting checked out and returning to the clubhouse, Jones didn’t play the remainder of the game. He was probably kept out for precautionary reasons.

Big Four Lead The Way in Victory

All of the scoring for the Rangers came from four players. While Zibanejad got most of the accolades for his hat trick and five point effort, Panarin chipped in with two goals and an assist, and Lafreniere recorded three assists. Trocheck added two helpers.

The Big Four combined for 13 points (5-8-13) in the victory.

Mammoth On Tap

The Rangers will now have the weekend off. When they return to action on Monday, they’ll face the Mammoth at Madison Square Garden.

Utah is in the metropolitan area for their three games against the locals. After beating the Islanders 7-2 on New Year’s Day, they’re visiting the Devils this afternoon. They’ll complete their tour of the Big Apple on Monday against the Rangers.

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Fox’s Omission From USA Roster Highlights Snubs

Posted on January 2, 2026 by Derek

It took Team USA a little longer to finally announce their Olympic roster. If there’s a word to describe it, disappointing comes to mind. A year ago, they lost to Canada in the championship at 4-Nations.

Unlike a tournament that consisted of four countries, including Finland and Sweden, the Winter Games features 10 teams from Feb. 6-22. They’ll be joined by Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, and Switzerland. Contrary to popular belief, the Olympics won’t just be about USA and Canada. While most of the focus is on the classic North American rivals, it isn’t a guarantee that they’ll play each other for gold.

Someone might want to relay that message to USA Hockey general manager Bill Guerin. A fine GM for the Minnesota Wild who landed Quinn Hughes to make a significant upgrade to his NHL team, a few of Guerin’s roster choices were baffling. That included the omission of Rangers defenseman Adam Fox. One of the game’s best players at his position, he wasn’t good enough to crack Team USA’s blue line that consists of eight defensemen.

While it’s true that Fox struggled at 4-Nations, he didn’t look fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered in 2023-24. During that season, a knee-on-knee collision with Sebastian Aho on Nov. 2 caused him to miss 10 games. In Game 4 of the first round, Fox re-injured his right knee when Nick Jensen banged into it to cause a mild MCL strain. He played through the injury during the Rangers’ run to the Eastern Conference Final. However, he wasn’t as effective, finishing with eight assists in the playoffs.

Last season, he still didn’t look comfortable. Fox was noticeably slower and more exposed defensively. He also missed eight games last season due to a different issue. He wasn’t as consistent, but he still led all Rangers’ defensemen with 61 points (10-51-61). He took a lot of criticism for his performance, which was the least of the team’s issues for why they failed to qualify for the postseason.

Following a long summer, the 27-year-old has looked like a different player this season. Before he suffered an upper-body injury due to a Brandon Hagel check on Nov. 29, which forced him to be placed on long-term injured reserve and miss 14 games, Fox was on fire with 26 points in the Rangers’ first 27 games. He was right there with Cale Makar as one of the league’s best defensemen who was vying for the Norris. Without him, the Rangers struggled mightily on the power play, going 5-for-33. In particular, the number one unit had a difficult time manufacturing anything, with a five-forward unit failing miserably by giving up three shorthanded goals.

In his return to the lineup on Dec. 31, Fox showed no ill effects by scoring a power-play goal on a one-timer and setting up another goal in a 6-3 loss to the Capitals. Unlike last season, he’s moving much better while being a point-per-game player with 28 points (4-24-28) in 28 games. One of the most productive while playing in every critical situation for a team that doesn’t have anyone close to him who can produce at a high level, Fox is one of four defensemen who’s averaging a point-per-game. The other three are Makar (45 points in 39 games), Zach Werenski (40 in 35 GP), and Lane Hutson (40 in 40 GP), who was another notable snub by Guerin.

Related: Fox Returns With A Bang

Players Selected That Aren’t Better Than Fox

The easy selections were Hughes, Werenski, Charlie McAvoy, and Jake Sanderson. All four were a big part of last year’s 4-Nations roster which included Fox, and Jaccob Slavin. Seth Jones was added to this year’s team. Although he’s not Fox, Jones is more of a shutdown defenseman who can skate and play physical. He’ll likely be part of a matchup pair in the Olympics.

More questionable are the inclusions of Brock Faber and Noah Hanifin. While each represented our country last year, neither are better players than Fox. They’re good players who aren’t as accomplished as Fox, who won the Norris in his second year in the league (2020-21). He also was the runner-up in 2022-23 behind Erik Karlsson, who won the award due to putting up 101 points on the lowly Sharks despite a minus-26 rating.

The 23-year-old Faber is an up and coming defenseman who plays for the Wild on the top pair with Hughes. At 4-Nations, he teamed up with Slavin, replacing Fox, who was moved down to play with Hanifin. In his third season, Faber has 21 points (8-13-21) and a +9 rating in 41 games while averaging 24:29.

Hanifin has two goals and 12 assists for 14 points with a minus-7 rating in 28 contests for the Golden Knights. Unlike Fox, who’s five-foot-eleven and 185 pounds, Hanifin brings more size, going six-foot-three and 206 pounds. Faber is six-foot-one and 200 pounds.

Aside from Hughes, who’s only five-foot-ten, the rest of the U.S. blue line are all over six feet. It appears that size was a deciding factor for Guerin. Rangers team president and general manager Chris Drury, who along with coach Mike Sullivan pushed for Fox to make the roster. Drury serves on Team USA as one of three assistant GM’s while Sullivan is the head coach. Talk about a conflict of interests.

Hutson Also Snubbed

As mentioned above, Fox wasn’t the only player who was snubbed. Hutson didn’t make the Olympic roster, either.

An outstanding defenseman who’s only in his second season, the 21-year-old Hutson is tied for second with Caufield on the Canadiens in scoring. He won the Calder as the league’s top rookie in 2024-25 by posting six goals and 60 assists for 66 points to beat out Dustin Wolf and Macklin Celebrini.

One of the game’s brightest young stars, he’s continued to prove that he belongs in the conversation for the Norris. Despite being small in stature (5-9, 162), Hutson has made a significant difference for the Canadiens, who sit third in the Atlantic Division with 50 points. Without his contributions at both even strength and on the power play, the Habs would be much lower in the standings.

It was on the strength of Hutson along with Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky that Montreal surprised many by making the playoffs last season. They’re positioned well to qualify again for the second straight year.

Not only did they omit Hutson, Caufield was passed over too. One of the game’s best finishers, the 25-year-old Canadiens right wing has blossomed into a consistent point producer while teamed with Suzuki, who was chosen by Canada. He isn’t only scoring goals, with his 20 markers pacing Montreal, but he’s also setting them up with 20 helpers.

It’s another case of a small player getting the short end of the stick by Guerin. Caufield more than makes up for his five-foot-eight, 175-pound frame with his explosive speed and lethal wrist shot. He’s also proven to have a knack for scoring in the clutch late in games that the Habs are trailing. That could’ve come in handy in the single-game elimination Olympic format.

Robertson’s Absence A Head Scratcher

If ever a player deserves to play for Team USA, it’s Jason Robertson. A terrific player who’s been lighting the lamp regularly for the Stars, it’s absurd that Guerin didn’t select him.

No American player has more points than Robertson so far this season. He’s got 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points. That’s one more than Matt Boldy and two better than Kyle Connor, who are both mainstays on the American roster.

For reasons only known to Guerin, that wasn’t good enough for Robertson to make the squad. Like Caufield, he wasn’t chosen last year, either. They’re only two of the best finishers. Robertson makes players around him better. On a very talented roster that includes Wyatt Johnston (Canada) and Mikko Rantanen (Finland), he’s second on the Stars in scoring. His play has been brilliant for almost two months, putting up 21 goals and 14 assists totaling 35 points since Nov. 11.

While there are plenty of players who can put the puck in the net, it almost feels like Robertson’s exclusion has to do with him playing for a rival team in the Central Division. The Stars play the Wild two more times on the schedule. You better believe Mar. 21 and Apr. 9 will be circled on the calendar.

Grit Over Skill Preferred

If there’s a takeaway from the 25-man USA roster, it’s the preference of grit over skill. That helps explain why Fox’s teammates, J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck made it.

By taking Trocheck and Miller, who both haven’t had great seasons, Guerin is hoping that they can help slow down Canada, who will enter the Olympics as the heavy favorite to take home gold. Brock Nelson also returns from the 4-Nations to play a similar checking role like last year.

The big question is whether or not Guerin’s selections can get it done. It’s been 46 years since a bunch of college kids pulled off the Miracle by upsetting Russia and then coming back to defeat Finland to win Olympic gold under coach Herb Brooks at Lake Placid, NY.

Team USA has been close to winning before. They took the silver medal at Salt Lake City and in Vancouver. Both times, it was Canada that prevented them from breaking the gold medal drought. In 2010, Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to win in an exciting final.

Keller and Thompson Make It

It isn’t all bad for Team USA. Both Clayton Keller and Tage Thompson made the roster. Each are deserving of getting the chance to play on the world’s biggest stage.

Keller is tied for the lead in scoring with 36 points on the Mammoth. A great skater and playmaking forward, he has 13 goals and 23 assists on a young roster that features Dylan Guenther, J.J. Peterka, Nick Schmaltz, and the injured Logan Cooley.

Thompson remains the leading man on the Sabres with his 20 goals and 37 points tops on the league’s hottest team. The Sabres have won 10 consecutive games to pull into a wild card spot. Thompson is a big reason for the Sabres’ resurgence. He’s scored over 40 goals in two of the last three seasons. It looks like he’s on track for a third 40-goal year in Western New York.

Goalies Remain The Same

While there were some changes in personnel with Fox and former teammate Chris Kreider being subtracted, Team USA will go with the same three goalies.

Connor Hellebuyck has had an injury riddled season for the underachieving Winnipeg Jets, who astonishingly fell to last overall in the standings last night. He was the unquestioned American starter at the 4-Nations Tournament. Although he’s never had the best track record in big games, Hellebuyck stepped it up in the semifinals and final last year.

Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman are the other options if Hellebuyck falters.

In over a month, we’ll see if Guerin made the right choices.

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Shorthanded Rangers Lose Tough One to Caps

Posted on December 31, 2025 by Derek

It will not be a Happy New Year for the Rangers. Well, at least it won’t tonight on New Year’s Eve when they celebrate after touching down in Miami to prepare for the Panthers in Friday’s Winter Classic.

On what was a promising start with Adam Fox returning to the lineup after missing 14 straight games due to a likely shoulder separation sustained on Nov. 29, they lost a tough one to the Caps 6-3 this afternoon. It was their third straight defeat, with two coming in regulation. They fell to 19-8-5 to remain at 43 points with already 42 games played. Any postseason aspirations they have will be an uphill battle in the second half of the season.

Realistically speaking, they don’t look like a playoff team. The only reason the Rangers and Devils are hanging around is due to all the parity in a weak conference that lacks a dominant team. Injuries to key stars have limited the Lightning and Panthers, who are still without Matthew Tkachuk leading into the big game against the Rangers on Friday. Might that change in two days? Only the Panthers know. Regardless, they’ve played themselves back into the wild card and are two points behind the Lightning.

With the Rangers now winless in three straight (0-2-1), they’ve been passed in the standings by the Sabres and Penguins. The Devils can still pass them tonight if they get at least a point against the Blue Jackets.

In a first period mostly controlled by the Caps, Anthony Beauvillier opened the scoring when he buried a Ryan Leonard backhand feed past Jonathan Quick. In 37 games versus the Rangers, Beauvillier has now scored 15 times. He has two goals in three meetings this season. He’s always killed the Rangers. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he was a factor in the game.

In a low intensity period where they’d been held to four shots, the Rangers were able to tie it thanks to Vincent Trocheck, who redirected a Panarin shot past Charlie Lindgren at 19:20. A Fox drop pass allowed Panarin to send a long shot towards the net that Trocheck deflected in for his ninth. Alexis Lafreniere was also parked in front on the play. Trocheck has three goals over his last four.

The second period was much different thanks to Tom Wilson. The Caps’ leading goalscorer heated things up when he caught Noah Laba leaning with a clean hit that injured the rookie center. While play continued, Connor McMichael then fed Wilson in front for the go-ahead goal at 7:33. Laba didn’t return following the upper-body injury he suffered. Mike Sullivan didn’t provide an update on Laba or Conor Sheary, who also left the game after the second period. They’ll be re-evaluated.

When it comes to Wilson, he hits hard and most of the time, it’s clean. Once a dirty player, he’s become a premier power forward. After he decked Laba, who stayed down, Will Borgen battled with Wilson during the shift. Eventually, Borgen and Braden Schneider got exposed on a three-on-two that was started by Rasmus Sandin. Once he moved the puck for McMichael, he drew Schneider, who went down and allowed the easy centering feed for an easy Wilson finish.

Schneider didn’t make the right decision. However, no forward came back to help both defensemen. Sheary sent Wilson down after the goal, which easily could’ve been a penalty. Why Sheary continues to play is puzzling. Sullivan prefers defensive-minded forwards. Sheary has nine points in 37 games.

Once Laba was hurt, the Rangers had to respond to the Wilson hit. Even if it wasn’t dirty, he had to answer for it. Sure enough, the always willing Sam Carrick stepped up and challenged him two minutes later. Of course, Carrick gave up a lot in size and weight class. But as usual, he proved why nobody has more heart or guts on this team than him. He didn’t allow Wilson to get free and nail him with a clean right.

Somehow, the refs gave Carrick an instigator for the scrap. If there’s a rule that needs more clarification, it’s the instigator. If one combatant drops the gloves first and starts throwing before the other does, that’s fine. In this case, it was a bad call that put the Caps on the power play. They made the most of it with Justin Sourdif able to steer in an Alex Ovechkin pass in the crease for a 3-1 lead.

The Rangers came back with a power-play goal of their own. On what was some excellent passing, Panarin moved the puck up for Mika Zibanejad, who then passed cross for a Fox one-timer that went top shelf to cut the deficit to one. It was nice to see Fox wind up with a slap shot and pick the corner. A rarity for him. In his return, he finished with a goal and assist.

In the third, they were down to 10 forwards. Sullivan went with three lines. He settled on Zibanejad with Panarin and Will Cuylle. Trocheck played with Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault, who came very close to tying it. Carrick was with Brodzinski and Taylor Raddysh. Matt Rempe stayed on the bench due to Sullivan looking for offense. He also double shifted his best players.

For the first half of the period, it was mostly the Rangers pressing for the equalizer. The best line was the one that included Perreault, who had a strong showing. He found chemistry with Lafreniere and Trocheck, with the trio very effective during their shifts. Lafreniere nearly had Perreault for the tying goal, but Lindgren made the critical save.

The Caps turned the tables when they took advantage of a favorable matchup. Going up against the Carrick unit and third pair, Sandin was able to win a board battle with Carson Soucy. He then centered in front for Aliaksei Protas, who got free of a Matthew Robertson check to make it 4-2.

Following the backbreaking goal, the Rangers ran out of gas. Wilson scored his second of the game on a nifty McMichael backhand pass from behind the net to make it 5-2. With it out of reach, Perreault picked up an assist on a Schneider goal that went shortside on Lindgren to make it 5-3 with 1:44 remaining.

With Quick off for an extra attacker, a set play led to Sourdif scoring into an open net to seal the deal.

If there was a frustating part, it’s that the Caps didn’t play well. They were susceptible defensively as they’ve been lately. However, they had more healthy bodies and did what they had to to get the win.

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Fox Returns With A Bang

Posted on December 31, 2025 by Derek

On what turned out to be a disappointing result for the Rangers in a 6-3 defeat to the Caps, there was a big positive that came out of the game. After a month away due to suffering a separated shoulder on a Brandon Hagel hit on Nov. 29, Adam Fox finally was activated off long-term injured reserve. He missed 14 games due to the upper-body injury.

With Fox finally back, the Rangers assigned Scott Morrow to the Hartford Wolf Pack. In his return, he had a goal and assist to pick up right where he left off. With the Rangers trailing the Caps late in the first period, Fox helped set up Vincent Trocheck’s tying goal. The secondary assist extended his point streak to seven (1-11-12) games dating back to Nov. 20.

After the Rangers fell behind 3-1, they went on the power play. It was there that Fox was badly missed. Right away, he made a difference by taking a Mika Zibanejad pass and blasting a slap shot past Charlie Lindgren for a power-play goal that pulled the Rangers within one.

The goal was his fourth of the season and second on the power play. Although he blew an assignment on a Caps goal, Fox looked good for his first game back after being out the past four weeks. Reunited with defense partner Vladislav Gavrikov, who played a game-high 24:07, Fox logged 21:13 in 27 shifts while finishing with two points to hike his season total to 28 (4-24-28) in 28 games.

When Fox was gone, the Rangers’ power play struggled badly by going 5-for-33 (15.1 percent). In particular, the number one unit had its issues. Coach Mike Sullivan tried a five-forward unit that had no success and gave up two shorthanded goals without the goalie being pulled. He also used Morrow as the quarterback. Unfortunately, he had a giveaway that led to another shorthanded goal during that stretch. In the recent 3-2 overtime loss at the Hurricanes, Gavrikov scored on the power play with the top unit.

Overall, the Blueshirts started the day tied with the Jets for 13th on the man-advantage (19.8). Four of the six shorthanded goals allowed came over the last month without Fox. They’re tied with the Sharks for the most shorthanded goals allowed this season.

In converting on their only opportunity on Fox’s one-timer off a play set up from both Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, they’re hoping that he can provide more consistency to a unit that needs it. An outstanding offensive player who is superb at reading the play from the point, Fox is a terrific passer who can find open teammates. He also is adept at shooting for deflections. One of the best quarterbacks in the league, the 27-year-old has nine power-play points.

For the Rangers, the most important takeaway is that Fox looked healthy. He skated well and didn’t show any lingering signs. With over a month left before the Olympics, he’ll be crucial if they want to stay in the playoff race.

In related news, he won’t be part of Team USA. They still haven’t made an official announcement on the Olympic roster. However, all indications are that Fox will not represent USA. It’s been reported that they’re taking Seth Jones as one of the eight defensemen.

In a world where Fox is still one of the game’s elite blue liners, it’s absurd that he won’t make a roster that’ll be coached by Sullivan, who has seen firsthand how vital he is. Then again, Wild general manager Bill Guerin is the one who makes the selections that’ll also likely exclude Jason Robertson and Lane Hutson. Assuming they fall short in their bid to break a 46-year gold medal drought in Italy, the blame will fall directly on Guerin.

At the very least, Fox will get more time to rest. I can’t imagine he didn’t anticipate getting to represent his country like he had last year at 4-Nations. Unlike 2025, he’s moving much better. It isn’t so much a criticism on skilled players such as Quinn Hughes, Zach Werenski, and Jake Sanderson. It’s puzzling that they couldn’t find a spot for Fox in their top eight. Then again, it doesn’t sound like they strongly considered Hutson, who’s already one of the best offensive defensemen in the sport.

While most of the American roster has been leaked by multiple sources, with Jones, Clayton Keller, and Tage Thompson all making the cut, Hockey Canada revealed its roster earlier this afternoon on TSN.

Like USA, Canada had some oversights as well. They could’ve chosen Sam Bennett over Anthony Cirelli and Wyatt Johnston over Brayden Point. Jakob Chychrun probably deserved to make the back end.

Regardless, the Canadians are loaded and will be heavy favorites in Milano Cortina.

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Rangers Fall In Overtime to Hurricanes

Posted on December 30, 2025 by Derek

It was another frustrating loss for the Rangers. Two days after getting shut out by the Islanders, they fell in overtime to the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes came back from a goal down in the third period to pull it out 3-2 on Jackson Blake’s power-play goal with 12 seconds left in overtime.

Continuing to play without Adam Fox and J.T. Miller, the Rangers twice held a one-goal lead against the Hurricanes who before the game announced that Pyotr Kochetkov will have surgery for a lower-body injury that will likely end his season. Even without key stars Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin, they’ve managed to remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division. They were without four regulars including Shayne Gostisbehere.

K’Andre Miller returned from an injury to face his former team for the first time this season. He was traded to Carolina in the off-season for a package that included defenseman Scott Morrow along with 2026 first and second round draft picks. Right now, it’s advantage Hurricanes. Miller entered the game with two goals and 11 assists in 29 games. Of course, he contributed with a secondary assist in nearly 23 minutes for the Hurricanes in the win.

The Rangers have basically been running out the same lineup. For reasons only known to Mike Sullivan, he decided to have Conor Sheary play in place of Brennan Othmann, who may as well not even exist. He’s been treated with kid gloves by the latest recycled coach who like his predecessors prefers veterans over young players. At this point, they’ve tanked Othmann’s value completely. He probably can’t wait to move on. To think that he’s a Chris Drury first round pick.

Of course, Sullivan kept Mika Zibanejad between Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere, who’s the most snake bit player in recent memory. Lafreniere entered the match with eight goals in 40 games. He again couldn’t convert on a pair of great scoring chances. Brandon Bussi kept him off the game sheet with a couple of strong denials.

After scoring a career-high 28 while playing with Panarin and Vincent Trocheck in 2023-24, Lafreniere only has 25 goals over his last 123 regular season games. It’s mind-numbing how bad he is at finishing when he’s had the benefit of playing mostly with Panarin. Not too long ago, he scored eight goals in the Rangers’ run to the Conference Finals. Along with Trocheck, he was one of their best forwards against the Panthers. Ever since, things have fallen apart.

Over a year since signing the contract extension with a $7.45 million cap hit, it might be time to move on for both sides. His no-trade clause doesn’t kick in until July 2027. Would the Rangers consider swapping Lafreniere for Quenton Byfield ($6.25 million AAV), who’s been equally disappointing since re-signing with the Kings? It’s hard to believe that they were once the first and second picks in the 2020 NHL Draft. At the halfway mark, Lafreniere has a disappointing 20 points and minus-8 rating. Byfield came in Monday night with 21 points and a +1 rating in 36 games.

At this point, it’s just something to ponder. Lafreniere’s failure hasn’t helped an offensively challenged team succeed. He isn’t alone in that department. Although he’s played much better than last season, Zibanejad still doesn’t produce consistently at even strength. Of his 29 points, 16 have come at even strength. However, he’s scored only four goals with seven coming on the power play and one shorthanded. Lafreniere entered with 18 even strength points, which remarkably ranks second behind Panarin, who added an assist to his team-leading 30 even strength points.

Trocheck has continued to play with rookie Gabe Perreault and Will Cuylle, who sometimes moves down to the third line to work with Noah Laba. The issue for Sullivan is that the combinations aren’t working. Trocheck doesn’t have chemistry with Perreault, who should be tried with Zibanejad. Sullivan has kept force feeding Lafreniere and Panarin with Zibanejad. But how good have they really been since being put together? They work better with Trocheck, who’s able to create space for both and drive to the net. My suggestion would be flipping the centers when the Rangers visit the struggling Capitals on New Year’s Eve.

Despite Vladislav Gavrikov scoring his career best seventh goal of the season on the power play that was set up by Panarin and Trocheck, the Rangers didn’t play well. The Hurricanes took over most of the play in the first period. That eventually led to Sebastian Aho evening the score on a five-on-three. With Jonny Brodzinski already off for tripping, Braden Schneider took an undisciplined delay of game to hand the Canes a two-man advantage that even their anemic power play converted on.

Schneider is yet another first round flop. Once dubbed “Baby Trouba” by teammates, he’s never blossomed into the defenseman the organization thought he could become. Instead, he’s too mistake prone due to butchering passes, and has been on for way too may goals against since being elevated to the top pair with Gavrikov. Schneider is a restricted free agent following the season. Whether or not he’s a Ranger remains to be seen. Although flawed, Schneider plays hard and is a good penalty killer. A right defenseman who’s capable of playing a more defined role, he could draw interest before the Mar. 6 trade deadline.

If there was one story coming out of Raleigh, it was the Rangers’ inability to bury their chances. That included a couple of 2-on-1’s with Bussi making a big stop on Laba, who came in with speed, but couldn’t finish.

The 27-year-old Bussi has become a folkhero for Carolina. Before this year, he’d never played in the NHL. The former Western Michigan University product spent parts of three seasons in the American Hockey League playing for the Providence Bruins. On Oct. 5, the Hurricanes picked him up off waivers from the Panthers. Little did they know that he’d become their number one goalie due to injuries to Kochetkov and Frederik Andersen. Bussi finished with 17 saves in improving to an astonishing 13-1-1 in 15 games.

With the game still tied in the second period, some hard work from the fourth line led to Brodzinski getting his fourth at exactly 13:00. On a good zone entry from Brodzinski, Matt Rempe passed the puck up top for a Matthew Robertson shot that was double deflected. Sam Carrick tipped the puck over to Brodzinski, who made it 2-1. It was a great play by all four players.

In the third period, the Hurricanes pressed for the equalizer. They finally got it when Jordan Martinook had a Jalen Chatfield shot bank in off his skate past Igor Shesterkin with 10:49 remaining. A Schneider turner allowed Miller to keep the puck in and set up the tying goal.

Despite some great stops in regulation, Shesterkin had no chance on the goal. It was another tough night for him. He made 31 saves and predictably came out on the losing side. He must want to pull his hair out the way the team plays in front of him.

Neither side showed any interest in attempting to get it done in regulation. It’s become a bad trend in the NHL with teams continuing to play for the free point. But sure. The game’s never been better. What a joke.

The three on three was no better. It consisted of the same resets and over skating that’s become all too common. It wasn’t until Robertson was forced to take down Taylor Hall that the Hurricanes got the only opportunity they needed to win the game. What Robertson was doing out in that situation I’ll never know.

For the most part, the three-man penalty killing unit of Trocheck, Gavrikov, and Schneider was getting it done. Carolina kept trying to make the perfect play over to Andrei Svechnikov. Eventually, the Rangers took a timeout to put that same trio out. For the longest time, it looked like the game was headed to a shootout. Instead, Nik Ehlers fed Aho, who was able to fire a shot pass for Blake to redirect home for the winner.

At least it saved us the aggravation of seeing another shootout. There’s not much else to say about this team. They’re not any good. When Panarin is going, he can carry them to victories. Fox sounds like he’s targeting Jan. 2 versus the Panthers in the Winter Classic. If he can return, maybe they can send down Morrow, who doesn’t look like an NHL player. He makes too many poor reads and struggles when there’s any sign of trouble. Already 23, I can see why Carolina parted with him.

At least they got a first and second back. Does anyone actually trust the scouts to hit on a late first round pick? Exactly.

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Islanders Prove to Rangers Why They’re Emerging

Posted on December 28, 2025 by Derek

If you had any excitement for last night’s latest installment of the Battle of New York, the Islanders only needed 58 seconds to shut that down. Anders Lee put in a rebound of a Mat Barzal shot to give the Islanders the lead for good in another frustrating shutout loss for the Rangers. This time, it came on the road with the Islanders getting 27 saves from backup David Rittich in a 2-0 win at Belmont Park.

Following their win over the Caps before Christmas, it was a huge letdown for the Rangers, who can’t seem to manufacture offense consistently. They went from putting up five in a third period comeback win to getting blanked for the eighth time this season. They haven’t even reached the halfway point, but they’re on pace to break the NHL record for most times shut out in a season. If they reach 16, they’ll accomplish it. At least they’re making history in their 100th Anniversary season. They already have been shut out a record six times at home.

It feels like a comedy watching this team. They can go from one extreme to the other rather quickly. How else would you explain beating the Flyers, losing to the Predators followed by beating the Caps, and then being blanked by the Islanders over eight days? Exactly. Maybe an exorcist is needed.

While the Rangers continue to mystify our fans by relying on the same players, the Islanders continue to be the best story among the area locals.

Ever since they selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the number one pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, things have changed dramatically for the franchise. The teenage sensation didn’t record a goal or assist in the game. However, he was very effective throughout in logging a game-high 27:03 of ice time. The 18-year-old registered two shots on goal and had another seven attempts while playing well defensively for the Islanders.

Even with him being forced to play in his zone more by the Rangers, Schaefer handled the workload with ease. To be that young and have that much poise. It didn’t matter if the Rangers had the edge territorially. They didn’t generate any high danger chances during Schaefer’s shifts. It was the Islanders who got the only two high danger chances with their lottery prize on the ice.

One of the things that haunted the Rangers was a slow start. Before they looked up, Carson Soucy’s turnover led directly to Lee potting his 10th in the game’s first minute. There was no coverage due to the miscue from Soucy behind his own net, which gave Igor Shesterkin no chance after he made the initial stop on Barzal before Lee put in the rebound.

The Islanders were the faster team by controlling most of the first period. Barzal drew a penalty on Vladislav Gavrikov less than four minutes in with his team already up. If there was an area that let down the Islanders, it was the power play, which went 0-for-5 against a strong Rangers penalty killing unit.

By taking the collar in five opportunities, the Islanders fell to 27th in the league. Despite having Schaefer, who entered yesterday tied for the team lead with Bo Horvat in power-play goals, they only click at 15.7 percent.

While the Islanders continued to pile up shots on Shesterkin, who was very good in finishing with 24 saves, it took the Rangers nearly 12 minutes to finally get a shot on Rittich. Following a couple of Will Cuylle tried in close, they finally settled in and had seven of the last 10 shots.

Rookie Brennan Othmann probably had the best chance, but his attempt missed wide. It’s been very challenging for the 2021 first round pick to score. He’s still without a goal in 31 NHL games. Despite receiving less than six minutes while playing on the fourth line, Othmann was more noticeable during his shifts. Unfortunately, Saturday’s game was dictated by special teams. So, he hardly touched the ice in a penalty filled third period.

Early in the second period, some hard work from Othmann helped his line create some chances against the Islanders. However, Rittich shut down Matt Rempe and Sam Carrick. The 33-year-old veteran has continued to play well for Patrick Roy. Prior to the holiday break, he made 31 saves in a win over the Devils and was named the game’s first star. He’s only allowed three goals over his last three starts entering Sunday’s game at the Blue Jackets. Without Ilya Sorokin, who could be activated off injured reserve on Tuesday, Rittich has made the big stops for the Islanders.

Of course, the Rangers had to kill off a couple of penalties during the second. When Artemi Panarin finally drew a penalty on Max Shabanov to give them a power play, they thought Cuylle had tied it. But a video review showed that his shot hit both the crossbar and goalpost to stay out.

That’s how it seems to go for them with the man-advantage. It’s either Cuylle or Mika Zibanejad who score on the mind-numbing top unit that really misses Adam Fox. Encouraging is that Fox is getting very close to a return. If he isn’t activated for tomorrow’s game at Carolina, he’ll likely be ready for the Jan. 2 Winter Classic against the Panthers.

On another power play with Adam Pelech off for tripping, Cuylle came close again, but he had his shot hit another crossbar. It was the only attempt the Rangers got in a waste of two minutes. By the time Alexis Lafreniere got a tough long shot on Rittich that he handled, the power play had expired. Sullivan stuck with his first unit that included rookie defenseman Scott Morrow as the quarterback.

Rittich’s best save came when he denied Artemi Panarin on a breakaway in the first minute of the third period. He followed that up with a stop on Lafreniere, who again was more effective throughout. If only he didn’t have Soucy fumbling a pass at the blue line on one strong shift.

There in lies the problem with the Rangers’ defense. Without Fox, they’re anemic. Even Morrow isn’t producing. But he’s in his first full year after coming over from the Hurricanes for K’Andre Miller, who’s again out injured with another game versus his former team on Monday.

A dubious call on Noah Laba (tripping) led to some four-on-four action due to Tony DeAngelo (interference) also receiving a minor penalty. During it, Scott Mayfield had Shesterkin beat on the near side, but his shot ring off the goalpost. Shesterkin then made big stops on Schaefer and Horvat to keep the Rangers within range.

Fittingly, it was Soucy who got the best chance when he got behind the Islanders’ defense for a breakaway. After having his backhand attempt go wide due to rookie Cal Ritchie getting him from behind, the refs awarded Soucy a penalty shot. Not known for his offense, he asked Jonathan Quick for advice. It didn’t make a difference. Soucy’s wrist shot was shrugged aside by Rittich with 10:42 left.

With Vincent Trocheck in the box for holding, Horvat was all set up in the slot, but he had his shot ring off the crossbar. The Rangers were able to kill off the penalty to remain alive.

In what amounted to another tease which has become their trademark, they failed miserably on a late power play with Ritchie off for taking down Vladislav Gavrikov. Both Panarin and Morrow had their attempts go whistle wide. That summed it up. There was a lot of deferring to Panarin, who couldn’t seem to shoot straight.

Following the power failure, Shesterkin had to contend with Horvat, denying him twice to give his team one final chance. He really should sue for run support. The Rangers are the gang that can’t shoot straight. If it was a soccer net, they’d probably still fire it either into the crest, off the crossbar, or miss completely.

Even with Horvat taking an unnecessary offensive zone penalty by tripping Laba with 3:01 remaining, it only led to the inevitable. A couple of long Panarin shots that actually forced Rittich to make saves. With time winding down, a Morrow giveaway allowed Simon Holmstrom to score into the open net to salt it away.

In two games versus the Islanders, the Rangers have been outscored 7-0. At least this one was competitive. Right now, it’s their bitter rivals that are sitting three points behind the Hurricanes out of first place in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve figured out how to win the close games under Roy, who’s done a great job with a team that wasn’t expected to challenge for the playoffs.

The Islanders are moving in the right direction. The Rangers look like they’re stuck in neutral. Maybe getting Fox back can help change the narrative. It’s still a flawed roster that’s way too reliant on Panarin and Zibanejad. Especially without J.T. Miller. It’s getting late early.

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Rangers and Islanders Renew Rivalry After The Holidays

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Derek

The holidays came and went pretty fast. With both Chanukah and Christmas gone, the NHL returns later today. Saturday’s slate will feature 13 games with 26 of 32 teams back in action. Several of the matchups include big rivalries.

The Leafs host the Senators in the Battle of Ontario. The red hot Sabres look to make it a season-high eight in a row when they face off against the Bruins. In a grudge match, the Lightning and Panthers renew acquaintances in the Battle of Florida in Sunrise. Figure that one to have the usual nastiness.

Out West, the Ducks and Kings will face off in Hollywood. In one of the best rivalries, it’ll be the sizzling Connor McDavid-led Oilers against the Flames in the Battle of Alberta. If you’re looking for a potential Western Conference Final preview, the Avalanche and Golden Knights face off in Vegas.

Of all the unique rivalries, it doesn’t get much better than the Rangers and Islanders. For over five decades, Manhattan and Long Island have battled it out. It’s like the Hatfields and the McCoys. Although the teams don’t throw em as much these days, they still hate each other. Especially in the stands. There’s no love lost between them. You either support the Rangers or the Islanders. It can never be both. The big city meets the suburbs.

For the second time this season, they’ll meet at UBS Arena at Belmont Park with a special start time of 6 PM. The Islanders dominated the first meeting by shutting out the Rangers 5-0 on Nov. 8 at Madison Square Garden. Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves to pick up the shutout. Bo Horvat scored twice and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and two assists.

It was the fifth time that the Rangers were shut out at MSG, speaking to how bad they are at home. It’s been that way the entire first half with their home record 5-10-3. However, they play much better hockey away from The Garden. The NHL’s road warriors bring a 14-6-1 mark into tonight.

In their last game before Christmas, they mounted a third period rally by scoring five unanswered goals to blow past the Capitals on Dec. 23. Taylor Raddysh and Vincent Trocheck each had a pair of goals and an assist to highlight the victory. Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 of 32 shots. Alexis Lafreniere recorded his 100th career goal along with a helper. Will Cuylle also had a power-play goal and two assists.

It’s the tale of two different Rangers’ teams. When they take on the Islanders, who will play a third consecutive game without Sorokin, who was placed on injured reserve, they’ll face backup David Rittich. A dependable goalie, who’s done well in his first season on Long Island, the 33-year-old veteran brings an 8-3-2 record into play with a 2.42 goals-against-average and .913 save percentage. In Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Devils, Rittich made 31 saves on 32 shots, including some clutch ones in the deciding third when Adam Pelech notched the game-winner with 1:15 left.

The Islanders will have Horvat fresh off IR for the game. He’s their leading scorer with 19 goals and 31 points. He also is tied with impressive 18-year-old rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer in power-play goals (5) to pace them.

The 2025 number one overall pick has been spectacular, with his 24 points (9-15-24) ranked third among NHL freshmen. Schaefer averages 23:40 of ice time per night. He’s been everything as advertised. One of the game’s best skaters, he can shift from defense to offense in lightning speed. Possessing a great shot, Schaefer must be contained.

Coming off the win over Washington, the Rangers will go with the same lineup. There hasn’t been any update on Adam Fox’s status. He is eligible to be activated off long-term injured reserve. However, with the injury likely being a separated shoulder he suffered on a Brandon Hagel hit on Nov. 29 against the Lightning, he probably won’t be back until the first week of January. Whether or not that means he’ll be available for the Winter Classic against the Panthers on Jan. 2 remains to be seen.

Without Fox, the Rangers have managed to go 6-4-2 to stay within range in the playoff race. They’ve needed to go extras in four of those wins. In fact, they’ve gone past regulation in half of the dozen games since Fox’s injury. The only two blemishes came in overtime defeats to the Avalanche and Golden Knights. It’s a credit to the roster for being able to stick together through adversity.

If they can come out with a win, they’d continue their road mastery. The Rangers are in the middle of a six-game road trip. They’ll visit the Hurricanes next on Monday before again facing the Caps in a matinee on New Year’s Eve. It concludes with the Winter Classic against the two-time defending champion Panthers in the new calendar year.

For a second straight game, Mike Sullivan has Jonny Brodzinski playing up with Trocheck and Gabe Perreault. Cuylle and Raddysh will play on the third line with Noah Laba. Brennan Othmann stays in the lineup for the third consecutive game. He’ll remain with Sam Carrick and Matt Rempe on the fourth line. Othmann still must prove that he’s capable defensively. It was his blown assignment that led to the Caps’ third goal scored by Aliaksei Protas in the second period.

It looks like it’ll be a mixed bag on the power play. Hopefully, they won’t get burned on special teams. If you haven’t seen Mollie Walker’s fun interview with several Rangers on their trip to Miami, it’s worth watching.

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World Juniors Day

Posted on December 26, 2025 by Derek

It’s the best time of year. With the holidays finally here, it’s World Juniors Day. Following Christmas, the World Junior Championships arrive on Boxing Day. This year, the prestigious tournament takes place in the great hockey state of Minnesota.

The 2026 WJC features 10 countries participating in two groups. Entering play, Team USA are the two-time defending champions. Featuring returning stars such as Cole Hutson, James Hagens, Cole Eiserman, Brodie Ziemer, and gold medal hero Teddy Stiga, they’ll be coached by 2017 gold medal winner Bob Motzko.

Gone are key contributors Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore, Danny Nelson, Gabe Perreault, and Brandon Svoboda. Trey Augustine was the winning goalie the past two years. The Red Wings prospect is continuing to develop nicely playing for Michigan State. He’ll one day tend the starter’s net for Detroit.

Without Augustine, USA will turn to Nick Kempf. In an interesting development, Kempf won’t play in the first game against Germany tonight. Instead, it’ll be Caleb Heil getting the start. 2026 draft eligible prospect Brady Knowling will be the backup.

USA is in Group A which features Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. Sweden is expected to seriously challenge the Americans for the top spot in the group. Led by Anton Frondell, Sweden has a strong roster that includes Victor Eklund, Jack Berglund, Lucas Pettersson, and top prospect Ivar Stenberg.

In the first game of the day, Sweden jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Slovakia on power-play goals from Frondell (game-high nine shots) and Eklund.

Despite some dominant play from Frondell, who was the game’s best player, Slovakia rallied thanks to a goal from Tomas Pobezal on a 5-on-3 with less than five seconds left in the second period. They drew even in the third period on a goal from Tomas Tibiak that was set up Tobias Pitka.

With the game still tied, Stenberg broke in and beat Alan Lendbak by tucking a backhand in with less than four minutes remaining. Eddie Genborg made a good pass that led Stenberg in for his first of the tournament. An explosive player, the 18-year-old Stenberg leads Frolunda HC in scoring with 24 points (6-18-24). He’s expected to challenge Canadian prospect Gavin McKenna for the top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Sweden will play USA on New Year’s Eve. In Group B, Canada should get some competition from Finland and pesky Czechia. At last check, Finland was in control with a 6-2 lead over Denmark. Roope Vesterinen has a pair of goals and Aatos Koivu has a goal for Finland.

Canada will face Czechia in the night’s late game. They’re loaded with talent that includes McKenna, Michael Misa, Tij Iginla, Brady Martin, Porter Martone, and Zayne Parekh. Carter George is the starter. Adam Jiricek and Petr Sikora are two headliners for Czechia. Adam Novotny and Adam Benak are key players as well.

Group B also includes Latvia. It probably isn’t as deep as Group A. On paper, Canada looks like the heavy favorite. We’ll see if they can deliver on US soil.

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