Battle Of Hudson covers the Rangers and Devils, who's intense rivalry heated up in the 90's. With fresh faces added, they battle for supremacy in NYC and NJ..
The New Jersey Devils provided an update on Jack Hughes. They announced that Hughes underwent successful surgery on his finger.
He’s expected to miss eight weeks due to the procedure. Hughes suffered the injury when he accidentally cut his finger at a team dinner in Chicago on Thursday night. He will be re-evaluated after six weeks to see how it’s healing.
The New Jersey Devils have provided the following medical update:
“New Jersey Devils C Jack Hughes underwent successful surgery on his finger. The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Hotchkiss at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. The expected return to play… pic.twitter.com/wVkPNZwe0Y
On Wednesday, Hughes assisted on a pair of goals in a Devils come from behind 4-3 win over the Blackhawks in overtime. He helped set up Simon Nemec’s tying goal with under four minutes remaining in the third period.
The 24-year-old center leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points over 17 games. Hughes will once again miss significant time due to an injury for a third straight season. He missed 20 games in each of the past two years..
Unlike past injuries, this one happened off the ice. It’s hard to believe he could be so careless. However, it isn’t the first time a star player got seriously hurt away from the rink.
In March 1993, New York Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch broke his ankle after a late night out spent with teammates. Many stories followed about what happened. The truth was that Leetch was drunk and fell to end his season. It was a disappointing year for the Rangers, who missed the postseason in 1992-93 one year removed from winning the Presidents’ Trophy.
At least Hughes’ bizarre injury came in the middle of November. That means he should be back before the Olynpics. If you’re the Devils, do you even want him participating for Team USA? We know the short answer from most Devil fans.
Now, the Devils will have to survive without their best offensive player. They still have Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt to help lead a team that enters Saturday, leading the Metropolitan Division with a 12-4-1 record. Ironically enough, that was the identical record the Rangers had a year ago when Chris Drury sent out his ill-fated league memo.
Unlike their bitter rival across the Hudson, the Devils don’t seem to have any outside distractions. However, they are piling up man games lost due to injuries. Hughes joins a crowded list on the injured reserve that includes Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton, Jonathan Kovacevic, Connor Brown, Evgenii Dadonov, Zack MacEwen, and Marc Mclaughlin.
If they can continue to get strong performances from Dawson Mercer, Arseny Gritsyuk, Timo Meier, Brenden Dillon, and Simon Nemec, they should be alright. They’ll also need Luke Hughes to be better along with Jacob Markstrom.
The Devils will take on the Washington Capitals later tonight in DC.
In shocking news, the Devils announced this afternoon that star center Jack Hughes is out due to a hand injury sustained at a team dinner Thursday night.
#NEWS: Jack Hughes is out with a non-hockey, hand injury. He is being evaluated and we will provide an update as available. pic.twitter.com/4bfOT3tDtH
The injury occurred when Hughes accidentally cut his hand. According to Elliotte Friedman, it sounds like Hughes slipped, which led to the freak accident.
Hughes will not play on Saturday against the Capitals. No timeline has been given yet. Hughes will be evaluated to determine the extent of the hand injury.
It’s as bizarre as it sounds. Supposedly, it was at superfan Frank Fleming’s birthday party. Better known as Frank The Tank, he’s a diehard Mets and Devils fan who is well known on social media for his epic rants.
UPDATE: According to Devils reporter Kristy Flannery, the Hughes hand injury wasn’t due to using a steak knife, as had been assumed. Instead, he leaned on a glass, and it broke to cause the cut.
What a bizarre story.
Everyone stated that it was a freak accident that caused #NJDevils Jack Hughes’ hand injury. I’m being told he accidentally leaned on a glass, and it broke, causing the cut that Elliotte Friedman referenced in his report.
For the Devils’ sake, hopefully it’s not too serious. Hughes is off to a great start, leading the team in scoring with 20 points (10-10-20) in 17 games. He has the Devils in first place with a 12-4-1 record for a conference best 25 points. They’ve been one of the league’s best teams.
Losing Hughes for any amount of time would be a significant blow. With Connor Brown placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 30, the Devils are very top heavy. After injuries to both Cody Glass and Zack MacEwen (IR) on Wednesday night in Chicago, Sheldon Keefe leaned heavily on his top six to get a 4-3 overtime win over the Blackhawks.
Without Hughes, it really weakens the team at center. I suppose Dawson Mercer could slide over. Nico Hischier will do the heavy lifting with Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier. Perhaps Mercer will anchor Arseny Gritsyuk and Paul Cotter. Ondrej Palat is better suited for a supporting role. At this point, Cotter provides more than a declining Palat.
The team recalled forward Scott LaChance from Utica. He’ll be available for tomorrow night.
The Devils have been without Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce on the blue line. Simon Nemec has stepped up with his hat trick only the third in franchise history from a defenseman.
It’ll be interesting to see what the lineup will be for tomorrow when they visit Washington.
Early this morning, sad news hit the hockey world. Legendary New York Post hockey columnist Larry Brooks passed away at 75. He lost a brief battle with cancer. Brooks’ colleague Mike Vaccaro broke the news with a very touching tribute to what Brooks embodied in all of his years covering the sport he loved.
“He was the best hockey writer of the past 50 years,” said Mark Everson, for many years his fellow hockey writer at the newspaper, forever his friend. “He said he was lucky to get to The Post, but The Post was even luckier to have him.”
“For the last three decades, no one covered a sports beat in this city better than Larry did on the Rangers,” Post Executive Sports Editor Chris Shaw said. “Well before the Hockey Hall of Fame enshrined him, Larry had already earned a place among the legends who have graced the pages of The Best Sports in Town.”
“I like to think that I was a guy who could change the momentum of a game when I came on the ice,” said Sean Avery, the immensely popular left wing who played parts of six seasons for the Rangers. “Brooksie could do that with the swipe of his pen. The guys that really understood playing for the Rangers all had a good relationship with Brooksie because he loves hockey players.”
There have been plenty of tributes that have poured in since Brooks’ passing. Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 after winning the Elmer Ferguson Award for his contributions to the sport, Larry was like one of us. He was a diehard Rangers fan who sat up in the Blue Seats at the Garden in Section 419. I know that fact due to my Dad, who used to see him at games. They were a year apart.
“I feel like I represent the Blue Seaters,” he once said in an interview about how he covered the sport on that special day on Nov. 13, 2018. “I try to represent them every day when I write, and I hope I represented them well today. … I’ve tried to be as straightforward as possible. Every day I go into work, I’ve done my best to be honest, be informative, accurate, and entertaining.”
His no-nonsense style always hit home with fans. Whether you agreed with him or not, he was going to tell it like it is. That’s what made him a quintessential New Yorker. Brooks was the The Post. Whether it was on the beat covering the Devils, Islanders, and Rangers, or in his memorable Slap Shots column that appeared on Sundays, he always provided readers with lots of information and interesting tidbits.
To be honest, I looked forward to reading Slap Shots every Sunday because I knew that it would be hard hitting and entertaining. In some way, my old Hard Hits column was a nod to Brooks. I admired the passion and style he brought to covering the sport.
Throughout my career he was always there, asking questions. I had many conversations with Larry Brooks, almost daily about my game, the Rangers and the game as a whole. I respected his knowledge a ton. Thank you Larry for your commitment to the game, you will be missed. RIP🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/2u9nA5orEu
Little did I know he was also a great baseball writer. He covered the Bronx Zoo Yankees in the 1970s and returned to contributing columns on both the Yankees and Mets during the summertime. He worked alongside Mollie Walker as they took on the US Open. If you haven’t read Walker’s emotional tribute to the man, please do yourself a favor and read what she wrote. It was from the heart about someone who made her a more knowledgeable hockey beat writer by having her read the whole NHL labor agreement.
“No one was as creative in their coverage as he is. Larry had a way with words that always resonated. From giving Henrik Lundqvist his forever nickname “The King” to eviscerating a bad performance, Larry’s words always stuck.
One NHL GM once threatened an agent that he would call off a trade if he read about it in the New York Post the next day.
We cracked up over that one. We laughed all the time. Larry and I talked about anything and everything, but we could go for hours when it came to hockey. Even when we spent every minute of the 10-day 4 Nations Faceoff trip together last season, we were texting the next day like there was so much for us to catch up on.”-Mollie Walker, NY Post, Nov. 13, 2025.
Harping back to what Mollie said about how Larry had a way with words that always resonated. That’s true. He always found a way to get you to chuckle. He was a character who gave us something. He put it all out there. Maybe that’s what I liked most about him.
It’s hard to believe he’s really gone. When it was revealed before the season that he was taking a leave of absence, I had a feeling it was due to a personal matter. How I wish I had been wrong. I was hopeful that we’d get more great columns from Larry. He’d probably have enjoyed where the game is right now. I’m glad the Rangers got him one final home win.
There will be a real void without Brooks for the hockey community. He was old school. There was nothing fake about Larry. He also was a good person. There were a few instances where I sent him messages either on social media or email. I always got a response back. That says a lot about who he was.
Brooks was more than just an award winning Hall of Fame writer. He also worked for the Devils as Vice President of Communications, spending a decade (1982-92) in East Rutherford before returning to the NY Post beat. He built a great relationship with former Devils architect Lou Lamoriello.
“What never changed, from day one, was the personal part of our relationship,” said Lamoriello, who ran the Devils from 1987-2015 and the Islanders from 2018 through last April and who sat at the Brooks family table in Toronto the night Brooks was honored by the Hall of Fame. “One thing you always knew about Larry was that he’d tell it like it is.”-Mike Vaccaro, NY Post, Nov. 13, 2025.
Brooks had some run-ins with former Rangers coach John Tortorella. It dated back to an interview Tortorella did after the Lightning lost to the Devils in Game 5 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The most popular was when Tortorella took him to task for a sarcastic column he wrote about Rangers defenseman Wade Redden. The exchange remains priceless.
Despite having a heated relationship, Tortorella and Brooks reconciled years ago. Tortorella had recently checked in to see how Brooks was doing. Something that meant a lot to him. It’s unfortunate that we’ll never get the chance to see them on some show sharing a laugh about the good old days. Brooksie became Larry’s nickname thanks to Tortorella. He even referenced it in his name on Twitter, which was NYP_Brooksie.
Larry Brooks leaves behind son Jordan, daughter-in-law Joanna, and two grandchildren, Scott and Reese. He will be sorely missed.
Once again, the New Jersey Devils needed a hero late in another exciting game. This time, it came on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Simon Nemec recorded his first career hat trick to lift the Devils to a 4-3 overtime win over the Blackhawks at United Center. Already with a goal in a back and forth game that was shown on TNT, he scored the game-tying goal with 3:46 left in regulation.
On a great rush and pass from Jack Hughes down low to Stefan Noesen, Nemec was the recipient of a Noesen backdoor feed that he chipped home to tie the score.
In overtime, Jacob Markstrom caught the Blackhawks in a line change. His stretch pass for Nemec at the Chicago blue line sent him in against Spencer Knight. The Blackhawks starter had been superb for most of the game, making several great saves to deny multiple bids. This time, it was Nemec who fired home a laser top shelf to beat Knight at 3:28 and complete the three-goal game in style.
SIMON NEMEC WINS IT IN @ENERGIZER OVERTIME WITH HIS THIRD GOAL OF THE GAME!!
By recording the hat trick, Nemec became only the third defenseman in franchise history to score three goals in a game. In fact, the only other Devil to do it was Uli Hiemer on Oct. 31, 1984 versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. The first ever defenseman to get three was Barry Beck, who did it as a member of the Colorado Rockies on Dec. 17, 1977 vs. the Minnesota North Stars.
For his achievement, he got to hear from Wayne Gretzky on the NHL On TNT postgame show. Something he’ll probably remember the rest of his life.
What a game for Simon Nemec…
-OT GWG -Hat Trick -Gets to hear The Great One compliment him on the performance 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0OilKGtJ9Q
Initially, there was some excitement surrounding the game due to Jack Hughes and Connor Bedard. They were the headliners to watch in the second half of TNT’s doubleheader. It didn’t disappoint. Hughes put on a better show than Bedard. Both were factors last night.
In a very fast paced opening period that saw the teams combine for 22 shots (12-10 Blackhawks), the Devils ran into some penalty trouble midway through. After they successfully killed off a Ondrej Palat hooking minor thanks to their aggressiveness, which led to two shorthanded shots getting thwarted by Spencer Knight, consecutive penalties on Luke Hughes (tripping) and Brenden Dillon (boarding) put the Blackhawks on a five-on-three.
Just as the two-man advantage was expiring, the Blackhawks struck when Bedard rifled home a Teuvo Teravainen pass into a vacated net for a power-play goal at 18:35. Due to the quick puck movement from Bedard, who was literally everywhere during the five-on-three, they had Markstrom completely faked out. He was so badly out of position that he was way out of his net. By the time Tyler Bertuzzi moved the puck to Bedard for a fake shot, the Devils goalie was down and out. Instead, he passed it over to Teravainen, who then had an easy setup for Bedard to bury his 10th for a 1-0 lead.
🚨 Connor Bedard is on FIRE. Goals in 4 straight, 10 points in his last 3 games, and a 9-game pt streak (18). Now has 10-16—26 in 17 GP. #Blackhawkspic.twitter.com/FHznD42AHW
Bedard has goals in four straight and extended his point streak to nine (8-11-19). After the first was over, the Devils didn’t take another penalty. Instead, they dominated most of the remainder by outshooting the Blackhawks 27-8, including 14-3 in a lopsided second period.
By the time the period started, they were without forward Cody Glass. He suffered a hand injury with 11 seconds left in the first. A key checking center who already missed time due to one injury, Glass could be out again when the Devils continue their road trip at Washington this weekend. He took seven shifts (4:02 TOI) before exiting the game.
That wasn’t the only player to go down. Zack MacEwen only took three shifts (2:13 TOI) before leaving. The Devils played with 10 forwards for the remainder. It worked out well due to coach Sheldon Keefe being able to lean on his top players. Hughes, Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer, and Arseny Gritsyuk played over 20 minutes.
Prior to the game, Keefe changed his top two lines to help get Hischier going. The Devils captain came in without a point over his last four games. His line hadn’t been getting it done. So, Keefe decided to flip the two wings. Bratt and Meier joined Hischier on one line. Gritsyuk and Mercer played with Hughes. The moves paid off. With Keefe also able to double shift Hughes and Hischier, they tilted the ice.
For a while, they had trouble beating Knight. The Blackhawks starter had already stoned Bratt on a breakaway. He stole at least three goals, including one on Hughes by making a point blank pad save on a breakaway. Hughes drew a penalty on Wyatt Kaiser for hooking. Before they went to the power play, the Devils nearly scored. However, Dennis Cholowski’s shot hit the crossbar.
The Blackhawks did a good job killing off the penalty by limiting the Devils to a single Luke Hughes shot that Knight handled. Hughes had some looks to score during the game, but he still doesn’t have a goal on the season. He’s struggled defensively so far. Perhaps he’s feeling the weight of expectations after signing the new contract.
As the period moved on, the Devils spent significant time in the Chicago end. They kept the puck on a string. Taking advantage of the long change, they peppered Knight, who kept making big stops, including one on Hischier and another on Hughes. It looked like his goaltending was going to keep the Blackhawks in front headed to intermission.
With time winding down in the period, Meier started a quick transition that led to Nemec tying the score at 19:45. After receiving the puck from Meier, an on-rushing Hischier found an open Nemec in the slot. With Bedard hounding him, Nemec had enough room to send a backhand towards the net that beat Knight short side. That tied the score.
At the start of the third period, it was the Blackhawks who responded. On some sustained pressure in the Devils zone, Nick Foligno got the puck up for a Louis Crevier shot pass which an open Landon Swaggert tipped in for his first at 3:05.
Afterward, it was the Devils’ turn to respond. Following a near miss from Jack Hughes on a wrap-around, he set up Mercer for his ninth to tie the score with 9:47 remaining. Following a Knight stop on Gritsyuk, the rookie helped keep the play alive for Hughes, who made a perfect diagonal feed across for Mercer to finish.
But in a helter skelter period, the Blackhawks again came back to retake a one-goal lead. Once again, Crevier and Foligno were involved. Following receiving the puck from Crevier, Foligno saw that Sam Lafferty was standing at the Devils blue line. He wisely banked a pass off the boards that sent Lafferty in. He went around a diving Luke Hughes and then out-waited Markstrom to tuck a backhand in for a 3-2 Chicago lead with 6:26 remaining.
It looked like that would be enough for the Blackhawks to win. However, the Devils had other ideas. Thanks to Jack Hughes’ creativity, they again tied it up for the third time. After flying into the Chicago zone, he had Stefan Noesen at the side of the net. Rather than look to take a low percentage shot from a tough angle, Noesen found a cutting Nemec in front for an easy goal to make it 3-3 with 2:46 left in regulation.
Having been very active all night, Nemec made a smart read to pinch down. With the Blackhawks occupied with Hughes, Nemec was able to get just enough of the puck to chip it into the open side for his second of the game. He wasn’t done.
When it needed extras, that meant an exciting three-on-three between two of the fastest teams in the league. It was the Devils who controlled overtime by getting all four shots, including Nemec’s emotional winner.
Following a big Knight save on Luke Hughes, Hughes made sure to reset the play by passing the puck back to Markstrom. He immediately noticed that all three Blackhawks were going to the bench for a change. That allowed Markstrom enough time to send a stretch pass way up for Nemec, who was lined up on the opposite side. Once he received the pass, he moved in and picked high glove from the left circle to send excited teammates off the bench to congratulate him.
At 21 years old, Nemec became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to have a hat trick and overtime goal in the same game. He’s the first since Jakob Chychrun did it on Apr. 4, 2021.
Most noteworthy is that he’s the only third defenseman in Devils franchise history to record a three-goal game. It’s hard to believe it took 41 years for Nemec to join Beck and Hiemer. The Devils have had some great defensemen, including Hall of Fame legends Scott Niedermayer and Scott Stevens. Niedermayer was the better offensive defenseman. Despite winning the Norris, a Conn Smythe, and four Stanley Cups, he never had a hat trick in his career.
It speaks to how difficult it is for a defenseman to do it. Cale Makar has one hat trick in his career. If anyone can get another, it’s probably him. Nemec might have something to say about it.
It wasn’t a Picasso. Fortunately for the New York Rangers, it didn’t have to be in what amounted to a 7-3 runaway over the depleted Tampa Bay Lightning.
Buoyed by a season-high four assists from a revived Artemi Panarin, the Rangers pulled away from the Lightning to roll to their league best eighth road win in 10 games (8-1-1). They’ve now won six of their last eight to move up to fourth place in a crowded Metropolitan Division.
For a second time in three nights, Vincent Trocheck was instrumental in the team’s success. With the Rangers nursing a 4-3 lead under duress in a poorly played second period, Trocheck scored a big goal with 2:41 remaining.
After the teams combined for seven goals in a wild and wacky first period, which lacked any goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Rangers were mostly on the defensive in the second.
The Lightning kept pinning them in, with the top line of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Jake Guentzel having their way. Kucherov had a couple of close calls. On one scoring chance, he skated past three Rangers and forced Shesterkin into a tough pad save to keep the Rangers ahead.
On a power play that Point drew on Shesterkin for tripping, the Lightning had it set up. However, Darren Raddysh was unable to hit the net on a Guentzel setup. Had the dangerous one-timer been accurate, it probably ties the game. Fortunately for Shesterkin, he missed.
At one point, shots were 11-2 Bolts in the period. But in the later stages, the Rangers finally started moving their feet. A strong shift from the Noah Laba line created some momentum. During it, rookie Gabe Perreault was out with Laba and Conor Sheary. He was switched with Will Cuylle, who scored on the power play back in a four-goal first period.
Cuylle has goals in two straight. He finished the game with Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller, who finally got a break when a Zibanejad banked off the skate of Erik Cernak and Miller for a goal. He badly needed it. It was his first goal in six games and ended a four-game pointless streak.
On a quick outlet from Vladislav Gavrikov up for Panarin, he made a lead pass for Trocheck at the opposite side of the Tampa Bay blue line. With Trocheck moving in on a two-on-one, Vasilevskiy lost his balance and fell to the ice. That left Trocheck a wide open net to shoot at for his first of the season with 2:41 left. That goal gave the Rangers the breathing room they needed to carry into the third period.
With the Lightning playing the game minus captain Victor Hedman, Anthony Cirelli, and Ryan McDonagh (IR), they ran out of gas. By the start of the third, Lightning coach Jon Cooper replaced Vasilevskiy with backup Jonas Johansson. He made one really good save early to keep it at 5-3.
However, Johansson had no chance on another Rangers’ odd man rush that involved Panarin and Trocheck. With the Lightning defense backing in, Panarin moved the puck to a pinching Urho Vaakanainen. Not the most offensively gifted player, the defenseman made a nice pass across for a cruising Trocheck, who finished off his second with ease to salt the game away.
There was a little bit of animosity when Lightning goal scorer Scott Sabourin crashed Shesterkin’s net and gave him a whack in search of a rebound. An incensed Shesterkin immediately gave it right back to Sabourin, who then got into it with Gavrikov. Both received minor penalties during the scrum.
Scott Sabourin took a whack at Igor Shesterkin and the Rangers took exception 😮 pic.twitter.com/bz6eLqtDsG
Following Cuylle’s empty netter, Sabourin wanted to go at someone when the buzzer sounded. But things calmed down.
The game started crazy. A Yanni Gourde offensive zone cross-checking minor put the Rangers on an early power play. They caught a break when Adam Fox had his shot take a funny carom off the back boards, allowing Cuylle to bury the rebound opportunity for a 1-0 lead.
Over a couple of minutes later, Miller had Zibanejad’s centering feed deflect off Cernak and him to make it a two-goal lead at 3:31.
That forced Cooper to take a timeout to lay into his bench. They responded by getting the next goal from Sabourin. Taking advantage of a bad pinch in by Fox, Jack Finley, and Curt Douglas trapped both Fox and Zibanejad inside the blue line. That allowed Sabourin to come in and pick high glove on Shesterkin from the left circle. It wasn’t a good goal to give up. He wasn’t screened on the play.
It was defense optional on the next goal. Carson Soucy, who earlier in the game had a huge hit on Brandon Hagel that ended his night early, moved the puck to Panarin. He then found Lafreniere open for a wrist shot that beat Vasilevskiy to make it 3-1. Lafreniere has goals in two straight and six points over the last four games.
Alexis Lafreniere has 10 points in his last 10 GP. Heating up.
But the Lightning responded again to cut the deficit to one. This time, Shesterkin gave up a bad rebound on a Gourde shot that was put back in by Zemgus Girgensons with 6:01 left.
However, the chaos continued. On another Lightning defensive miscue, Will Borgen got a nice reward when he had his shot deflect in off a Lightning player for his first. The goal was unassisted.
But with Gourde in the box for slashing, the Rangers hurt themselves. On a bad read by Fox, he forced a pass into the middle while under pressure at the point. The Lightning quickly turned that into a shorthanded goal. J.J. Moser’s pass sent Guentzel away. He then came in from the left side and deked Shesterkin to tuck a backhand in to make it 4-3.
From there, the Rangers were able to rebound. Shesterkin settled down to finish with 33 saves on 36 shots. He improved to 8-3-1 versus the Lightning. Vasilevskiy (5 GA on 13 shots) fell to 7-9-2 against the Rangers.
When they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight in a featured matchup that’ll be shown on the NHL On TNT as part of a doubleheader, which will also include the New Jersey Devils getting their first look at the new and improved Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks, the New York Rangers will look to stay hot on a two-game road trip which concludes on Saturday at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Despite getting shut out twice in home defeats to the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders, the Rangers have won five of their last seven games. That included a satisfying 6-3 blowout victory over the Nashville Predators on Monday for their first win at Madison Square Garden. It was the eighth time that they’ve scored at least three goals. When they have, their record is 7-0-1, with seven of the eight wins coming on the road.
For the Blueshirts, they’re finally healthy thanks to Vincent Trocheck returning and posting two assists on Nov. 10. The key center was back between familiar line mates Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. Facing a struggling opponent that looked completely lost, the cohesive trio combined for seven points in the victory. Lafreniere had his best game of the season by scoring his third goal and adding two assists for a three-point effort that resulted in him being named the game’s first star. Panarin looked more like himself scoring twice for his first two-goal game in 2025-26.
Rookie Gabe Perreault recorded his first career point when he picked up the primary helper on a Lafreniere power-play goal. The 2023 first round pick had a good game while fitting in nicely with Mika Zibanejad (breakaway goal) and J.T. Miller. If they can get Miller going, that would go a long way to the team having success. Miller enters Wednesday night without a point in four with his last goal coming in an overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 30.
The Rangers captain has only three goals and five assists in 17 games. Although the offensive struggles haven’t affected him on faceoffs (59.0 pct.), he simply isn’t doing enough to justify his contract. When he was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks, Miller was brought in to solidify the team at center. In 32 games, he tallied 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points last season. That’s the kind of production they need from him. A no-nonsense player who doesn’t make excuses following losses, he has to start playing better. There have been too many shifts where he hasn’t been noticeable. Hopefully, both Zibanejad and Perreault can provide a spark for Miller.
When they face the Lightning, the Rangers should have an edge due to being at full strength. Despite winning seven of eight, Tampa Bay comes in with several players banged up. Former Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh was placed on the injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. He’s still a steady player on the back end for the Bolts.
Both Victor Hedman and Anthony Cirelli are questionable for tonight. Hedman hasn’t missed a game, but he’s considered day-to-day. Cirelli didn’t play on Nov. 8 against the Washington Capitals. He’s dealing with an upper-body injury. For the Lightning, they had the last three days off. The rest should help both Hedman and Cirelli. Expect them to be game-time decisions.
Nick Paul (UBI) hasn’t played yet this season. A key cog down the middle, Paul has gone over 20 goals and 40 points the past two years. He is doubtful for Wednesday night.
Max Crozier has missed the last two games due to an injury. His status is uncertain. Dominic James is out after being placed on the IR yesterday. Pontus Holmberg is questionable.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper indicated that he has no idea what to expect for the lineup due to players’ availability. The Bolts have recalled Boris Katchouk and Scott Sabourin from the Syracuse Crunch.
Despite all the uncertainty, the Lightning are still led by Nikita Kucherov. After getting out of the gate slowly, he has four points (3-1-4) over the previous three games. Jake Guentzel leads the team in scoring with 15 points (6-9-15). He remains very effective in front of the net. Guentzel enters the game with five points (2-3-5) in four.
Brandon Hagel (7-7-14) continues to produce for the Lightning. He leads them with six even strength goals. Brayden Point is off to a bad start with only three goals and six helpers for nine points. He’s usually someone who does damage. In 22 career games versus the Rangers, Point is 12-14-26.
Oliver Bjorkstrand enters with just a single goal and four assists. A streaky scorer, he has a dangerous shot. Yanni Gourde has three goals and a helper so far.
If Hedman can go, it would be a big boost. He leads the Lightning with 12 assists.
The Rangers will start Igor Shesterkin. In 11 regular season meetings, Shesterkin brings a 7-3-1 record with a 2.26 goals-against-averge, .924 save percentage, and two shutouts versus the Lightning.
He’ll be opposed by Andrei Vasilevskiy. In 17 games, Vasilevskiy is 7-8-2 with a 2.75 GAA and .915 save percentage against the Blueshirts. It’s an all-Russian matchup that features two of the game’s best goalies.
The Rangers will have one tweak to their lines. Conor Sheary moves up to the third line to play with Noah Laba and Will Cuylle. That means Taylor Raddysh (5 goals) slides down with Sam Carrick and Adam Edstrom. Sheary will also replace Raddysh on the second power play unit. Why? For reasons only known to head coach Mike Sullivan. Raddysh is a better offensive player than Sheary. I don’t get the logic. Maybe we’re not supposed to.
For seven games, the New York Rangers couldn’t score enough to win on home ice. They entered tonight with just six goals and had been shut out five times at Madison Square Garden. All of that changed on Monday in a 6-3 win over the Nashville Predators.
Entering tonight, the Rangers had 6 goals in 7 games at home.
A key part of the six goal explosion was Vincent Trocheck, whose return helped ignite the Rangers to their first home win in eight games. The key to Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere, he unlocked both while helping provide the balance they’ve lacked this season.
Not coincidentally, the big line combined for seven points in the win. Lafreniere led the way with a goal, and two assists for a three-point night. He was all over the ice and resembled the player he’d been two years ago. Hopefully, that’s a good sign.
Panarin had his first two-goal game of the season. He was much more involved in the offense. Trocheck picked up two assists and looked sharp in his return after missing 14 games. There were no restrictions with Trocheck logging 17:26 of ice time, which included playing on the power play and penalty kill.
Facing a struggling opponent that came in losers of four straight, the Rangers jumped on the Predators quickly by scoring first. That was important for a team that was fighting it at MSG.
On just a simple play, Mika Zibanejad made a back pass to Adam Fox inside his zone. Fox then moved the puck back up for Zibanejad, who had all kinds of space due to a bad line change. Taking full advantage, he took off and broke in on Juuse Saros, beating him with a nice forehand deke and finish to make it 1-0 at 10:39. The goal tied Zibanejad for the team lead with Taylor Raddysh. They had company by the conclusion.
A dubious call on Braden Schneider for tripping Filip Forsberg allowed the Predators to draw even on a power play. Matthew Wood was able to chip in a rebound of a Michael Bunting shot past Igor Shesterkin at 16:16. Wood was the lone bright spot for Nashville, recording his first career hat trick.
People need to start paying more attention to Matthew Wood. 😳
After his hat trick tonight at MSG, the 20-year-old rookie now has six goals and 10 points in 11 games. pic.twitter.com/mJQHDQrBso
Less than two minutes later, the Rangers retook the lead for good thanks to some excellent work from all five players. On some good passing started by Alexis Lafreniere, he and Artemi Panarin got the puck up to Fox, who then fed an open Vladislav Gavrikov for a shot that beat Saros for his second at 18:07. Lafreniere set a screen in front to distract Saros.
Early in the second period, Forsberg hooked J.T. Miller to put the Rangers on their first power play. Rather than start the number one unit, Mike Sullivan opted for his newly constructed second unit. The move paid off.
On a nice play in transition started by Trocheck up for Gabe Perreault, he made a good lead pass that sent Lafreniere in on Saros. He went to a backhand deke, slipping the puck in for the power-play goal.
More importantly, the primary assist was the first career NHL point for Perreault. Playing in his first game this season, he didn’t look out of place. In fact, the 2023 first round pick looked right at home, working with Miller and Zibanejad at even strength. He nearly had his first career goal, but his rebound went off the goalpost with Saros down and out. Perreault finished a plus-1 with a helper in 14:08.
There weren’t many shots in the second period. But the Rangers made them count. They scored on three of four to break open the game.
Panarin increased the lead to 4-1 when his long shot went through Saros at 7:51. Urho Vaakanainen moved the puck for Lafreniere, who sent a pass across for a Panarin drive that snuck past Saros for his first of the game.
With time winding down in the period, Will Cuylle added insult to injury to the Predators when he took a Noah Laba feed and made it 5-1 with 9.6 seconds remaining. That chased Saros (5 GA on 12 shots) from the net. Justus Annunen replaced him for the final period.
The Rangers were sloppy in the third. They took three consecutive penalties, including a pair of infractions from Trocheck that put Nashville on a second straight five-on-three.
Shesterkin made a lot of good saves. But he couldn’t stop a Wood one-timer that was nicely set up by Luke Evangelista to make it 5-2 with 7:12 remaining.
Less than a minute later, Panarin banked in a shot for his first two-goal game of the season. The goal was unassisted. That put him in a three-way tie with Raddysh and Zibanejad for the team lead in goals (5).
To their credit, the Predators never quit. They played a much better third period, outshooting the Rangers 16-6. They applied more pressure and tested Shesterkin, who made 26 saves to pick up his fifth win.
In the final minute, Wood completed his hat trick when Ryan O’Reilly and Forsberg combined to set him up for number six in his rookie season. Behind the net, the refs missed a high stick on Lafreniere, who went down. He was okay when he got to the bench, but he was obviously confused.
In the end, the Rangers finally ended the home futility emphatically. They gave the fans who came something to be happy about. They’ll need to do more winning when they return on Sunday after hitting the road for Tanpa and Columbus.
“We would’ve liked a cleaner third period, maybe not go to the penalty box as much, it would’ve been better for the coaching staff if it was less eventful. I couldn’t be happier for the group though,” Sullivan said afterward.
“The first seven games we didn’t like. We played some decent hockey, but couldn’t score, couldn’t win. It was good today to score a couple,” added Lafreniere after recording a three-point game to earn the game’s first star.
The main thing is they finally won at MSG. They won’t have the dark cloud of the Pittsburgh Pirates hanging over their heads anymore. They made history. Now, that’s in the past.
If the more balanced lineup can continue to produce, the offense should improve. Despite how historically bad they were at home to start, the Rangers find themselves over NHL .500 (8-7-2). Five total points separate first place from sixth in the division.
With no dominant team in the Eastern Conference, anything can happen. Even the teams with the best records (Canadiens and Devils) are flawed. There’s been a lot of injuries to players so far. The Rangers are relatively healthy with Trocheck back. This next stretch is a chance to go on a run. By December, we’ll have a better idea of who they are.
Finally, there’s a reason to get excited. The New York Rangers recalled Gabe Perreault from the Hartford Wolf Pack yesterday. He will make his season debut when the Nashville Predators visit The Garden tonight.
UPDATE: Gabe Perreault has been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack and Jaroslav Chmelar has been assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Selected with the 23rd pick in the first round in 2023, the 20-year-old Perreault played two years at Boston College. While there, he posted 35 goals and 73 assists for a total of 108 points.
He also represented Team USA at the World Junior Championships, helping them win back to back gold medals. Perreault had three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 2024 and 2025.
After nearly making the roster out of training camp, he was sent down to Hartford to work on his game. In nine games, Perreault was leading the Wolf Pack in scoring with five goals and five assists for 10 points in nine games. He was held out of the last two as a precaution due to an upper-body injury. He’ll be ready to go later.
When Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan was speaking to reporters about Perreault, he made it very clear how he wanted to use him. Unlike previous coaches, Sullivan plans to play Perreault in a top six role and give him time on the power play. That’s exactly how a top prospect should be treated.
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Mike Sullivan on the "balancing act" between wanting to sure Perreault is ready and has enough time with Hartford vs. the desire to jolt a slumping #NYR offense:
"We want to try to put players in positions to succeed. Ideally, we were trying to give Gabe some time down there to…
“We want to try to put players in positions to succeed. Ideally, we were trying to give Gabe some time down there to build and develop his game, physically and otherwise, in the hopes that when he does get called to New York, he has the ability to be successful. I obviously talked to Chris (Drury) after the game the other night (and) yesterday when the decision was made. A lot of it’s based on Gabe’s own performance down there, and what we think the needs of the Rangers are here at this particular point in time.”
Undoubtedly, the Rangers know that the offense is a priority. With Perreault getting the chance to play in a defined role, it’s an opportunity to help immediately. There hasn’t been enough consistency or creativity so far.
Perreault brings the skating and playmaking that could make a difference. He’ll start on a line with Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller. Both have struggled to finish. Zibanejad enters play without a goal in the last five games. Miller is without a point in three straight. Each has only put up eight points in the first 16 games. That needs to change.
The power play remains a problem. After getting a power-play goal from Will Cuylle in a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 7, the Rangers were 0-for-2 on Saturday in an all too predictable shutout loss to the New York Islanders at MSG. For the season, the Rangers rank 31st on the power play (5-for-41).
In the 5-0 humiliation to the Islanders that included three Islanders’ goals on odd man rushes which drew the ire of Sullivan, they were shut out at home for the fifth time – tying a franchise record for the most in a season. They also tied the Pittsburgh Pirates’ record for most times getting shut out to start a season at home. It’s not even Thanksgiving.
The strange part about this team is that they’ve proven very capable of winning away from MSG. Nobody has a better road record than the Blueshirts, who are 7-1-1. At home, they’re averaging less than a goal-per-game with six in seven. That’s insane.
Both Miller and Zibanejad were very candid about the difficulty scoring on home ice following Saturday’s nightmare.
J.T. Miller was asked if the Rangers' home struggles are becoming psychological:
"Yeah, we're humans. It's hard. We all care. It's not like it's an effort-based thing." pic.twitter.com/gBVQNhYxDl
“We’re aware of it and it’s frustrating not to be able to get a win at home. You want to build a feeling for teams coming in here, it’s going to be tough, but obviously, we haven’t,” Zibanejad told reporters at his locker on Saturday.
There’s no question it’s psychological for the players. If they don’t score early against the Predators, who come in on a four-game losing streak, all bets are off. In the last two home defeats to the Carolina Hurricanes and Islanders, they had good starts. But they were unable to bury their chances. Once they fell behind, things unraveled quickly.
On Saturday, Artemi Panarin was robbed by Ilya Sorokin in the first minute. Zibanejad then hit a goalpost and just missed on another golden opportunity. When he got back to the Rangers bench, he slammed his stick in frustration.
When the game was out of reach, Miller broke his stick twice, including following an empty netter scored by J.G. Pageau. The only game at MSG they got a point in was back on Oct. 23 in a 6-5 overtime loss against the San Jose Sharks. They bring a 0-6-1 home record into tonight’s game.
Rangers Get Trocheck Back
In addition to Perreault joining the team, the Rangers finally get Vincent Trocheck back. He missed 14 games with an upper-body injury sustained on Oct. 9 versus the Buffalo Sabres.
A key player who brings a lot to the table, Trocheck will return to his familiar spot as the center who plays with Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. Neither have been lighting it up. Panarin has three goals and seven assists for 10 points. Lafreniere has two goals and six helpers for eight points. Undoubtedly, they missed Trocheck, who can create enough space for both. It’s imperative for that line to produce like they did two years ago. Hopefully, having Trocheck back can give them a much needed jolt.
With Trocheck centering one scoring line and Zibanejad in between Perreault and Miller, Cuylle moves down to the third line. He’ll play with Noah Laba and Taylor Raddysh, whose five goals lead the Rangers. Cuylle is still featured as the net front presence on the number one power play unit that features Panarin, Zibanejad, Miller, and Adam Fox.
The second unit should have a different look. Trocheck will anchor it. It includes Lafreniere, Perreault, Raddysh, and Braden Schneider. No more Conor Sheary, who will play on the fourth line with Sam Carrick and Adam Edstrom, who returns to the lineup after missing two games.
On paper, this looks like a much better lineup. From top to bottom, it should have balance. It’s up to the players to make it work.
By activating Trocheck, the Rangers will place Matt Rempe on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) retroactive to Nov. 3. That will make them cap compliant, allowing them to keep three players up. Juuso Parssinen and Jonny Brodzinski are the healthy scratches along with Matthew Robertson, who sat out for Urho Vaakanainen on Nov. 8.
Sounds like this will be the move when Trocheck is activated. They can backdate Rempe, who's already missed seven games. #NYR
Eventually, when Rempe returns, the Rangers will have to make a decision with the roster. A player will have to go on waivers to make room. The likely candidates are Brodzinski and Sheary. Considering that Rempe could be out for a while, they’ll worry about it when the time comes.
Former Rangers Having Success
As I’ve noted before, former Rangers continue to have success. Most notable have been Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba.
The Anaheim Ducks got wins over the Vegas Golden Knights and the Winnipeg Jets this past weekend. On Saturday night, Trouba got the overtime winner in a 4-3 win at Vegas. Last night, Kreider recorded two assists in a 4-1 win over the Jets.
So far, Kreider has nine goals and three assists for 12 points in 11 games. Seven of those points have come on the power play. Trouba has 10 points (4-6-10) and leads the league in plus/minus (16).
While they’ve had a lot of success so far, K’Andre Miller is off to a good start with the Hurricanes. In a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, Miller tallied two assists, including the primary helper that led to Logan Stankoven getting the game-winner in the third period.
Since returning from an upper-body injury, Miller has points in all three games, recording four assists in three consecutive wins. In nine games, he has eight points (2-6-8). Without Jaccob Slavin, Miller’s seen an increase in his ice time. He’s averaging 23:23 with the Canes. That includes power play and penalty kill.
Miller needed a scenery change. So far, so good playing for coach Rod Brind’Amour in Raleigh.
One might ask why former players do well elsewhere. Sometimes, they need a fresh start. There’s little doubt that both Kreider and Trouba had to get out of the Big Apple after how they were handled by Chris Drury. Playing on a younger team that boasts some good talent, each is playing up to capability.
We’ll see if the Ducks continue to lead the Pacific Division.
Two days after finding a way to pull out a win in overtime, the New Jersey Devils continued their winning ways at The Rock. In an early matinee this afternoon, they needed a shootout to prevail 2-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins before another capacity crowd in Newark.
Paul Cotter and Jesper Bratt each scored in the first two rounds. Jake Allen stopped two shooters, including Sidney Crosby to keep the Devils’ hot home start alive. Now a perfect 7-0-0 to start the season, they can match the franchise record that was set in 1987-88 on Monday when they host the New York Islanders. If they get it done, eight would be great before they embark on a five-game road trip that begins next Wednesday at the Chicago Blackhawks.
The biggest reason for the victory was Allen, who was strong in net finishing with 33 saves on 34 shots to earn the game’s first star. That ran his record to 6-2-0 in nine starts this season. More often than not, it’s been the steady play of the 35-year-old backup that’s helped the Devils get off to an 11-4-0 start. In nine games, he has a 2.29 goals-against-average and .914 save percentage. When he allows two goals or fewer, the Devils are a perfect 5-0-0. They’re winning most of his starts due to the former St. Louis Blues starter performing well.
Without him, the Devils would’ve lost the game in regulation. Facing a surprisingly good opponent, they were under siege for over half the contest. Despite getting pinned in by an relentless Pens forecheck, they counted on Allen to make the big saves. He was perfect in the first period stopping all 12 shots.
Even though they were outplayed for most of the period, the Devils grabbed a 1-0 lead with under a minute left thanks to a great play from Arseny Gritsyuk. The rookie forward pressured Kris Letang enough to force him into a turnover. That led to Gritsyuk beating Arturs Silovs on a breakaway for an unassisted tally at 19:12.
In the second period, the Devils had an early look on the power play. However, they were unable to cash in. The Pens has the best chance. Bryan Rust had his wrap-around attempt go wide.
Back at full strength, Ondrej Palat came close to making it two games in a row with a goal. But his shot hit the crossbar to keep the Devils up by one.
Over halfway through the contest, the Pens were able to get a fortunate bounce that tied the game. On a play Rust started, Crosby fed Ryan Graves for a long slap shot that deflected off Palat past Allen with 7:27 remaining in the period.
Following the goal, the Pens had the Devils on their heels. They created a few opportunities but were denied by Allen. He stopped Connor Dewar, who later in the same shift had a shot hit the goalpost.
On a strong shift, Luke Hughes made a nice move to get around the Pittsburgh defense and got a tough backhand right on Silovs, who made the big stop. The third-year Devils defenseman has yet to score a goal this season. However, he’s been vital due to the injuries on the blue line. He led all skaters in ice time with 29:39 on Saturday. In 170 career games, he has 100 points (17-83-100). The 22-year-old younger brother of Jack Hughes should continue to get better.
With less than a minute left in the second, Jack nearly put the Devils ahead. But his point blank shot was stopped by the quick glove of Silovs. It was the best save of the game.
At the start of the third, the Devils came out fast looking for the go-ahead goal. Silovs made another save on Hughes to keep it tied.
With Stefan Noesen in the box for slashing Graves, the Pens came close. Rookie Ben Kindel just missed on an Evgeni Malkin rebound. Allen then turned aside Crosby.
After the power play expired, Hughes was stopped again by Silovs. Simon Nemec missed wide on another chance.
The Devils went to the power play when Malkin cross-checked Cody Glass. Displeased with the call, he had a few words for Glass before going off. Dawson Mercer was stopped twice by Silovs as the Pens killed it off.
With time running down in regulation, Mercer was denied again to send the game to overtime. It didn’t disappoint.
If you like firewagon hockey, then the three-on-three was your cup of tea. Hughes had an early bid just miss.
On the opposite end, Kindel had a pair of chances to end matters. After Allen made one save on a Kindel shot, he stoned him in tight. He was the Pens best player. A 2025 first round pick taken 11th, Kindel has been a pleasant surprise with five goals and two assists. He definitely belongs.
Despite some more exciting end to end rushes, with Hughes having one last bid denied, the game went to the shootout.
In it, it was a mismatch. In Round 1, Paul Cotter went to a deke to beat Silovs. After Allen stopped Rust, out came Bratt. He made a wicked move to freeze Silovs before tucking in a forehand in the second round. Down to their last chance, the Pens sent out Crosby. He made a good move, going to the backhand. But Allen stuck right with him to kick it out for the win.
Next up are the Islanders on Monday night. That should be fun to follow. The Devils get to face 2025 number one pick Matthew Schaefer. He’s really impressive. The 18-year-old rookie leads all NHL defensemen with five goals.
In their 5-0 shutout over the Rangers, Bo Horvat continued his torrid start with a pair of goals to give him 11 along with seven assists. He’s turned back the clock to how he played with the Canucks. With Mat Barzal rounding into form and Jonathan Drouin doing his part, the Islanders play a higher tempo style. The way the Devils play, that should make for a good game. We’ll see if the Devils can tie the home mark with an eighth straight win.
When it comes to this team, they are hard to figure out. One thing is for certain. They are the NHL version of the Road Warriors. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the New York Rangers play much better hockey away from Madison Square Garden. On a special Friday night that saw the Original Six rival Detroit Red Wings honor their first dynasty of the 1950s as part of the centennial celebration in Hockey Town, it was all Rangers in a convincing 4-1 win over the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.
Since 2023-24, the Rangers have owned the Red Wings – making it seven straight wins over the Winged Wheel. In fact, dating back to Nov. 5, 2014, they now have points versus the Red Wings in 27 of the last 31 meetings (19-4-8). During the last decade, there were a lot of low scoring games decided by one goal when Henrik Lundqvist went head-to-head with Jimmy Howard. Quite a few went to overtime and sometimes weren’t determined until the shootout.
In a similar theme to last season, Jonathan Quick got the start. In two appearances last year, he only allowed two goals on 68 shots versus Detroit. It was an easy call for head coach Mike Sullivan, who as I predicted, decided to keep Igor Shesterkin fresh for the New York Islanders tomorrow night. We’ll see if they can give Shesterkin enough run support to finally get a win on home ice. They’re 0-5-1 so far.
When they’re away from MSG, good things seem to happen. On a successful Western swing last week, they went 3-1-0. That was highlighted by a come from behind overtime win over the Oilers, which sparked a three-game win streak that included victories over the Canucks and Kraken. Then, they returned home and saw their shadow in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Hurricanes on Tuesday.
What is it about being on the road for this team that brings out their best hockey? Maybe it’s as simple as not having to feel the pressure of playing at The Garden. They’ve been shut out four times in six games, only scoring six goals. Five of which came in one game against the Sharks, who prevailed in overtime back on Oct. 23.
With Quick in net, the Rangers played their most complete game of the season. The line adjustments along with the one change to the power play paid dividends for Sullivan. Following a nice pregame ceremony in which the Red Wings welcomed back the families of legends Gordie Howe, Sid Abel, Ted Lindsay, and Alex Delvecchio, the Rangers accomplished something rare by scoring on the power play. This moment should be frozen in time.
On a good play up the ice, Artemi Panarin moved the puck to Mika Zibaejad. He then skated down low before finding a vacated Will Cuylle in front for the game’s first goal at 6:46. It was only their fifth power-play goal of the season. Cuylle had replaced Alexis Lafreniere on the number one unit. He did exactly what Sullivan wanted by going to the net and getting his third.
Before the game, Panarin had a new look. A day earlier, he decided to shave his head in an attempt to change his luck. It worked in 2023-24 when he exploded for a career-high 49 goals and 120 points. Why not do it again he figured. If Friday night was any indication, maybe he should keep it buzzed off. He snapped a six-game pointless streak with a secondary assist on Cuylle’s goal. Panarin wasn’t done, either.
The Red Wings drew even when J.T. Compher beat Quick in front on a nice setup from Mason Appleton behind the net. On the play, Braden Schneider made the mistake of vacating the slot to chase the puck. The problem was that Vladislav Gavrikov and Lafreniere were already in the vicinity. That left Compher wide open for an easy finish at 11:06 from Appleton and Andrew Copp. Schneider would later make up for it by saving two goals. One proved critical later in the game.
The Rangers were able to remain tied headed to the locker room thanks to Quick, who made 12 saves in the first period. He was sharp throughout finishing with 32 stops on 33 shots to earn career victory number 407. His best save came on Compher, who was in on a two-on-one. With lots of net to shoot at, Compher tried to pick the top part. However, Quick made a fantastic glove save to deny his bid of putting the Red Wings up.
In the second period, the Rangers went back in front thanks to some excellent teamwork from Panarin and Lafreniere. After failing to capitalize on a man-advantage, Panarin made a good cross-ice feed to Lafreniere at the side of the net. He then got the puck over for an open Noah Laba, who got just enough of it to score his third past former backup Cam Talbot at 4:52. It was pretty special for Laba, who scored in his homecoming.
Noah Laba talks about the emotions in his Detroit homecoming:
"It's hard to really explain. I've been to a lot of games at the Joe Louis [Arena], a lot of games here [at Little Caesars Arena]. To be able to score in this building in the National Hockey League is pretty special" pic.twitter.com/eh1Igke8xX
A little bit later, Quick came way out of his net and got caught by Patrick Kane. The future Hall of Famer had what looked like the tying goal on his stick. But with the net empty, a desperate Quick dove to at least delay Kane from scoring right away. That allowed a hustling Schneider to make the save of the game by getting his stick on the puck to push it just wide. He had some help from Carson Soucy. That was a huge turning point.
Despite outplaying the Red Wings for most of the period, the Rangers remained up by a goal headed to the third. In it, they seized control by getting a pair of goals 58 seconds apart.
Sullivan decided to tweak his lines. He moved Taylor Raddysh up with Panarin and Zibanejad. Cuylle and Lafreniere played with J.T. Miller. Laba worked between Conor Sheary and Jonny Brodzinski. With Adam Edstrom banged up, rookie call-up Jaroslav Chmelar made his NHL debut on the fourth line with Sam Carrick and Juuso Parssinen. The only change he didn’t make was subbing in Connor Mackey for Matthew Robertson, who after starting the game with Schneider, moved up to play with Will Borgen. Every move worked out well.
With the Rangers still nursing a one-goal lead, a rush started by Raddysh led to Zibanejad finding Panarin open for his first goal since Oct. 21 against the Wild. It was an easy finish for Bald Panarin, which gave him three points after going without one over the previous six games. He desperately needed it. So did the team.
On the next shift, Lafreniere scored for the first time since Oct. 9 versus Buffalo. Sheary made a heads-up play by banking a pass off the boards to send Lafreniere in for a breakaway. When he has time and space in open ice, he is pretty good. Lafreniere went to a forehand deke, tucking the puck past Talbot to make it 4-1 with 11:33 left in regulation. He entered the game with only one goal. Despite that, he had three assists in the previous four games. Lafreniere had been getting chances. They hadn’t been going in for him. If ever a player needed a big game, it was Lafreniere, who finished with a goal and assist for his second two-pointer of the season.
If there was some concern in the third prior to Panarin and Lafreniere ending long droughts, it was when Cuylle looked seriously injured after making a diving block of a Simon Edvinsson shot. Cuylle sold out to block the one-timer and immediately went down in a lot of pain. He had to be helped back to the locker room by the Rangers trainer. At the time, he was unable to put any weight on the leg. Of course, he returned. Cuylle was back in time to help the Rangers kill a bench minor a few minutes later. Hockey player.
Note: Will Cuylle was helped off the ice and down the tunnel into the Rangers locker room. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/7kcuqWAT1f
With the game decided, Chmelar got into his first fight with Travis Hamonic. The bigger and stronger Chmelar easily won the bout, landing a few rights to knock Hamonic down. Playing in front of his family who made the trip from the Czech Republic, he was active. In nine shifts, Chmelar had four hits and a fight over 6:29 of ice time. He certainly didn’t hurt himself in his audition. Whether or not he stays in the lineup this weekend remains to be seen.
There were so many positives in the win. Most notably, the Rangers improved to a beastly 7-1-1 on the road. By defeating the Red Wings 4-1, they’ve now outscored opponents 29-17 on the road. They play with more purpose away from MSG. When are they going to petition the NHL to have the remainder of their schedule played on the road? I’d rather see the Rangers have home games at a neutral site at this point. They once beat the Devils in Halifax on Halloween in 1993. Mike Gartner and Sergei Nemchinov each had a pair of goals. Mike Richter made 23 saves in the 4-1 win.
Sullivan had to be extremely pleased with how together his team looked. Sheary drew two penalties and picked up his fifth assist on the Lafreniere goal. Cuylle scored on the power play and also had another one wiped out due to Miller making contact with Talbot in the crease. It was marginal. Laba was all over the ice again. He makes things happen. The rookie is impressive due to his 200-foot game. There’s a lot to like about Laba.
Both Panarin and Lafreniere had big games. Obviously, they need Panarin to produce to start winning consistently. If he doesn’t, they’ll never be more than a mediocre team. Lafreniere has to play the way he did last night. He was more noticeable during shifts. Having him with Miller and Cuylle is smart. They all play a similar North/South style. That works better for him. He can’t go back to being invisible the next game. That’s not how it works in Year 6.
By recording a goal and assist, Lafreniere went over 200 points for his career. He’s one of the youngest Rangers to do so.
Alexis Lafrenière reached the 200-point milestone tonight and became the seventh-youngest player in @NYRangers history to reach the mark. #NHLStats
That’s an excellent list made up of great Rangers. You have Brian Leetch at the top headlining it. Of course, Alexei Kovalev is on there. So is Brad Park and Walt Tkaczuk.
Now, it’s back to MSG later tonight. The Rangers get their first look at 2025 top pick Matthew Schaefer. He’s quite impressive for a teenager. The Islanders seem to always play their best games at MSG. Last year, the Rangers swept the season series. We’ll see how the first meeting of three goes.
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