NEWARK, N.J. — Following an opening night blip, the first week-plus of the New York Rangers was a party at Madison Square Garden and beyond.
The home woes from a year ago felt like a distant memory, franchise goaltender Igor Shesterkin scored into an empty net and it was a dream start. It became a nightmare at Washington when Shesterkin went down with a season-ending injury.
Losing that night and getting blown out 7-1 on the road by New Jersey were speed bumps along the way for a team that has won six of its first nine games. Life after Igor will not be easy, though coach Mike Sullivan, captain J.T. Miller and the Rangers believe they have come up with a recipe to succeed even after losing their most important player at hockey's most important position.
"We're trying to build a certain identity in how we're going to play, a style of play," Sullivan said. "And then, inside of that, every player has a role, making a contribution to that identity to build what we would consider Rangers hockey and what it looks like when we're at our best."
The Devils game certainly was not that. As good as Miller was for the first 19 minutes of the first period, his turnover before intermission was the start of a snowball effect that led to Shesterkin's unlikely successor, Dylan Garand, getting pulled for allowing four goals on 13 shots.
Garand ended training camp third on the organizational depth chart, and the 24-year-old is only still around because none of the NHL's other 31 teams claimed him off waivers prior to opening night. In his first three appearances before New Jersey, Garand had a league-best 1.15 goals-against average and .951 save percentage and is expected to remain the choice in net until he shows he cannot handle it.
"G knows we're going to need him here a lot, and he's a pretty mentally tough guy," No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox said. "I know he can bounce back. Just kind of said to him forget about it. He knows how important he is to us as a team and what we're trying to do."
What the Rangers are trying to do is get back to the playoffs after missing the past two years since a trip to the 2024 Eastern Conference final. Shesterkin's absence made that a much steeper hill to climb.
"That's a tough blow for our group," Sullivan said. "But it doesn't change what the goal is every day, and I think our guys have done a real good job at just keeping the focus where it needs to be and controlling what we can."
Sullivan credited the team's leadership group for not letting the morale dip last too long. Even New York's youngest player didn't dwell too long over Shesterkin getting sidelined.
"Injuries are going to happen," said Alberts Smits, the 18-year-old from Latvia who was the fifth pick in the draft. "I wish all the best for him and for him to recover as fast as he can. But that's just sports. There's going to be injuries. We've just got to go through them, and we can't stop right now when something like that happens."
Alexis Lafrenière has seven goals, Fox nine assists and Mika Zibanejad eight points. But the biggest reason why players believe they can keep this going is defending and keeping the puck out of their own net.
"It's winning hockey, so if you want to win games, you're going to give yourself a better chance most nights if you don't give the other team easy offense," Miller said. "We get better as the games go on. There's a commitment 200 feet. It's a contagious feeling around here coming together as a team, so it's a nice feeling."
