Rangers vs. Lightning: Lineups, storylines eyeing continued road dominance

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Rangers vs. Lightning: Lineups, storylines eyeing continued road dominance

Rangers vs. Lightning: Lineups, storylines eyeing continued road dominance — Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Cerny · Forever Blueshirts

Wed, Nov 12, 2025 ·

5 min read

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After securing their first home-ice victory of the season earlier in the week, the New York Rangers seek to continue what they do best — and that's win on the road — when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Wednesday.

The Rangers (8-7-2) are an NHL-best 7-1-1 on the road this season and won four straight games away from Madison Square Garden. Most recently, they dismantled the Red Wings in Detroit last Friday 4-1, after winning three straight out west the prior week.

New York has outscored opponents 29-17 on the road this season, the second-best away goal-differential in the League, and its 1.89 road goals-against average is No. 1 in the NHL.

Despite their road success, the Rangers were historically bad at MSG, starting the season 0-6-1 at home. But the season-opening schneid ended Monday, when the Rangers defeated the Nashville Predators 6-3 at the World's Most Famous Arena.

Home or road, either way, the Rangers face a much tougher opponent Wednesday. The Lightning (8-5-2) brushed off a slow start to the 2025-26 campaign and won seven of their past eight games (7-1-0).

The Lightning edged the Washington Capitals at home 3-2 on Saturday, when Brandon Hagel scored the game-winner to snap a 2-2 tie midway through the third period. Forward Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist in the win, and leads the Lightning with 15 points (six goals, nine assists).

Though off to a quiet start (for him) with 14 points in 13 games, Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov , the three-time NHL scoring leader, has 37 points (10 goals, 27 assists) in 30 games against the Rangers.

3 storylines when Rangers visit Lightning

NHL: New York Rangers at Tampa Bay Lightning — Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

1. Where there's a Will

Rangers coach Mike Sullivan appeared pretty darn pleased with the play of a pair of Wills — Borgen and Cuylle — when speaking with the media Tuesday. Borgen's averaging a career-high 18:39 TOI through 17 games in a second-pair defense role, playing mostly with veteran Carson Soucy . He's been on ice for only four goals against 5v5, and the Rangers hold a 61-31 advantage in high-danger chances when Borgen is out there, per Natural Stat Trick . The 28-year-old is fourth on the Rangers with 22 blocked shots and second among defensemen with 24 hits.

"What we're asking of Will is to be hard to play against, defend hard, help us on the penalty kill, defend the rushes aggressively, kill plays in the D zone, be hard at the net front. … We think he's doing a great job at it, Sullivan explained . ""He's competitive and has a level of abrasiveness to his game that I think makes us a whole lot more difficult to play against."

The coach is also very impressed with Cuylle, the 23-year-old forward who has eight points (four goals, four assists) on the season, and three goals in his past five games. He's been moved throughout the top nine, and now settled with Noah Laba on the third line, and leads the Rangers again with 59 hits, after establishing a franchise record with 301 in 2024-25.

"Will's a good player on both sides of the puck. He can skate, he's a solid defensive player, but he brings a solid offensive threat to that line," Sullivan stated.

2. Lightning trucked

The Rangers need not be worried about being trucked by their former captain Wednesday. Ryan McDonagh — or "Mac Truck" as he's often referred to — is out for the Lightning with a lower-body injury. The Lightning placed their stalwart 36-year-old defenseman on injured reserve Wednesday morning after he blocked a shot with his left foot against the Capitals.

McDonagh played his first 516 NHL games with the Rangers, and was their captain from 2014-18, when he was traded to the Lightning. The two-time Stanley Cup champion passed the 1,000-games played milestone last season and has six points (three goals, three assists), averaging 20:10 TOI in 15 games this season.

Forward Anthony Cirelli , who missed the game Saturday with an undisclosed injury, practiced Tuesday and expects to play against the Rangers.

3. Urho's milestone

NHL: New York Rangers at Seattle Kraken — Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images

Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen is expected to play his 200th NHL game Wednesday. It's been quite the journey for the 26-year-old to reach this point, after injuries and subpar play earlier in his career took much of the luster off the No. 18 overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins .

After fits and starts with the Bruins and Anaheim Ducks , Vaakanainen finally landed a regular role with the Ducks, playing 68 games in 2023-24. Then last season, after appearing in five games, the Ducks traded him to the Rangers as part of the return for Jacob Trouba .

Vaakanainen recorded a career-high 15 points (two goals, 13 assists) and plus-8 rating, averaging 16:43 TOI in 46 games with the Rangers. He also landed a two-year, $3.1 million contract in early March, and is mostly a regular on the Rangers third pair with Braden Schneider this season. He has two assists in 12 games, though is constantly pushed for a lineup spot by rookie Matthew Robertson.