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Rangers Week Ahead: Picking up the pieces after debacle in Boston
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- Rangers Week Ahead: Picking up the pieces after debacle in Boston
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The New York Rangers will try to put themselves back on track this week after their worst loss in nearly 17 years.
The Blueshirts enter their game against the Seattle Kraken at Madison Square Garden on Monday night at 20-20-6, the NHL's version of .500, after finishing an 0-2-1 week by being humiliated 10-2 by the Bruins in Boston on Saturday in front of a national TV audience. Mika Zibanejad's goal 1:24 into the game put New York ahead 1-0, but Boston led 3-1 after one period, 7-2 after two and rolled up the score in the final 20 minutes against a team that showed no interest in competing.
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New York's worst loss since a 10-2 drubbing in Dallas on Feb. 6, 2009, capped a week the Rangers would very much like to forget.
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They let a third-period lead get away Monday in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth – but more importantly, they lost star goaltender Igor Shesterkin and their best defenseman, Adam Fox, with lower-body injuries. Shesterkin might be able to return this week, but Fox is on long-term injured reserve and can't play again until Jan. 31 at the earliest.
Without arguably their two most important players, the Rangers lost 5-2 at home to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday before the Saturday stomping in Boston, a game that left captain J.T. Miller and his teammates looking for answers.
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"That's a game where you're looking for leadership and I got to be better. It's just unacceptable," Miller said. Your leaders shouldn't let games – and I'm talking about myself – get like that. (The) crowd should never be chanting 'we want 10.' Look within. Not try to point fingers and make excuses. It starts with myself and leadership to prevent games like that when you don't have your best.
"To not get out of control and hang your goalies out to dry. There's no point in bitching now. We're going to let it soak and let it feel terrible inside of us. The only thing that matters is responding on Monday."
If the Rangers have any hopes of avoiding a second straight non-playoff season, that response had better happen quickly. To reach 90 points, the minimum they're likely to need for a playoff berth, the Blueshirts need 44 points in their final 36 games, a .639 winning percentage. That's a level they've shown no signs of being able to reach this season.
Who's Hot
The Rangers scored six goals last week, and Zibanejad was involved in five of them – he scored two and assisted in three. Throw in his five-point performance (three goals, two assists) in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2 and he's figured in 10 of New York's 11 goals in 2026.
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Who's Not
Where do we start? The entire bottom six went a whole week without a point. The six defensemen were a combined minus-16 in the loss at Boston, with the pairing of Carson Soucy and Scott Morrow each going minus-4. Goalie Jonathan Quick surrendered 10 goals on 40 shots in 4 1/2 periods during the past two games. Take your pick.
Rangers lookahead this week includes …
Two more home games before the start of a four-game road trip.
Seattle Kraken at Rangers (Jan. 12, 7 p.m.; MSG/NHL Network)
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Former Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko makes his first visit to the Garden since being traded to the Kraken shortly before Christmas in 2024. The No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft had 10 goals and 30 points in 49 games for Seattle after the trade but was injured during the preseason and comes to the Garden with four goals and 14 points while playing just 27 of 43 games.
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Seattle (20-15-8) owns the first wild card in the Western Conference despite struggling to score (119 goals in 43 games). Ex-Islander Jordan Eberle leads the Kraken with just 15 goals and is tied with Matty Beniers for the team lead with 28 points. Seattle's savior has been goalie Phillipp Grubauer, who's rebounded from a miserable 2024-25 season with a 2.27 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and an 8-3-2 record, giving the Kraken a solid pairing with Joey Daccord (12-10-5/2.83/.903).
The Rangers are 7-1-1 all-time against the NHL's newest franchise, including a 3-2 overtime win in Seattle on Nov. 1. Miller has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 14 games against the Kraken; the first 13 came while he was playing for the Vancouver Canucks .
Ottawa Senators at Rangers (Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m.; MSG)
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If you think the Rangers are messed up, take a look at the Senators. Hopes were high in Ottawa after the Sens made the playoffs last spring and were off to a decent start this season. But like the Blueshirts, things have fallen apart since Christmas – the Senators dropped six of their first eight games since the break, including all three last week, and enter the week barely above the Rangers in points percentage.
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Goaltending is a huge problem. Starter Linus Ullmark was struggling before leaving the team for personal reasons. Ottawa is last in the NHL with a team save percentage of .868 (the Rangers are 11th at .897).
The Rangers are 5-0-1 in their past six games against Ottawa, including a 4-2 win at Canadian Tire Centre on Dec. 4.
Zibanejad has fared well against the team that took him with the No. 6 pick in the 2011 Draft and traded him to the Rangers five years later. He has 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 20 games. Ottawa's Claude Giroux has played 75 regular-season games against New York and has 64 points (18 goals, 46 assists).
Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers (Jan. 17, 1 p.m.; MSG)
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The Blueshirts make their first visit to Philadelphia in more than a year on Saturday afternoon before heading west for three games in California. The first meeting between the teams this season was one of the Rangers' highlight moments thus far; they overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period at the Garden on Dec. 20 and won 5-4 in a shootout.
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The Flyers (22-13-8) have been one of the NHL's surprise teams this season under new coach Rick Tocchet as they try to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Free-agent signee Dan Vladar (16-6-4, 2.35 GAA, .910 save percentage) has given them the best goaltending they've had in years, while trade acquisition (and Bedford, New York, native) Trevor Zegras (17 goals, 41 points in 43 games) leads them in scoring.
Artemi Panarin has feasted on the Flyers during his career. He scored twice in the Dec. 20 win and has 48 points (17 goals, 31 assists) in 37 career games against Philadelphia. Zibanejad has 20 goals and 44 points in 49 games against the Flyers.
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