The New York Rangers are one of two teams in the NHL that don’t have a win on home ice this season. On the flip side, they have one of the best road records to start the season, going 6-1-1, and they have won their last three games in a row to finish out a four-game road trip. The Rangers need to use the momentum they gained from the road trip and turn it into a four-game winning streak and their first win at Madison Square Garden (MSG).
Won Three of Four on Western Road Trip
Before going on this road trip, the Rangers had lost two games in a row, including a loss to the San Jose Sharks which was the Sharks’ first win of the season. The road trip did not start out on a great note, with a 5-1 loss to the, at the time, 32nd-place Calgary Flames. Nobody had a good game, and they were simply outplayed by a worse team. It seems that game was a wake-up call, as they responded with a 2-0 win in their next game against the Vancouver Canucks. Jonathan Quick had a 23-save shutout, and Mika Zibanejad scored the game-winner.
Their next game was against the Edmonton Oilers, and after scoring the first goal, they fell behind 3-1 going into the third period. The Rangers had their first multi-goal comeback in a third period since February of 2024 in the NHL Stadium Series to tie the game at three, and J.T. Miller would score the overtime winner to secure the win. They then headed to Seattle to face the Kraken and held them to just 13 shots in a 3-2 overtime win for their third in a row. This is the first time the Rangers have won three in a row since last November.
Rangers Will Face a Depleted Carolina Hurricanes Team
The opponent the Rangers will be facing at MSG is their divisional rival in the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes have once again been one of the top teams in the league, with a 7-4-0 record, which is good for third in the Metropolitan Division (they are actually tied in points with the Rangers, but have played two fewer games). They are led offensively by Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho, who both have 11 points in 11 games, with Jarvis leading the way with seven goals scored. Two players who have struggled are Andrei Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers — Svechnikov went the first eight games without a point before scoring a goal, while Ehlers has yet to score a goal with his new team.
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The Hurricanes have been hit hard with injuries to their defense. Both K’Andre Miller and Jacob Slavin have missed multiple games, and neither will be in the lineup tonight. This means Miller will have to wait to face his former team, and with Slavin out, the Hurricanes are without their best overall defender. Shayne Gostisbehere has also missed time with injury and did not play in their last game, a loss to the Boston Bruins. The Rangers are going to need to take advantage of this and apply as much pressure to their defense as possible because right now, it’s not Carolina’s strong suit.
Winning This Game Would Be a Weight Off the Team’s Shoulders
While this isn’t a must-win game for the Rangers, winning would lift a major weight off the team’s shoulders. If the fans are unhappy about the team not winning at MSG, the players have to be furious about it. The Rangers want to make playing against them at home a challenge, and so far this season, they have let their opponents walk over them. While this kind of losing streak won’t last forever, it’s better to end it sooner rather than later.
The Hurricanes won’t be an easy opponent, even with a few of their defenders out with injury. The games between these two teams are always heated and usually only decided by one or two goals. It’s going to be a close and intense one, and it will be a good challenge for the Rangers to see how they match up with one of the top teams in the league.
The Rangers have won three games in a row and have played some of their best hockey of the season over that stretch. Now, it’s time to see if they can use the momentum they gained over the past few games and use it to help them get their first victory on home ice. If they can get a win tonight, they can finally put this storyline behind them, and the new storyline will be how the Rangers have won four in a row.
