Daily Report – 10/21/26
Rangers
The Rangers were nearly perfect on Monday, but they gave up two late goals. Dylan Garand fell 69 seconds short of a shutout, but the Rangers still beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 and stayed perfect on Garden Ice.
The early home-road splits are staggering. At 6-0-0, the Rangers are the NHL’s best home team, and they have tied the 1990-91 Rangers for the second-best home start in franchise history. Last season, the Rangers needed 23 home games to reach six wins. This year, with a +19 goal differential at MSG, they are clearly determined to turn that around.
On the road, however, the Rangers are 1-3-1 with a -10 goal differential. It’s a small sample size, but they average less than one goal per game away from the Garden. They haven’t won on the road since October 2.
One consistent force has given the Rangers a chance to win games at home and on the road. Dylan Garand, with his fifth-best .929 save percentage, has brilliantly taken over Igor Shesterkin’s role. With his dependable netminding, he has helped the Rangers mitigate the loss of their best player.
On Monday, the Rangers held Anaheim to five high-danger scoring chances while generating 12. It was the perfect split, and the kind teams across the league try to embody every game. Interestingly, the Rangers tend to post a large high-danger differential, positive or negative; their games are rarely close statistically.
The Rangers made the most of their chances against the struggling Ducks and their backup goaltender. 11 players earned a point, including Oliver Bjorkstrand, who posted his second multi-goal game of the season. Bjorkstrand earned a consistent role when Joe Veleno went down and has become a reliable fourth-line piece.
Sean Durzi, whose defensive partnership with Marcus Pettersson has recorded one of the NHL’s highest expected-goals-against rates, scored 78 seconds into the first period. For the second time in franchise history, the Rangers have scored in the opening two minutes of three straight home games.
“We heard what’s going on tomorrow night,” Durzi said, referring to the Knicks’ ring ceremony and banner-raising. “It’s nice to give back-to-back good nights at MSG.”
Pavel Dorofeyev assisted on Durzi’s goal. According to Natural Stat Trick, Dorofeyev ranked second on the Rangers with 17 scoring chances and tied for the most high-danger chances, but couldn’t find the back of the net. He had a few narrow misses, including a wide-open power play chance.
Dorofeyev scored 37 goals last season, including 27 on the power play, the second-most in the league. In 11 games with the Rangers this season, he has only scored once. He is trending in the right direction, though, especially after being removed temporarily from the top power-play unit.
“I’ve been asking the power-play for a number of games now that the first unit [has to] change smarter,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “When the puck gets dumped down two or three times, and they’ve got to go 200 feet to get it and then work back into the offensive zone, they should change. And Pav didn’t. There needs to be some accountability around it.”
Credit to Sullivan for holding one of his star players accountable, something prior Rangers coaches would not have done. Dorofeyev responded to the demotion by generating more scoring chances in his next power-play rep and working the length of the ice. It’s only a matter of time before more goals arrive.
JT Miller extended the Rangers’ lead in the second period, deflecting Adam Fox’s pass and breaking a 1-for-13 power-play drought. Miller, who led the Rangers in scoring chances on Monday, positioned himself perfectly for a net-front deflection.
Six minutes later, Gabe Perreault made it 3-0 by snapping a tape-to-tape pass around Ville Husso. Mika Zibanejad drove the puck into the offensive zone, and Durzi kept it in above the right circle and passed it back to Alexis Lafrenière. He dished it across to Zibanejad, who faked a shot just enough for Perreault to dump it at the post.
Durzi also contributed to Bjorkstrand’s first goal. He helped get the puck into the offensive zone and stayed back on defense, allowing Bjorkstrand to intercept Anaheim’s pass and drive it to the net. Bjorkstrand’s second goal, the Rangers’ fifth, came after Braden Schneider intercepted a neutral zone pass.
Meanwhile, Sullivan moved Lafrenière to Zibanejad and Perreault’s first line while pushing Dorofeyev to Miller’s second line. It paid off because, for the first time since 1991-92, the Rangers have scored at least four goals in all six home games. Their four games with at least five goals are the second-most in the NHL.
The Rangers hope to maintain consistent offensive production tomorrow in Toronto against the Maple Leafs (7:00 PM, 6:00 PM CDT – MSG, DAZN). They will then visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday before hosting the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Rangers
