Daily Report – 11/13/25
Before I get into last night’s games, I want to take a moment to remember Larry Brooks. The hall-of-fame hockey writer passed away early this morning after a brief battle with cancer. Brooks was a mentor of mine, and I was lucky to know him. He is one of the biggest inspirations behind this very newsletter, and I can only hope to continue honoring his incredible legacy with my work.
Brooks was, undoubtedly, one of the best sports reporters in New York City. He gave so much to the New York Rangers, from his time as a young fan in the Blue Seats to an award-winning reporter at the New York Post. Brooks never stopped working to deliver the highest-quality hockey content to all of his followers, and he never failed to deliver the most truthful, honest news.
Thank you, Larry, for everything you did for me and the hockey world. May you rest in peace.
Rangers
Remember how much the Rangers were struggling at home to start their season? That 0-6-1 mark? Well, they now hold an 8-1-1 road record, and their 17 points through their first 10 road games are the most in franchise history.
Last night, seven goals lifted the Rangers past the Tampa Bay Lightning, and they won 7-3. After allowing three of a combined seven goals in the first period, Igor Shesterkin buckled his seatbelt and delivered shutout goaltending for the next two frames. It was crucial, since the Rangers were outshot 36-21. But Andrei Vasilevskiy failed the eye test as the Rangers took advantage of his unstable netminding, and he got pulled after the second period.
For the Rangers, it was just one of those nights. One of those nights when just about every puck crossed the goal line. Credit to the Blueshirts, though, for shooting hard and accurately, and never letting Tampa Bay’s tough offense overcome their game.
“The irony of it is, I feel like the games we didn’t score, the effort and execution on both sides of the puck was really high,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “I thought tonight, I don’t think we were at our best. We were opportunistic. We had some pretty good looks, and we scored on them.”
As Sullivan admitted, the Rangers did not defend well at all during this game. 14 high-danger chances against, per Natural Stat Trick, is far too many, and the Rangers were outchanced 42-26 because they couldn’t defend beneath the dots. It’s worth remembering that before the Rangers’ epic collapse last season, their early wins came alongside poor defense. Granted, this year’s team has already shown strong defensive potential, but many players from last year’s disaster remain on this squad.
So, when I assess a game like yesterday’s, I am cautious to deliver congratulatory remarks. Nevertheless, every win is ultimately a positive thing, and this was a fun, confidence-building game. Artemi Panarin notched four assists, and Vincent Trocheck scored his first two goals of the season. Will Cuylle scored a couple of goals as well, Adam Fox added two assists, and Alexis Lafrenière now has goals in three of his last four games.
“I think sometimes you’re squeezing the stick too tight and you’re getting the chances, but they’re not going in,” Trocheck said. “I think if you just stay at it and keep doing all the right things, the puck’s eventually going to go in.”
The Rangers got things started early, just 69 seconds into the first period, as Will Cuylle scored a power-play goal. After a long shot from Fox deflected off the glass, Cuylle caught the rebound and pushed it past Vasilevskiy. Last week, Sullivan swapped Lafrenière out for Cuylle on the primary power play unit, and it’s been effective. Now, in consecutive games, both Lafrenière and Cuylle have scored power-play goals.
Two minutes later, Mika Zibanejad intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, and he faked a shot before he passed it to JT Miller, who drove through the legs of Erik Cernak to score. Tampa Bay answered a few minutes later, but the Rangers responded again as Carson Soucy created an odd-man rush, and Artemi Panarin aced his cross-ice pass to Lafrenière, who cradled the puck and shot it brilliantly into the corner above Vasilevskiy’s right shoulder.
“I’ll sleep deep tonight,” Panarin joked.
The Rangers’ fourth goal was the first of the season for Will Borgen, who, after an excellent defensive takeaway from Adam Fox, fired a puck from the high slot that deflected off Charle-Edouard D’Astous.
Somehow, after that entertaining opening frame, Vincent Trocheck was the only goal-scorer during the second period, and it didn’t come until the final two minutes. He received another brilliant cross-ice pass from Panarin, waited for Vasilevskiy to move, and shot at the last millisecond for his first goal of the season, giving the Rangers a 5-3 lead.
Regarding the Rangers’ line featuring Panarin, Trocheck, and Lafrenière, Sullivan said, “I thought [the] line had more offensive zone time. I think that line has the ability to create offense in a number of different ways. They’re dangerous off the rush because they’re talented, but they can build that grind game, and they can be dangerous there also, because they’re talented. But that takes collective effort.”
Trocheck scored again in the third period, thanks to Panarin, who passed the puck across the ice to Urho Vaakanainen, who found Trocheck in the middle of the slot for the scoring shot. “I think [Panarin is] a threat off the rush,” Sullivan said. “I think he has an uncanny ability to delay or slow the play down and allow the rush to go by him, and then create opportunities.”
On Saturday and Sunday, the Rangers will split a back-to-back set of games on the road and at home. They’ll visit Columbus on Saturday and host Detroit on Sunday.
Knicks
That 7-0 home record was bound to eventually reach imperfection. If only it didn’t come at such a high cost. With 1:54 remaining in what became a 124-107 loss to the Orlando Magic, Jalen Brunson went down with an ankle injury. He turned the same ankle that cost him 15 games last season, and after the game, he was spotted leaving Madison Square Garden with a walking boot and crutches.
Nobody got to hold the Timberland boots – Tims, in some circles – after last night’s defensive nightmare, but Brunson received a different kind of boot after twisting his ankle. Brunson will reportedly miss tomorrow’s NBA Cup game with a Grade 1 right ankle sprain, the mildest sprain possible. He will be reevaluated daily after that.
Remember how Mike Brown said he wouldn’t keep players on the court if they weren’t defending well, and that he would use his bench much more than, say, Tom Thibodeau? Did Brunson need to be on the court at any point in those final two minutes of last night’s game? During those garbage minutes when the game was essentially over? Maybe because the Knicks don’t have a reliable backup point guard. But probably not.
Actually, that point about the Knicks not having a reliable secondary point guard is an opinion held by many, but it isn’t true. People are forgetting about Deuce McBride, a phenomenal two-way shooter. The Knicks also have Tyler Kolek, the assists champion. The Knicks could have used more assists last night, as they totaled just 20 after averaging around 30 per game this season.
McBride played over 20 minutes off the bench yesterday, but he had to substitute for multiple teammates, like Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, who were benched for most of the final frame. Hart was benched for the entire fourth quarter, and Bridges played just one minute. This isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, since Bridges and Hart were being held accountable for their transgressions, but head coach Mike Brown clearly wasn’t willing to go deep enough into his bench to give Brunson time to rest.
So, Karl-Anthony Towns was correct yesterday when he said the Knicks are a “work-in-progress.” They were probably tired as they grinded through the second game of a back-to-back, but that’s no excuse. It’s funny, though, how they went from 130+ points in three straight games for the first time ever to a mere 107 yesterday, and it took them over 22 minutes to reach the 40-point mark they achieved in less than 12 the night before.
“We didn’t respond the way we should have,” McBride said. “You can blame it on the back-to-back, excuses, but there’s none of that. They flat-out kicked our ass.”
That’s the first thing Brown said when he met the media after last night’s loss. “They kicked our ass. It’s as simple as that. They came out with a physical presence that we didn’t handle well.”
“We need to exceed [their physicality],” said McBride, who scored just nine points in 20 minutes. “Be more physical at the point of attack for defense. Finish plays. They outrebounded us way too many times and got second-chance points, and you’ve got to take care of those little things.”
Brown explained his disappointment in his team’s lack of physicality. Losing the possession battle was unacceptable, and despite winning the statistical turnover battle, the Knicks didn’t capitalize effectively on either side of the ball, both in transition and in the paint. Per Brown’s metrics, they lost the possession battle by nearly 30 handles.
The Knicks also lost the free-throw battle by 10 points, which Brown said was the biggest on-paper factor of the loss. Despite committing just two more fouls than Orlando –25 is way too many regardless – the Knicks got 10 fewer free-throw attempts and points from the stripe. Also, Brown was disappointed by how often his players were complaining to the officials, and he acknowledged that their focus wavered from the game too often.
These Knicks are still learning their new system, and perhaps a positive Jalen Brunson injury update is tainting this assessment, but this wasn’t the most disastrous loss imaginable. After all, you can’t win every game, not even at home. The Knicks are still trying to implement a style of play that puts a premium on defense and pace. One cannot come without the other, and defense must originate from a consistent and reliable pace of play.
Also, Orlando is a talented team. The Knicks may have underestimated them. Credit to Orlando. They played a tough game, and they knew exactly how to disrupt the momentum the Knicks had built at the Garden.
So, the Knicks must acknowledge their ineffective play, and then forget about it and enter tomorrow night’s match with a fresh attitude. They won’t have Jalen Brunson, so other players will have to step up. Defense will be the most important thing against an energized Miami Heat team, and losing Brunson doesn’t have much of a defensive impact. Plus, there are plenty of other players on this team who can command the offense. Not as well as Brunson, of course, but they are capable nonetheless.
Ultimately, the Knicks must rekindle that defense-first mentality that sets them apart from the rest of the league. It’s strategy and execution, not mindset, that affects this team’s results, but if that execution doesn’t yield wins, the Knicks will revert to their old ways. That cannot happen.
Again, it’s just one game. Now, it’s time for more players to earn the right to hold and pose with the Tims.
Schedule
8:15 PM (7:15 PM CST): Thursday Night Football (TNF), Week 11 – New York Jets (2-7) at New England Patriots (8-2); Prime Video, WNYW (FOX 5)
