Daily Report – 11/18/25
Rangers
The Blueshirts’ Backward Broadway Bloodbath continued on Sunday as the Rangers came out flat against Detroit despite a terrific shootout win in Columbus the night before. As great as their win in Columbus was, for they shut down the best even-strength scoring team in the NHL since last season, the Rangers went the entire weekend without scoring an even-strength goal.
Credit to Mika Zibanejad, who has scored power-play goals in consecutive games, and he has six points in five of his last six games. This is a different Zibanejad than the sluggish aging center from last season. But Zibanejad was the Rangers’ only goal-scorer this weekend (aside from the two they scored in Saturday’s shootout). The Rangers need to start scoring even-strength goals again, and they cannot let this past weekend’s narrative become a trend.
Meanwhile, head coach Mike Sullivan missed Sunday’s game for personal reasons. Former Rangers head coach and current assistant coach, David Quinn, filled in for him as the Rangers fell to the Detroit Red Wings 2-1. It was a remarkable, memorable Original Six matchup as both teams battled on Garden ice in their respective Centennial jerseys. It was classic New York blue versus blazing Detroit red.
Anyway, the Rangers lost. They gave up 44 scoring chances to Detroit while mustering just 17. Detroit also created 14 more high-danger scoring chances than the Rangers.
“We just didn’t get to our game,” JT Miller said. “They did a good job of defending the looks we did get. […] If it wasn’t for Quickie, that game could’ve been wide open.”
Jonathan Quick manned New York’s net with vintage JQ32 brilliance, for the 39-year-old exceeded his age in saves with 40. But it wasn’t enough, as the Rangers fell to 1-7-1 at home with just one goal against former Ranger Cam Talbot and his team’s .882 save percentage.
“Obviously, Quickie was unbelievable,” Quinn said. “It looked like we might be able to steal a point there as the game was evolving, and we just weren’t able to get it done.”
Before the game, the Rangers optioned Gabe Perreault back to Hartford, allowing Will Cuylle to rejoin Zibanejad and Miller on the Rangers’ top line. When asked about why Sullivan decided to send down Perreault, Quinn said, “He’s got an awful lot of talent, and he’s got a bright future in this league, but this is a man’s league.”
If reading that made you cringe, you’re not alone. Not only does Quinn sound like he’s insulting Perreault, whose unique physicality should be enough to earn him an extended stay on Broadway, but his remarks are awfully reminiscent of the habits that got him fired as the Rangers’ head coach. He was bad at developing talent.
The counter-argument to Quinn’s point would be that Perreault receives top-line minutes when he gets called up, which limits Cuylle’s playing time. But that doesn’t mean the Rangers can’t find a different lane for Perreault the next time they recall the 20-year-old forward.
One reason why the Rangers were outshot so brutally by Detroit on Sunday, 42-19, was that the Red Wings received five power plays, and 16 of their shots came on the man advantage. Their first goal came on the power play midway through the second period, as one-time Ranger Patrick Kane crossed the ice to Lucas Raymond, who shot the puck through Quick, and Alex DeBrincat added extra pressure to move the puck across the goal line.
“It’s not the result we came here for,” Quick said. “We’ll do what we can to prepare for the next game and get the result we want.”
The officials didn’t call this game much in favor of the Rangers, either. They missed a clear too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty against Detroit and miscalled a hold against Sam Carrick.
At 7:06 in the second period, referee Kelly Sutherland assessed Carrick with a minor penalty for allegedly holding JT Compher’s stick. However, video evidence clearly showed Compher hooked Carrick, and Carrick never even touched his stick. On the MSG Networks broadcast, Rangers analyst Dave Maloney vehemently criticized Sutherland, saying the call was a joke and that Sutherland takes too much time explaining his calls.
Maloney exclaimed, “Stop explaining, make the right call!”
The Rangers were able to kill off the penalty against Carrick, but it took away the momentum they had gained when Zibanejad tied the game a minute earlier.
At one point in the third period, with two seconds remaining on a penalty kill, the Rangers received an additional penalty, so they had to spend nearly four straight minutes down a player.
With 3:47 left in the third period, this time on even strength, Lucas Raymond circled behind the Rangers’ net and worked his way in front of Quick, and he shot over Quick as he bobbled above the crease.
A minute later, the Rangers emptied their net, but they couldn’t score. As the final buzzer sounded, Mason Appleton obnoxiously fired a shot toward the Rangers’ empty net. Jonathan Quick’s net. And he wasn’t happy.
Quick stormed off the bench and approached Appleton, and as he threw punches, both benches cleared. Around the NHL, the fight was viewed as aesthetically pleasing because of the bright colors of both teams’ jerseys. However, for the Rangers, it was seen as Quick exerting his leadership and expressing his dissatisfaction with the loss. He knows his team must be better, and they are struggling mightily at home.
Image Courtesy: Andrew Mordynski
“I don’t know why they were surprised,” Quick said. “It’s usually the response when something like that happens.”
Knicks
Did last night’s loss make you miss Jalen Brunson? Yeah, me too.
The Knicks fell to the Miami Heat 115-113 yesterday after scoring 140 points against them at the Garden on Friday. Last night, the Knicks couldn’t find any offensive rhythm, and when key moments arrived, players faded on the court.
Clearly, nobody on this team is as clutch as Jalen Brunson.
The Knicks’ best defender, OG Anunoby, will be out for at least two weeks with a hamstring strain, but luckily for the Knicks, defense wasn’t their issue yesterday. Offense was. And that’s “lucky” because Brunson, their best offensive player, is present on his team’s five-game road trip and is considered day-to-day.
Miami got too hot for the Knicks to handle late in a close-scoring game. Midway through the fourth quarter, after the Knicks scored their 99th point of the game, Miami went on a 10-0 run. With 2:59 and 1:46 remaining, Deuce McBride nailed consecutive clutch three-point shots to cut the deficit to four points.
With 22.4 seconds to go, after a sequence of sloppy shots and offensive rebounds, Karl-Anthony Towns finally hit his first three-pointer of the game, but it was too late. On Miami’s next possession, Davion Mitchell missed his first free throw, and the Knicks had 21 seconds to tie the game or gain the lead. They couldn’t do either.
Instead of attempting a traditional shot on the Knicks’ final sequence, Deuce McBride tried to unleash his inner Jalen Brunson by driving the ball to the net, but Kel’El Ware blocked his shot. With a goaltend against Ware as the initial ruling on the floor, the Knicks’ bench celebrated because McBride had tied the game. But then, the call was overturned, and with 13.2 seconds left to score, the Knicks couldn’t cash in.
Miami certainly squeaked this one out. But the Knicks are still searching for their first road win, and their scoring woes away from the Garden continue to haunt them.
“Not too many people in the league can do what Jalen does,” said Mikal Bridges, who scored 23 points. “So, you can’t really just mimic what he does by subbing somebody else in. But I think just playing within our game. Jalen is a great iso player, and not many guys can score like him. So, that’s a part of his game. Other guys got their games where it might be a little different.”
After receiving just one technical foul in their first 12 games, the Knicks received another yesterday as Josh Hart was penalized for arguing with the officials. Hart is an energetic, passionate player, but he didn’t focus his attention where it needed to be last night. He turned the ball over a game-leading six times, and the two points Miami scored after Hart’s technical foul arguably made the difference in this two-point ballgame.
After the Knicks lost to Orlando last Wednesday, head coach Mike Brown criticized his players for how often they complained to the officials. He suggested that instead of focusing on how the game was being called, they should have contributed more energy to the actual game.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re communicating at a high level, that we know the scout, know personnel, and we know how to execute,” Josh Hart said. “I don’t think we’re gonna go 0-41 on the road. At some point, it will bounce in our favor.”
As important as it is to have a reliable player in clutch situations, in the high-scoring game of basketball, these talented Knicks need to establish a consistent offensive identity. Against the same team twice in four days, the Knicks must be more consistent than scoring 140 points one night and 113 three nights later. They need to distribute their scoring more evenly across the four quarters.
One of this team’s best attributes is its roster depth. In every game, scoring is well-distributed among a variety of players.
Scoring also needs to be well-timed. That’s what’s missing for the Knicks.
Tonight, at 10 PM (9 PM CST), the Rangers begin a three-game road trip with a visit to Las Vegas to play the Golden Knights (MSG, Gotham Sports). They will travel to Colorado on Thursday and Utah on Saturday.
Mike Sullivan is back behind the Rangers’ bench tonight. He arrived in Las Vegas this morning.
Schedule
10:00 PM (9:00 PM CST): NYR at VGK; MSG, Gotham Sports
