Daily Report – 11/19/25

Rangers

It’s still difficult to tell who these Rangers are. On Saturday, they celebrated their sixth straight road win. The next day, they were painfully reminded of their struggles at home. And two days later – last night – their six-game road win streak ended in Las Vegas as they fell to the Golden Knights 3-2.

According to Jonny Lazarus on X, between the start of the season and November 8th, the Rangers ranked 32nd in the NHL in power play conversion rate and ninth in penalty kill rate. Since November 8th, they rank third in power play percentage and 31st in penalty kill rate.

How backwards is that?

Last night, the Rangers defended poorly against a powerful, sharp-shooting Golden Knights power play unit. In their last 10 games, the Rangers have allowed nine power-play goals. Meanwhile, they continue to struggle offensively, with just one five-on-five goal in their last three games.

That five-on-five goal came yesterday, off the rush by Jonny Brodzinski, cutting Vegas’s lead to one goal in the second period. But the Rangers never capitalized.

Many Rangers players have seen a significant decline in their on-ice production this season, including the captain, JT Miller. After nabbing an assist last night, Miller has 10 points in 21 games, but that is far from his usual output. Two seasons ago, Miller scored 37 goals and totaled 103 points.

“At some point, you look in the mirror,” an honest Miller said. “Speaking on behalf of myself, I certainly expect a hell of a lot more production than what I have. I’ve never really gauged my game on points, and I’ve said that a lot. Typically, when I bring my game, the points come. That being said, this year, it seems like nothing’s really going in the net.”

Part of the reason for Miller’s struggles is his stick control. He’s generated plenty of chances, but he has had trouble cashing in because of the position of his stick.

“If I can raise my personal standard and lead the team a little bit better production-wise, I think our outcome in these games is going to change,” Miller remarked.

However, Miller isn’t the only Ranger struggling to score. Former first-round pick Alexis Lafrenière has only scored four goals in 21 games. In his fifth full NHL season, he has continued to show dynamic offensive potential, but the goals aren’t showing up.

Meanwhile, Taylor Raddysh’s five goals are tied for the third-most on the Rangers, but three of them came in one game, and he hasn’t scored since October 30. Also, Jonny Brodzinski, the Rangers’ only five-on-five goal-scorer last night, was tasked with alternating at wing between the first and third lines – a tall order for a fill-in player.

“I made a switch to Mika’s line just because I didn’t think they were getting much, so I was trying to effect a little bit of change,” said head coach Mike Sullivan.

Ultimately, it’s a combination of goal-scoring and special teams issues that’s infecting the Rangers. Yet, they’ve been on the losing end of many one-goal games, since they’ve been defending rather well, overall. Special teams is what wins close games, and it’s where the Rangers are focusing most of their attention.

“[Vegas] got some of their best chances on the power play,” Sullivan said. “I think we’ve got to pressure more. I just feel like there’s a lot of hesitation in [our] game right now. We’ve got to get back on our toes and put pressure on people. I thought we had opportunities to pressure tonight. We didn’t.”

Seven minutes into the third period, Vegas regained a two-goal lead as Shea Theodorore scored on the power play. Pressure, as Sullivan put it, is something Vegas excels at. It includes getting pucks to the net, and the Rangers have been struggling to do this all season. Will Cuylle did it to help Brodzinski score in the second period, but the Rangers didn’t get much net-front action in the third period until they emptied their net.

The Rangers tied the game in the final three minutes, with their net empty, as Vincent Trocheck deflected a long wrist shot from Artemi Panarin. The Rangers fought until the end, guarding their empty net tightly and pushing pucks through to the net, but it was too late to score that coveted third goal.