Daily Report – 12/18/25
Rangers
Six shutout losses in 17 home games is absurd, embarrassing, and shameful. On Tuesday night, the Rangers lost 3-0 to Thatcher Demko and the NHL-worst Canucks. It was their seventh shutout loss of the season.
Demko is a top-five NHL goaltender when he’s healthy. He doesn’t give up anything down low, so if players want to score against him, they must elevate their shots. Puck elevation is a skill, but it’s also a harder style of play to execute. When players do, though, it signifies effort and care.
According to Clear Sight Analytics, the Rangers out-chanced Vancouver 20-13 on Tuesday. They were expected to outscore them, too. But the Rangers didn’t challenge Demko. They didn’t elevate their shots.
They didn’t show enough heart.
They didn’t try hard enough to win.
Tonight, the Rangers are visiting St. Louis. Last year, when they traveled to play the Blues, I watched Chris Kreider storm off the ice during warmups. It was soon revealed that the Rangers were making Kaapo Kakko, their former second-overall pick, a healthy scratch. He was traded to Seattle the following week.
It was later revealed that before the game in St. Louis, Vincent Trocheck led a players-only meeting and called out teammates for their lack of effort amid an epic collapse, which was partly caused by players protesting against management. Although conflicts have been resolved, mostly, since then, many of the same players are still on the team. We can only hope this difficult week, in which the Rangers were shut out twice and outscored a combined 14-5, doesn’t derail the club again.
“I’m not concerned,” JT Miller said. “I’m just pissed off. You feel like you work so hard, and you make a lot of plays and a lot of nights, I feel like we’re out-playing the other team. And we end up in here pissed because we didn’t score enough goals.”
The Rangers didn’t give Jonathan Quick much support as he manned the net against Vancouver on Tuesday. However, the first goal he allowed wasn’t entirely the Rangers’ fault. On an attacking zone entry, Brock Boeser fed the puck through traffic for Evander Kane, and as Matthew Robertson tried to check him, he collided with the linesman, setting Kane free. The linesman was standing right in the middle of the play.
Sometimes, linespeople make mistakes. It happens. The bigger issue here is that the Rangers couldn’t respond, and they couldn’t defeat the worst team in the NHL.
“Their first goal was a little unfortunate,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “After that, you know, they had a few looks, but not a lot. I thought we defended hard. I thought we controlled territory. We had a significant amount of O-zone time. The power play had a lot of looks. We’re trying to solve it for sure, but is it a little bit concerning at this point? Yeah.”
The Rangers’ power play is two-for-22 since Adam Fox injured his shoulder on November 29. The Rangers couldn’t convert on any of their four power plays against Vancouver, including three in the opening frame. With five forwards on the primary unit, players are struggling to move the puck and create scoring chances. Elevating pucks would certainly help.
JT Miller is confident that his team will overcome its woes. “Bear down,” he said. “Like myself, I had chance after chance, I feel like. It’s just not enough. It’s not enough to my standard, it’s not enough to the team’s standard to just play well, outplay the other team, and not bury your chances. We deserve better a lot of these nights, but that being said, we’re not bearing down, and the other teams are.”
The Rangers’ schedule doesn’t get any easier this weekend. After tonight’s game in St. Louis, they’ll host Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon before visiting Nashville on Sunday night. The game in Nashville will be the first of six straight road games, including the Winter Classic against the Florida Panthers on January 2.
Schedule
7:00 PM: NYK at IND; MSG, Gotham Sports
8:00 PM: NYR at STL; MSGSN, Gotham Sports
8:15 PM: Thursday Night Football (TNF), Week 16 – Los Angeles Rams (11-3) at Seattle Seahawks (11-3); Prime Video
