Daily Report – 12/29/25
Rangers
The shutout trend never seems to end for the New York Rangers, and it makes zero sense.
The Rangers scored seven goals against Washington in their final game before the Christmas break. Somehow, after nearly a week of rest, they got shut out on Long Island. For the second time this season, they couldn’t score a single goal against the Islanders. This time, David Rittich – not Ilya Sorokin – shut the Rangers out 2-0 on a Saturday night.
So, the Rangers have already been shut out by both Islanders goaltenders. What’s even worse is that those two games make up merely one quarter of the Rangers’ total shutouts this season.
We aren’t living in the early 1980s. These aren’t the dynastic Islanders that won four straight Stanley Cups. So, for lack of a better phrase, what gives?
Well, as much as the Rangers players continue to express their dedication to winning and playing the right style of hockey – and don’t get me wrong, I do believe these players are trying – many players aren’t elevating their shots. It seems a key theme this season has, unfortunately, become puck elevation. This is especially prevalent because, with eight shutout losses through 40 games, the Rangers are halfway to matching the NHL single-season record set by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2006-07.
“It feels like everything [has gone wrong],” Artemi Panarin remarked. “We gotta score one at least, especially with a couple of power plays late in the game. I feel like we’ve recovered pretty well after those kinds of games, but when we go on the ice, we’re not thinking, ‘Oh, we have eight games already without a goal.’ But it’s frustrating. We’re doing that over and over this year. I don’t know, we’ve got to fix everything.”
The most important thing about puck elevation – and I cannot stress this enough – is that it signifies effort. The Rangers were without Adam Fox and JT Miller, which certainly didn’t help, but players like Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and, dare I say, Gabe Perreault, should have taken more advantage of their extra ice time.
Matching up against this year’s first-overall draft pick, Matthew Schaefer, it would have been encouraging if Perreault offered a more impactful performance. Instead, the Rangers snapped a 6-0-0 record with him in their lineup.
That statistic leads directly to the slippery slope of, “Woe is me as a Rangers fan because our most recent first-overall pick, Alexis Lafrenière, hasn’t been as successful as Schaefer on Long Island, or Jack Hughes in New Jersey, or Connor Bedard in Chicago, or Macklin Celebrini in San Jose, etcetera, etcetera.”
Meanwhile, in his 300th career start, Igor Shesterkin watched another impressive performance of his go to waste. After giving up a goal to Anders Lee 58 seconds into the opening period, he made 24 saves and didn’t allow another puck to enter his net (Long Island’s second came with the Rangers’ net empty). Shesterkin took a puck to his neck during practice ahead on Saturday morning, but he battled through.
“I think he just quietly makes timely save after timely save for us,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “I think he’s one of the elite goaltenders in the league, and I think he’s had a really solid year for us, but I don’t think we always give him the goal support that he probably deserves.”
Despite being shut out, the Rangers generated eight high-danger scoring chances and 27 shots on goal. They were active on all three zones of the ice. They didn’t play like a team that felt defeated by giving up a goal in the opening minute. Although it took them 11 minutes to record their first shot on goal of the game, they finished the first period with seven.
“From the first shift, from the drop of the puck, [the Islanders] were quicker to pucks, they were harder on pucks,” Sullivan said. “I thought after the first eight or nine minutes, we started to play. From there on in, I thought we were fine. We had a fair amount of [chances], a couple of two-on-ones, a breakaway. Is there ever enough offense? Probably not. We always want more, but we didn’t finish, obviously, on the ones we had tonight.”
The Rangers received their first power play with 6:04 remaining in the second period, and Will Cuylle fired a wrist shot that appeared to cross the goal line. However, video review revealed the puck had hit the crossbar, so it was back to a 1-0 game. That was the closest the Rangers would come to scoring before the 10:42 mark of the third period, when Rittich saved Carson Soucy’s penalty shot. This was especially deflating for Soucy because his giveaway behind the net led directly to Long Island’s goal in the opening minute of regulation.
“I thought, other than the first half of that first period, when they came out better than we did, it was a tight game,” said Mika Zibanejad, who didn’t record a single shot on goal in Saturday’s shutout loss. “But we have to find a way to score to win games. We didn’t do that today. We had chances at the end on our power play, but we couldn’t get it done.”
The Rangers drew two penalties in the final 5:19 of regulation, and they pulled Shesterkin to gain a six-on-four advantage with 1:50 remaining. However, it wasn’t enough for a goal, and Long Island cemented its dominance with 17 seconds left as Simon Holmstrom fired the puck into the Blueshirts’ empty net.
“They started a little better, I would say, than us, but then we grabbed a hold of that,” said Vladislav Gavrikov, who has assumed the role of the Rangers’ top defenseman in the wake of Fox’s absence. “That was a pretty even game, I would say. We probably could be more decisive from both sides.”
Tonight, the Rangers will try to rekindle their winning ways (or at least score a goal) as they visit the Carolina Hurricanes. It will be their second-to-last game before the Winter Classic in Miami on Friday. Although he is close to returning, Adam Fox won’t play tonight, and JT Miller didn’t travel with the team to Raleigh. However, Sullivan says he anticipates Miller will join the team soon. Also, Sam Carrick is sick and has been deemed a game-time decision.
Knicks
As a Knicks fan, given how talented this team is, cinematic endings like the one in Atlanta on Saturday can be frustrating because it shouldn’t require a four-quarter back-and-forth battle for the Knicks to beat the 15-18 Hawks. But in the end, a win’s a win, so I’m not complaining.
This time, OG Anunoby played hero as the Knicks won a contested affair in Atlanta, 128-125. His 15-point total was insignificant, but his timely go-ahead free throws in the final 30 seconds proved instrumental. These were probably Anunoby’s best 30 seconds of the season: Two rebounds, four free throws, and a game-sealing steal from Trae Young, a top NBA ball handler.
The first quarter of this game was tight, with the Knicks edging out the Hawks 33-27. From there, the Knicks maintained a steady lead, which they extended to as many as 18 points midway through the third quarter. Atlanta cut the deficit to 10 by the start of the fourth, and with 4:25 remaining in regulation, Young nailed a pair of free throws to move his team within one point of tying the game.
With 3:10 left, Onyeka Okongwu nailed a three-point shot to make it a one-point game again. A minute later, he gave Atlanta its first lead since the first quarter. With 49.2 seconds left, Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored to put Atlanta ahead 125-124, but a few plays later, Anunonby responded with a pair of go-ahead free throws.
“I’ve said this to him. OG’s an All-Star if he wants to be,” said head coach Mike Brown. “At his size, his length, his strength, his athleticism, his feel, he can do so much out there. He just has to impose his will on the game every single play.”
Anunoby would never have gotten his 30 seconds in the spotlight without the help of Karl-Anthony Towns, who netted 36 points, 15 rebounds, and a 17-for-18 mark from the free-throw line. He did an excellent job of drawing fouls and winning battles all over the court.
“I talked to [Towns] in front of the team,” Brown said. “When he screens, and he rolls, we’re a different team because the pressure he puts on the defense on his roll is unbelievable. Because if he catches the pocket, it’s a wrap. He’s getting fouled, or he’s getting fouled, and he’s scoring because his momentum is going that way, and he’s quick. He’s a monster when he rolls.”
Jalen Brunson was also productive with 34 points, and he finished 15-for-29 from the field. However, he needed Anunoby and Towns by his side, especially when Atlanta came dangerously close to winning. Also, the Knicks didn’t have Josh Hart, so Mohamed Diawara cracked the starting lineup. But it was Kevin McCullar Jr. who most effectively took advantage of his added minutes, pairing 13 points with eight rebounds, half of which were in the offensive glass, in 23.5 minutes as Brown’s first pick off the bench.
“He was fantastic,” Towns said of McCullar, who was the Knicks’ leading bench scorer. “He was exactly what we say when we say ‘next man up,’ and the bench was a spark when we really needed it to win the game.”
When players embody that “next-man-up” mentality Towns referenced, it separates playoff-contending teams from potential NBA Champions. McCullar’s performance showed why the Knicks, at 22-9, remain the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. Sure, they have a leading MVP candidate in Jalen Brunson. They have an all-defensive team candidate in OG Anunoby. They have an iron man in Mikal Bridges. They have a rebound machine in Mitchell Robinson. They even have a versatile big man in Karl-Anthony Towns.
What has been particularly special, though, is the incredible breakout performances many Knicks players, like McCullar, Tyler Kolek, and Landry Shamet, have provided in the wake of injuries. The depth of this Knicks team gives Brown and Leon Rose a plethora of trade deadline options. Not everyone will get to play in the postseason, but in this NBA, a deep bench is crucial if a team wants to go all the way.
A deep bench gives starters time to rest, making it easier for teams to win tightly contested games. The Knicks’ bench helped them fend off the Hawks and extinguish their comeback, while other teams might have toppled under pressure. The Knicks’ bench has been a key factor in numerous comeback wins this season. This time, it prevented a comeback loss.
Schedule
7:00 PM: NYR at CAR; MSGSN, Gotham Sports
8:00 PM: NYK at NOP; MSG, Gotham Sports
8:15 PM: Monday Night Football (MNF), Week 17 – Los Angeles Rams (11-4) at Atlanta Falcons (6-9); ESPN, ESPN App
5:30 PM: Monday Night Countdown; ESPN
8:00 PM: Progressive Monday Night Kickoff; ESPN, ESPN App
