Daily Report – 3/2/26
Rangers
The Rangers haven’t earned a regulation win at home since November 24, 2025. Today is March 2, 2026.
But on Saturday at the Garden, the Rangers won in shootout fashion, besting the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Vincent Trocheck scored the game-winning goal in the shootout, during which Igor Shesterkin stopped each of the three shots he faced.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, and perhaps for Trocheck, too, their second-line center is on the trade block. A move is likely to be finalized before Friday’s deadline. Today in practice, Trocheck acknowledged this reality. He stated he has written several West Coast teams into his 12-team no-trade list and has expressed his desire to be moved to a Cup-contending team.
“I do want to be on a team that’s a good team,” Trocheck said. “If I’m going to get traded and it’s to a team that’s in the same situation as us, then I don’t want to move. That sounds miserable in a new city.”
As of now, Trocheck is still expected to suit up against Columbus tonight. However, there is a chance the Rangers bench him as soon as they find a suitable trade destination, as they did with Artemi Panarin. Nevertheless, Trocheck is focused on the present, and he delivered with a two-point performance on Saturday. He helped the Rangers overcome a 2-0 deficit before completing the comeback in a shootout.
Despite the upcoming trade deadline, when the Rangers will certainly be sellers, head coach Mike Sullivan is helping his players maintain their composure. “We’ve already addressed the circumstance that we’re in,” he said. “I don’t know that this week changes anything, based on what we’ve been dealing with the last three or four weeks.
“We’ve had conversations with the team and individuals around it because it’s our job to try to help them navigate through their respective circumstances to try to help them be the best versions of themselves. So, we’ve had some conversations around it. The trade deadline is never an easy time for players. […] It’s just the reality of the business part of what we all signed up for.”
Speaking of the business aspect of playing in the NHL, Tye Kartye was claimed off waivers at 11 AM on Friday. He made his Rangers debut 25.5 hours later, and his new team welcomed him with open arms. He cited Will Borgen as his friend from Seattle. The Kraken waived Kartye on Thursday.
“He came as advertised,” Sullivan said of Kartye, who recorded six hits in his Rangers debut. “[Chris Drury] talked to me about his motor and his ability to help us in the puck pursuit game, getting in on the forecheck, disrupting plays, making it hard on opponents’ breakout options, things of that nature. He has some physicality in his game.
“I thought he had a pretty good game for us, for a guy that gets the news [on Friday], travels all the way across the country, and then has to lace them up in a 12:30 game.”
Kartye played on the Rangers’ third line, alongside Noah Laba and Brendan Brisson, who earned his first NHL point three minutes into the third period. He assisted on Taylor Raddysh’s game-tying goal, which he popped past Stuart Skinner with a nifty net-front deflection.
“We were having kind of a good push there in the second [period],” Raddysh said. “To get one early in the third to get right back into the game was big for us.”
Mika Zibanejad scored the Rangers’ first goal, halfway through the second period, with a sharp one-timer from the slot on a centering pass from Trocheck. The goal was Zibanejad’s 132nd career power-play tally, tying him for the fourth-most power-play goals by a Swedish player in NHL history. He has now scored the seventh most NHL goals (338) by a Swede.
The Rangers’ key ingredient for success was their 76.9% faceoff clip, their highest since the NHL began tracking faceoffs in 1997. It was also the 10th-highest single-game clip ever recorded in that span. The Rangers achieved this mark against a Penguins team that was without Sidney Crosby, one of the best faceoff-takers in the world.
Furthermore, Saturday’s win marked the 12th against Pittsburgh of Igor Shesterkin’s career, his most against any team in the NHL. When asked about his confidence in Shesterkin, Sullivan said, “It’s comforting to have him. […] I think he’s the best goalie in the game.”
Tonight at 7 PM (6 PM CST), the Rangers will host the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third of four straight home games (MSG, Gotham Sports).
Schedule
7:00 PM (6:00 PM CST): NYR vs. CBJ; MSG, Gotham Sports
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Rangers
