The arrival of two-time Stanley Cup-winning head coach Mike Sullivan gave New York Rangers followers a renewed sense of pleasure for the 2025-26 NHL season. He introduced speedy credibility and a successful mindset to the group with the hope he may get the crew again on observe after the bitter disappointment that was the 2024-25 season.
Up to now, issues should not going as deliberate.
Particularly on residence ice, the place the Rangers fell to 0-4-1 this season (and 3-4-2 total) on Thursday night time in an unsightly 6-5 time beyond regulation loss towards the San Jose Sharks.
Traditionally dangerous begin on residence ice for Rangers
With Thursday’s loss, the Rangers at the moment are winless by way of their first 5 residence video games, one thing that has not occurred to the franchise because the 1943-44 season.
Whereas that total file at house is dangerous sufficient, it’s truly even worse than that.
Not solely have the Rangers did not win a sport at residence, however they didn’t even rating a single aim of their first three residence video games, getting shut out in three consecutive video games. That shutout streak lastly ended on Monday, once they scored a few minutes into their sport towards the Minnesota Wild, after which didn’t rating once more.
Getting into play on Thursday, they’d only one aim in 4 residence video games, whereas being outscored by a 9-1 margin.
On Thursday, the offense lastly arrived with 5 targets, however that was accompanied by their sloppiest defensive effort of the season the place they’d no reply for the Sharks and Macklin Celebrini.
The second-year standout recorded a hat trick and completed with 5 factors, aiding on Will Smith’s game-winning aim.
What makes this such an unsightly loss for the Rangers is that San Jose is the kind of crew they need to be beating. The Sharks entered Thursday’s sport as the one winless crew within the NHL, they usually had received simply seven of their earlier 46 video games going again to the second half of the 2024-25 season.
You can not make the playoffs or win a championship in October. However you may make it extremely laborious on your self relating to truly attending to the playoffs. The Rangers should not doing themselves any favors within the standings, and they’re doing even fewer favors relating to convincing their followers that the 2024-25 season was some form of a fluke.
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