The theme of the 2025-26 season for the New York Rangers thus far has been their inability to score, despite generating numerous scoring opportunities.
That theme remained the headline for the Rangers on Thursday night in their 2-1 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Tuesday night, the Rangers surpassed the 2001-02 Florida Panthers (155:17) for the longest season-opening streak without a goal at home.
Going into this matchup against the Maple Leafs, the Rangers hadn’t found the back of the net in two full games.
The Rangers have continued to generate consistent offensive pressure and seem to be doing all the right things, making it so puzzling to truly assess this team.
There was a lot to like from their performance in Toronto.
Throughout the night, the Blueshirts were aggressive offensively, while also playing a steady defensive game in front of Igor Shesterkin, helping contain a lethal Maple Leafs scoring attack.
Despite throwing shot after shot on Anthony Stolarz, the Rangers scored just one goal in the third period from Juuso Parssinen.
The Rangers’ barrage of chances wasn’t enough to propel them to a victory, as Auston Matthews’ overtime goal sent the Rangers heading to Montreal with just one point instead of two.
New York’s scoring woes are beginning to become a wide topic of conversation around the team that the players simply cannot ignore anymore.
“We’re getting good looks,” Fox said. “I think everyone could kind of feel that, but we’ve definitely got to finish on those chances, too. It's not just a game of expected goals. You’ve got to actually finish it.”
As of right now, the Rangers’ top-six forward core have not been producing the points that we may have expected going into the season.
In an attempt to revitalize his most explosive forwards, Mike Sullivan made a big line switch in the middle of the game, moving Alexis Lafrenière to play with J.T. Miller and Conor Sheary, while moving Will Cuylle to play with Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin.
"We just felt like we were at the point where we had to maybe effect a little bit of change,” Sullivan said of his line-switch decision. “Sometimes change for the sake of change might help a little bit. Will is obviously a different type of player than Laf.
Rangers Try To Find Positives Despite Breaking Record For Longest Season-Opening Streak Without A Goal At Home
Bad puck luck may be the best word to describe the New York Rangers’ 2-0 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
“I think he has a willingness to get to the net front. Mika and Bread have the ability to play that give-and-go game and make plays. But once again, it's not easy to score from the outside unless you've got somebody at the net front willing to make the goaltender’s life difficult. And so, we thought maybe that switch might help them there with Will's size and his willingness to get to the net front.”
Sullivan’s big move didn’t exactly thread the needle, really only leading to more questions instead of answers.
Last season, the Rangers allowed their issues to spiral out of control, but Sullivan is determined to shift this team’s mindset.
“The easy route is to be discouraged, but the right route, and the hard route, is to make sure we just get more determined,” Sullivan emphasized. “We'll build on the positives, and there's a lot to like about our game. It's a conscious choice that we all make on what our approach is going to be, and I know our guys are going to make the right one.”
Adversity is staring the Blueshirts directly in the face just six games into the season. If adversity was ever going to strike though, early on in the season is the best time for it.
Now, it’s all about how the Rangers respond.
“This is good for us, right now, as a team. We’re going to learn from this,” Miller said. “We're going to take pride in this. We’re not going to change. We’re going to test ourselves. It’s going to be good.”
The Rangers will be back in action on Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens.