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 quick credibility and a profitable mindset to the group with the hope he might get the group again on observe after the bitter disappointment that was the 2024-25 season.
To date, issues aren’t going as deliberate.
Particularly on dwelling ice, the place the Rangers fell to 0-4-1 this season (and 3-4-2 general) on Thursday evening in an unsightly 6-5 extra time loss in opposition to the San Jose Sharks.
Traditionally dangerous begin on dwelling ice for Rangers
With Thursday’s loss, the Rangers at the moment are winless via their first 5 dwelling video games, one thing that has not occurred to the franchise because the 1943-44 season.
Whereas that general report at house is dangerous sufficient, it’s truly even worse than that.
Not solely have the Rangers did not win a sport at dwelling, however they didn’t even rating a single aim of their first three dwelling 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 in opposition to the Minnesota Wild, after which didn’t rating once more.
Getting into play on Thursday, that they had only one aim in 4 dwelling 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 that they had no reply for the Sharks and Macklin Celebrini.
The second-year standout recorded a hat trick and completed with 5 factors, helping 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 group they need to be beating. The Sharks entered Thursday’s sport as the one winless group within the NHL, and so they had gained simply seven of their earlier 46 video games going again to the second half of the 2024-25 season.
You can’t make the playoffs or win a championship in October. However you can also make it extremely onerous on your self with regards to truly attending to the playoffs. The Rangers aren’t doing themselves any favors within the standings, and they’re doing even fewer favors with regards to convincing their followers that the 2024-25 season was some form of a fluke.
