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 instant credibility and a successful mindset to the group with the hope he may get the workforce again on observe after the bitter disappointment that was the 2024-25 season.
Thus far, issues usually are not going as deliberate.
Particularly on house ice, the place the Rangers fell to 0-4-1 this season (and 3-4-2 total) on Thursday evening in an unpleasant 6-5 extra time loss towards the San Jose Sharks.
Traditionally unhealthy begin on house ice for Rangers
With Thursday’s loss, the Rangers at the moment are winless by way of their first 5 house video games, one thing that has not occurred to the franchise because the 1943-44 season.
Whereas that total file at house is unhealthy sufficient, it’s truly even worse than that.
Not solely have the Rangers didn’t win a sport at house, however they didn’t even rating a single aim of their first three house video games, getting shut out in three consecutive video games. That shutout streak lastly ended on Monday, after they scored a few minutes into their sport towards the Minnesota Wild, after which didn’t rating once more.
Getting into play on Thursday, that they had only one aim in 4 house video games, whereas being outscored by a 9-1 margin.
On Thursday, the offense lastly arrived with 5 objectives, 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, aiding on Will Smith’s game-winning aim.
What makes this such an unpleasant loss for the Rangers is that San Jose is the kind of workforce they need to be beating. The Sharks entered Thursday’s sport as the one winless workforce 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 in terms of truly attending to the playoffs. The Rangers usually are not doing themselves any favors within the standings, and they’re doing even fewer favors in terms of convincing their followers that the 2024-25 season was some type of a fluke.
