Peter Laviolette, head coach of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
It might have been the worst loss of the season for the New York Rangers — or maybe not. At this point, it’s hard to keep track. But what happened in Anaheim against the Ducks felt like a breaking point. Facing one of the league’s bottom teams, the Rangers collapsed in a game that could very well define their season, and not in a good way.
They’ve been given every opportunity by the teams around them in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. No one seems to want to take control, and the Rangers had back-to-back matchups against two of the league’s worst clubs to make a statement. Instead, their power play went 1-for-7, including an extended 5-on-3 that came up empty when it mattered most.
With nine games left in the season, the runway is short. There isn’t much left to say about this team other than that next season has to be better, or they risk giving up a lottery pick in what is shaping up to be a stacked 2026 NHL Entry Draft. This roster is too talented to be this mediocre. Something needs to change. If there is still any hope to salvage the season, that change has to start now.
Game Recap
The Rangers started the game off slow, including taking a Will Borgen high-sticking penalty, but they managed to kill it off. They got an early goal when Adam Fox roofed a backhand shot past Lukas Dostal. During the period, the ice was heavily tilted toward the Rangers’ end, but K’Andre Miller drew a tripping penalty with under five minutes to go. The Rangers failed to score on the power play — the only thing they’ve done consistently lately — and to make matters worse, after a turnover in the offensive zone, Miller was slow on the backcheck, giving 35-year-old Alex Killorn a breakaway. He scored on his own rebound to tie the game. Two minutes later, J.T. Miller gave the Rangers the lead again with a backhand after a broken play.
Just 14 seconds into the second period, Alexis Lafrenière rifled a beautiful shot past Dostal, extending the lead to 3–1. It stayed that way through the second, with the Rangers having to kill off three penalties.
Two minutes into the third period, Leo Carlsson burst through the neutral zone, took the puck off K’Andre’s stick, and beat Shesterkin with a beauty — the second goal of the game for which Miller was at fault. Ryan Strome was sent to the penalty box for slashing Braden Schneider, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Rangers fans got to hear Sam Rosen say, “It’s a power-play goal,” when Mika Zibanejad ripped a one-timer past Dostal to re-extend the lead to two.
The Rangers quickly got another power play when Troy Terry was called for tripping Borgen. The reality is that K’Andre tripped him, and the refs blew the call. Seconds later, the Ducks were penalized for too many men, and the Rangers had an extended 5-on-3 for 2:36. Not only did they not score, they didn’t register a shot on goal. Midway through the period, the Rangers got their sixth power play of the game. Again, they didn’t score. Just after the penalty expired, Cutter Gauthier scored to cut the lead to one.
With four minutes left, Radko Gudas gave the Rangers another opportunity to put the game on ice, cross-checking Brennan Othmann into the goal post. Once again, the Rangers failed to capitalize. Just as quickly, Olen Zellweger tied the game.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. The game went into overtime. The Rangers started with Fox, Vincent Trocheck, and Artemi Panarin. They didn’t touch the puck a single time. Mason McTavish scored 59 seconds in and potentially ended the Rangers’ season.
Rangers Takeaways
- The takeaway is simple: Something is fundamentally broken. A team with this much talent should not be losing games like this — not at this point in the season, not at any point in the season, and certainly not with everything on the line. There are only so many times you can change the lines, reshuffle the power play, make trades, or wait for a spark that never comes. Eventually, the questions get bigger. There must be a vision, but the current vision has taken the Presidents’ Trophy winner from last season to the brink of missing the playoffs. Perhaps it is the wrong one. Mistakes were made in the offseason, with the Jacob Trouba fiasco, as Larry Brooks discussed in his recent article (from ‘The Jacob Trouba Lesson that Chris Drury Must Learn Before Rangers’ Offseason,’ – New York Post, March 28, 2025). But apparently, that mistake was the straw that broke the camel’s back. As Brooks wrote, “When business needs to be taken care of over the offseason, business needs to be taken care of over the offseason.” Something is deeply wrong with this team. The results speak for themselves.
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