New York Rangers Daily: Falling into last place before break, Patrik Laine ripped by Blue Jackets
If ever there was an NHL team in need of a break — away from the rink, away from practicing, away from games, away from each other — it’s the 2024-25 edition of the New York Rangers.
They get that much-needed respite starting Tuesday and running through Thursday, the annual three-day NHL holiday break. When they return to practice together Friday ahead of road games against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and the Florida Panthers on Monday, the Rangers desperately hope to be in a better place mentally to get their season back on track.
Following an embarrassing 5-0 loss in Newark to the New Jersey Devils on Monday, the Rangers (16-17-1) dropped into a last-place tie with the Islanders in the Metropolitan Division. Yes, they are even one point worse than the Columbus Blue Jackets, and are now tied for 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
With how dreadful they’ve played in a 4-13-0 stretch, it’s really crazy that the Rangers are only five points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card in the East. But it feels more like 50 points with how poorly they’ve played.
The Rangers received no spark from trading captain Jacob Trouba nor forward Kaapo Kakko. In that loss Monday, coach Peter Laviolette scratched veteran alternate captain Chris Kreider. None of this has helped.
But perhaps these three days off will let the temperatures cool a bit.
As a side note, we will continue publishing Rangers content here — including the Daily — at Forever Blueshirts, so please keep following up during the break as you enjoy your own holiday breaks!
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New York Rangers news
Here are three takeaways from the Rangers’ second shutout loss in the past four games Monday. Spoiler alert: there’s nothing positive to read in those takeaways!
Vincent Trocheck has become the Rangers’ de-facto captain since the Trouba trade. Once again, Trocheck spoke up postgame, saying “we’ve gotta show more heart,” a damning commentary on where the Blueshirts stand right now.
Along with the three-day break in the schedule, the Rangers’ week ahead includes tough road games in the Sunshine State. We break down, who’s hot, who’s not and what lies ahead for the Rangers.
NHL news
David Pastrnak was knocked out of the Boston Bruins’ 4-1 win against the Washington Capitals with an upper-body injury. He left the bench in the second period and didn’t return.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists in a 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers, tying him with Mario Lemieux for most helpers in Pittsburgh Penguins history (1,033).
Zach Werenski had three assists to lead the Blue Jackets past the Montreal Canadiens 5-4. The defenseman then blasted Patrik Laine for disrespectful comments the Canadiens forward made about his former team and teammates ahead of the game.
Things are bad for the Rangers, and nearly as bad for the Islanders, who were hammered 7-1 by the Buffalo Sabres. Yup, that was Buffalo’s first win in 14 games (1-10-3).
Watch Dylan Holloway of the St, Louis Blues record his first NHL hat trick in a 4-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings.
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