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Pre-Scout: New York Rangers ride emotional high for JT Miller, but where are the goals?
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Michael Menzies
Oct 30, 2025, 11:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 29, 2025, 19:11 EDT
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So far, the reviews for the new Broadway production, The New York Rangers, are getting panned by critics.
With a new director (Stanley Cup champion coach Mike Sullivan) and a disgruntled leading man (Artemi Panarin), when will this production finally find its rhythm? These dress rehearsals are getting a thumbs-down from Siskel and Ebert.
Winless at home through five tries, it’s been ugly sledding at Madison Square Garden. Yet on the road, the Rags are 4-1-1.
Now coming off the emotional high of JT Miller’s return to Vancouver on Tuesday, the Rangers are hoping to build more positives on a Western road trip (third of four tonight), winning one for their new captain after being the unfortunate team to snap the Flames’ eight-game losing streak. 
After grabbing lunch with former teammates Quinn Hughes and new Canuck coach Adam Foote on Monday, Miller played 19:28 and had two shots on goal, as the Blueshirts played in yet another shutout.
When the video tribute played, he was showered in praise. During the play? A rain of boos. 
“It’s just surreal. You don’t realize how lucky you are. I’m really happy my kids got to be here today, and my wife. I just feel super lucky to have that support in a hockey crazy city. It was a really special chapter of our lives here,” Miller said after the victory.  
Rallying around their captain, the Rangers were on the winning end 2-0 for Jonathan Quick’s 64th career shutout, snapping their three-game skid and improving their record to 4-5-2. The Canucks were pressing in the third, but could never solve Quick. 
“That’s the game we’ve put on the ice for most of this year. And when we play this way, we’re going to have a chance to win every single night,” Sullivan told reporters post-game. “Our mindset was in the right place, we defended hard. When there were breakdowns, we got big saves from Quickie, but from a team structure standpoint, and overall team game, we were much better tonight.”

Can someone bury?

Absurdly, this was already New York’s fifth shutout game of the season through just 11 contests. Three times they’ve been blanked, twice they’ve done the blanking.
The Rangers’ game against the Oilers back on Oct. 14 has been a microcosm of their season. They heavily outchanced the Oil in that game, 10 High Danger Scoring Chances at 5-on-5 to Edmonton’s three, but Stuart Skinner was on his game. 
In fact, just once in their 11 games have the Rags been outchanced at High Danger at 5-on-5.
What gives? 
The actual bearing down to score part, ya know, putting the puck into the net, is severely lacking. Their Expected Goals Percentage 5-on-5 is right near the top in the whole league, but their actual goals are near the bottom. 
The fancy stats suggest the team is snakebit. The actual stats say the team is struggling to score. 
There is significant pressure, particularly on general manager Chris Drury, to produce victories, especially with how toxic the end of the 2024-25 season was in Gotham. 
The sluggish offensive start has seen fans plotting Artemi Panarin trades in his last year under contract, pre-empted the Mika Zibanejad distress extra early, and even launched online discourse on whether Alexis Lafrenière (in his sixth season) should be deemed a first overall bust. 

Notes…

  • Vincent Trocheck remains on LTIR (he missed the first Oilers matchup, too), and now enforcer Matt Rempe is also expected to miss time after the Broadway tilt against Ryan Reaves last Thursday. Trocheck is close, but didn’t join the team on the trip. He was 4th in team scoring last season. 
  • Sam Carrick was buzzing the last time they played. He scored the clinching empty-netter for the first of his year.  
  • Guys like Noah Laba (a former fourth-round pick who worked his way up from Colorado College and Hartford – as well as former sixth-rounder Adam Edstrom, and career tweener Jonny Brodzinski) have rounded out their bottom-six with the increased forward injuries. Laba, in particular, as a center is getting more opportunity, playing a career high 14:19 against Calgary on Sunday.  
  • Beyond top-pairing defenders Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov, Will Borgen is playing 18:49 on average a game (which would be a career high) on New York’s second D pair, despite not being a household name. He’s being yo-yoed with Braden Schneider, a player the Rangers are hoping cements his name in the top-four, but is -5 at the moment. 
  • We should mention the highest-paid goaltender in the game, Igor Shesterkin. In year one of the $92 million deal, he boasts a 2.25GAA and a .915 save percentage. Shesterkin is solid, there’s no doubt.
  • After this, the Oilers are done with the Rangers this season. There’s been a bundle of goals in the last five head-to-heads at Rogers, dating back to 2019. Edmonton went 3-1-1 in those games, with at least one team reaching five goals in the game all but one time. 

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