There is something to be said about the way the Rangers have responded in the face of adversity so far this season.
Last season’s Blueshirts team crumbled nearly every time a game got hard, revealing a debilitating mental fragility in the wake of any game-tying goals against, erroneous officiating or their own costly turnovers.
So far in this new campaign, however, the Rangers have done just the opposite.
And after hearing the most devastating injury news possible about their star goalie Igor Shesterkin, who will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, the 2026-27 Rangers took a 6-2 win over a struggling Canucks team despite giving up an equalizing shorthanded goal late in the second period.
“This is a situation I feel like not a lot needs to be said,” captain J.T. Miller said Sunday morning after participating in an optional skate. “Everybody in here knows what needs to be done. Everybody’s got to pull a little more weight around here. I said the other night, [Shesterkin] is one of the pillars of our organization and this hockey team, and a leader for us. It’s devastating to lose a guy like him, outside of how elite he is as a goalie…There’s a lot to be pulled from every guy in here right now to make up for what we’re losing.”
It’s been a couple years since the Rangers were described as resilient, but there have been flashes of the trait this season.
After the Rangers gave up two second-period goals to tie the Oct. 6 game against the Islanders, Mika Zibanejad said it himself that last year’s team probably would’ve collapsed in that position.
Not this time. Not this year. Not if the Rangers and their intentions for the season have anything to say about it.
Similarly to that Isles game last week, the Rangers’ effort never faltered after the momentum swung in their opponents’ favor. In fact, the home team was able to respond before the period was even over, just like they did against the Islanders.
A shorthanded goal from Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson would’ve flatlined the Rangers in the past, but Tye Kartye recorded his second goal of the night off a beautiful shot from the left circle to regain the lead for his team, 3-2.
Rookie goalie Dylan Garand, who took the ice as the Rangers’ starting goalie for the foreseeable future, rebounded as well. Stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced, Garand has limited every opposing team he’s faced to two goals or fewer over his six NHL games.
The Rangers scored three more times in the third period while limiting the visitors to just four shots on goal.
Alexis Lafreniere kicked off his new second-line assignment with a slick pass in the neutral zone to spring J.T. Miller for a partial 2-on-1 opportunity with Kartye. Miller extended his point streak to four games (one goal, three assists) as Kartye buried the rebound off his shot to put the Rangers up 27 seconds into the game.
The Rangers had the edge on the Canucks for much of the first period, but it faded and Jake DeBrusk’s quick release from the right faceoff circle beat Garand to even the score at one-all.
