NEW YORK — Mike Sullivan was on message from the start to finish on Monday, determined to reverse what he rightfully viewed as a negative trend.

The New York Rangers coach had observed his team drift from a defensive style in which goals were admittedly hard to come by but very few were allowed to a much looser game in which their structure crumbled and the goals still weren’t coming.

The analytics bore that out. After limiting opponents to an NHL-best 7.44 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes while earning 56.83 percent of the expected goals-for share through their first 13 games, the Rangers jumped to 9.8 HD chances allowed per 60 and a 47.16 percent xGF in their next 10, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Sullivan described it as “two different teams,” which he believes stemmed from “chasing offense.”

“We use the phrase with the guys all the time,” he said. “When you chase offense, sometimes it turns into a high-risk, reckless game, and it’s hard to win that way. We talk to them a lot about just taking what the game gives them. When there’s opportunities to make plays, we certainly don’t want to take the stick out of their hands. We want them to act on their instincts and trust their instincts. But there’s also an element of discipline in taking care of the puck in the critical areas of the rink. I think it’s an important aspect of being hard to play against.”

Sullivan implored the Rangers to simplify and get back to the controlled game that made them one of the league’s stingiest defenses through the first month of the season. The result was a 3-2 win over the lowly St. Louis Blues, which snapped a four-game losing streak and gave New York its second win at Madison Square Garden in 10 tries.

“I thought we did a way better job just taking care of the puck,” Sullivan said. “And I thought we defended hard. We had numbers back. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but I thought our intentions were in the right place. And as a result, it was a much lower event game. We weren’t trading chance for chance, or opening the game up and giving a ridiculous amount of high-quality looks. You play the game the right way, you can create your offense through your defense.”

Concerns about generating consistent offense aren’t going away any time soon, especially not after beating one of the few teams that’s definitively worse than the 11-11-2 Rangers. But their best chance to hang around in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race will come if they remain steadfast in their commitment to Sullivan’s system.

“The East is so tight right now,” center Vincent Trocheck said. “I feel like any win you jump four spots. Any loss, you drop four spots. So, we needed this one.”

This felt like the games we saw for much of October. The Rangers didn’t create an overwhelming amount of scoring chances, but they were patient enough that the few goals they registered held up. They limited the Blues to 21 shots and five HD chances at five-on-five, including only two in the first two periods combined.

It wasn’t the most exciting game the Garden has seen, but this iteration of Rangers can’t get into track meets and expect good things to happen. They’re thin on skill and speed and will have to grind for everything they get. That was clear while going 0-3 on a recent road trip through Vegas, Colorado and Utah, with the struggling Blues offering a much-needed soft spot in an otherwise unrelenting schedule.

The degree of difficulty will pick right back. Each of New York’s next seven games will come against teams who entered Monday in playoff position, starting Wednesday in Carolina against the Metro Division-leading Hurricanes.

“That was a tough road trip for us,” said defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. “We had to bounce back as we did, especially at home. That’s important. The next few games coming up are going to be against good teams so we’ve got to be ready to do that again.”

8 more thoughts from Monday

1. The Rangers were without J.T. Miller for the second consecutive game, as their captain remains out with an upper-body injury suffered Thursday in Colorado. It’s unclear if he’ll be ready to return Wednesday, but after watching him try to play through a separate injury earlier in the season, allowing him ample time to heal up seems like the wise move. (Even if it leaves the lineup precariously thin.)

2. Sullivan labeled Trocheck as a “game-time decision” in the morning due to an undisclosed ailment, but the 32-year-old center never had any doubt. “I was playing either way,” he said. He gutted it out and came up big 10:06 into the second period by scoring the tying goal to get the Rangers going. Trocheck now has four goals in eight appearances since returning from an upper-body injury that cost him the previous 14 games.

3. The play started with a heads-up read from Adam Fox, who spun around a defender at the defensive blue line and spotted Jonny Brodzinski for a stretch pass that sent the Rangers ahead on the rush. Brodzinski took it from there, splitting two defenders before dishing a sweet backhanded feed to a wide-open Trocheck. 

Some slick passing + Troch puts it away. pic.twitter.com/ZPxAIGdKzG

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 25, 2025

With Miller out of the lineup, Brodzinski has been elevated to play in the top six on a line with Trocheck and Artemi Panarin. It’s not an ideal long-term spot for a 32-year-old who began the season as a healthy scratch, but Brodzinski was one of New York’s better forwards once again on Monday. He skates well, can be counted on to check and defend with detail, and has more scoring touch than your typical 13th forward. This was yet another reminder of the value he brings as a plug-and-play option anywhere in the lineup.

“He has such great offensive instincts,” Trocheck said. “Anytime he gets put in a position in the top six, he ends up producing. That play there, he has a lot of speed. We’re able to get above them in the neutral zone, and then he just finds me backdoor. Great play. He’s been great for us anytime he’s in the lineup.”

4. Speaking of bright spots, Gavrikov hung tough after getting hit by a puck in second period and may have been the Rangers’ best all-around player. He and Fox continue to be a dominant D pair with an 80.29 percent xGF in 17:49 time on ice together, but the big free-agent addition also showed off more playmaking ability than he gets credit for.

Three days after turning 30, Gavrikov notched a pair of assists to help secure the win. The first came 40 seconds into the third period when his long-range wrist shot ping-ponged off Alexis Lafrenière to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead, but the most impressive play came on New York’s third and final goal. After sending a pass to Sam Carrick, Gavrikov drove the net and put himself in perfect position to pounce on a deflected shot from Fox. He made a slick backhanded feed to Adam Edström, who was behind him for the net-front finish to make it 3-1 with 11:04 to play.

GAVI ➡️ EDDY pic.twitter.com/s5z0trqtXM

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 25, 2025

“When we think of Vladi, we always talk about his defensive prowess,” Sullivan said. “He’s heavy at the net front. He leans on people. He’s hard to play against. He’s a real good defender, and when we discuss him, we always talk about that. But I think his ability to make some plays off the offensive blue line, they’re sneaky good. He’s been involved in a fair amount of goals over the last little while there, just by making pretty good decisions along that offensive blue line – when to jump through, when we’re trying to create some motion and some movement in the top half of the offensive zone. He’s pretty good at it, and he’s also pretty good at just getting pucks through the first set of shin pads or the layers of shot blockers, which is, I think, a really important skill for defensemen in today’s game.”

5. Brett Berard was the final cut at the end of training camp and figured to be the first forward recalled, but the Rangers passed over him three times before finally making the call Sunday. He admitted that the disappointment of not making the NHL roster lingered and affected his play to begin the season with AHL Hartford. The 23-year-old winger went the first five games without a point, but saw an uptick with nine points (two goals and seven assists) in his last 12 to earn his way back to New York.

“I kind of lost a little confidence there,” Berard said prior to the game. “The first few games, it was hard to kind of get my game back. But I think it was also good and challenged my mental toughness, too, to kind of go through a little funk like that at the start of the year. So I think it was good, and especially the last two weeks, I’ve felt really confident in my game.”

6. At this point, the Rangers should roll with him. The lineup they’ve been using for the first 20-plus games of the season hasn’t exactly been lighting up, and it’s quickly approaching the time to start the youth movement. Berard brings a speed element they sorely need and can provide a jolt with his eager play style. He did that Monday by pushing the pace in transition, aggressively seeking his shot and coming up with a few loose pucks through sheer hustle. He finished the night with a double minor for high-sticking that forced the Rangers to kill a four-minute penalty, but that was the only blemish in an otherwise encouraging season debut.

Berard’s line with Conor Sheary and rookie Noah Laba out-attempted the Blues, 12-5, and out-shot them, 6-2.

“I actually thought he played well,” Sullivan said. “I would have liked him to be a little more responsible with his stick there in the third. That’s an important element of the game, but I really liked his energy. I thought he brought some speed. He had a couple of good looks at the net. He can shoot the puck. He’s a good kid. He plays hard. We anticipated that he would bring some juice, and he did. I thought his line, all three of those guys are quick. They can skate, so they get after pucks and they hunt pucks really well. I thought they had some real good momentum shifts for us.”

7. Berard was in the middle of a first period that could have gone much differently. The Rangers registered six of their nine HD chances in the opening 20 minutes, including a couple quality looks for Berard, but came away with nothing to show for it. They’ve now gone 20 of 30 periods at home without a goal. (Stick taps to Dan Rosen of NHL.com for pointing out that stat.)

8. My final thought isn’t a dig at Sullivan, who has done an admirable job in implementing defensive structure and communicating that message. He’s been candid and accountable, too, which is why it stuck out when twice on Monday he referenced “noise” that he believes has caused the Rangers to press. The inference is that what’s been written and said about the fact — and it is a fact — that the Rangers are struggling to score has become an unwanted distraction. But this rings a bit hollow when they opened the season talking about mental toughness and their desire to cut out the “B.S.” The 2024-25 Rangers got caught in the trap of pointing blame outward instead of inward, and we all saw how that went. I’m not saying we’re anywhere near that point, but any frustration would be best channeled on the ice, not at the media — and especially not toward their loyal fans.