Last 10-game stretch from November 18-December 6: 5-4-1

Thirty games into the National Hockey League’s 2025-26 season and the 100th anniversary of the New York Rangers’ founding and the Blueshirts still find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture. As of December 7, they are 11th place in the Eastern Conference and tied with three other teams on points (33). After a fast start, the rival New Jersey Devils have come back down to Earth and are tied with the Rangers on points.

Last week’s development was that All-Star defenseman Adam Fox suffered an upper-body injury on November 29. Fox has missed the previous three games and over this stretch the Rangers have played surprisingly well, taking five out of a six possible points. However, there is no doubt that losing an alternate captain and one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL will hurt Mike Sullivan’s team, if not now down the road.

In Fox’s stead, young defenseman Braden Schneider has taken over his role on the right side of the Rangers’ top defensive pairing alongside Vladislav Gavrikov. Schneider has played his usual tough, physical brand of hockey and hasn’t looked overmatched at all. This is a good sign for the future of the team and has helped the Rangers as a whole not miss a beat even without Fox. Schneider’s 0 plus/minus rating is fourth among Rangers defenseman who have played at least 20 games. Gavrikov is first with a plus-nine and has three goals in his last five games. The Russian blue liner also has six goals which ties a career high, just 30 games in.

Looking at the statistics that show how well or badly the team is playing this season, one that stands out is goals-against-per-game. The Rangers rank fifth in the entire NHL with a 2.61, clearly buoyed by the play of Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick. Speaking of goaltending, the Rangers’ .919 team save percentage (SV%) is second-best. Conversely, Mike Sullivan’s team rank 28th out of 32 teams in goals for per game (2.65).

If the Rangers are going to start scoring goals again top six center Mika Zibanejad has to play well and the 32-year-old has awakened recently. Zibanejad is tied for the team lead in goals with 10 this season and as of December 7, has six points in his last five games. Magic Mika has also gotten back to the power play form he has exhibited in the past, by scoring two power play goals against Boston on November 28. Zibanejad’s six power play goals are tied for fourth-most in the NHL with such names as Nathan MacKinnon and former teammate and good friend Chris Kreider. This is another good sign for Mike Sullivan’s group as they head into the meat-and-potatoes of the season.

Artemi Panarin is the highest-paid player on the Rangers roster and after a slow start, he’s beginning to play like it again. The 34-year-old Russian has 13 points in his last 10 games dating back to November 18. The Breadman has 31 points in 30 games this season which leads the Rangers. Strangely enough, Panarin, who is usually a sharpshooter from the perimeter has not scored a power play goal yet this season.

On yet another positive note the Rangers continue to get great goaltending. Number one, Igor Shesterkin is tied for third in the NHL in wins by goaltenders with 12 and also leads the league in games played (24). In terms of performance, Shesterkin’s .913 save percentage (SV%) is tied for 10th in the league.

His backup, Jonathan Quick has played his heart out in each of the six games he’s been between the pipes, posting a 3-3 record and a ridiculous .944 SV%. Quick hasn’t always gotten adequate support from his team both defensively and offensively as despite the great goaltending statistics he has put up, he has just a .500 record to show for it. The only game Quick played in the last 10 games was on November 22 at the Utah Mammoth and he made 31 saves on 34 shots in a 3-2 loss. That was the fourth loss of the Rangers longest losing streak of the season so far and the last game Quick played before suffering a lower body injury against the Mammoth.

Another bright spot has been top six center Vincent Trocheck. Trocheck got injured in the Rangers’ second game of the season but since he has returned the Rangers have a 8-6 record, which shows how much of a glue guy ‘Troch’ is. It’s evident in the way his teammates talk about him in press conferences. They refer to him as ‘Troch’ which shows there’s a familiarity, an affection even for the alternate captain. Performance-wise, the 32-year-old from Pittsburgh has been nearly a point-per-game player as he has scored 14 points in 16 games.

Former first overall pick, Alexis Lafrenière started this 10-game stretch with a three-game point scoring drought and hasn’t really raised his game much since. The 24-year-old French-Canadian has three points in his last 10 games and 15 in 30 games this season. Despite this, Coach Sullivan believes the promising young wing is bringing the necessary compete level to every game as evidenced by the fact that Lafrenière has been in the top six all season.  However, Lafrenière will need to raise his game because the team is relying on him for secondary scoring.

Ironically, bottom six wing Conor Sheary, who was written off after dressing for just five games with the Lightning last season, scored his first goal of 2025-26 on a breakaway against the NHL’s top team, the Avalanche on December 6. Sheary had gone his first 29 games without a goal and during the postgame press conference after that overtime loss, Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan described Sheary’s overall game which can be said about other bottom six forwards like Sam Carrick as well.

“Conor’s done a lot of good things for us this year, the only thing that’s been missing has been the finish. So, I’m hoping the goal he gets tonight will give him a boost of confidence and he has shown an ability to score in this league, so if he can chip in a little bit with a goal here and there for us, it certainly helps us with all the other things that he brings to the table.”

That brings me to the Rangers newly-minted Captain, J.T. Miller. Miller has five points (a goal and four assists) in his last five games. The 32-year-old from Ohio missed two games due to an injury from November 20 to 26 but showed toughness by returning to the lineup shortly after. Overall, Miller has raised his game during this 10-game stretch as he has nine points but overall he has 18 points in 28 games and is a minus-five. However, if you watch every game, you realize that in terms of the details, Miller has been checking all the boxes. He forechecks, he backchecks, and he has been a good net-front presence. That’s a good sign for the Rangers going forward, but hopefully Miller can stay healthy, as the team is currently without Adam Edstrom, Matt Rempe and Fox.

Despite the injuries to some impactful players, mainly Fox, the Rangers have remained in the playoff hunt in a highly-competitive Eastern Conference and earned points against some of the league’s best competition like Colorado recently.