\u201cWe\u2019re talking to the guys a lot, whether it\u2019s 5-on-5 or 4-on-4, on trying to create more off the shot,\u201d head coach Mike Sullivan said after the Rangers fell to 6-14-4 on home ice this season. \u201cSimplify the game. Get inside, create more off the shot. Nothing breaks coverage down better than a shot on goal. A rebound goes somewhere and decisions have to be made. Therein lies opportunity. If we get inside with people, we\u2019ve got an opportunity to compete on pucks and we force the Islanders to have to defend the scoring area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think we have to do a better job at recognizing when to put pucks in play, but we also have to have a willingness to get inside with people more consistently. When we do it, we do it at times and I think we create when we do. There\u2019s an element of consistency I think we can bring more to that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if we do, I think we\u2019ll score more goals, we\u2019ll generate more scoring chances, we may draw more penalties, because we\u2019re forcing teams to have to defend the scoring area and that\u2019s the hardest area in the rink to defend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/012926Rangers24CW.jpg\")
New York Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick reacts after giving up a goal to New York Islanders defenseman Carson Soucy during the second period on Jan 29, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
The Rangers were also shut out in two of their four games against the Islanders, including a 5-0 drubbing in their first meeting of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 2025-26 Rangers season has been handed over to the youth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brett Berard skated in his 13th NHL game of the season Thursday night against the Islanders, bringing the lineup\u2019s youngster count \u2014 along with Gabe Perreault, Brennan Othmann, Scott Morrow and Matthew Robertson \u2014 to five.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Learning of his latest recall after the Wolf Pack\u2019s 7-1 loss in Hartford, in which he sustained a cut that required four stitches on his left eyelid, Berard packed up and headed for Manhattan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the last few weeks down in Hartford I\u2019ve really started to feel like myself,\u201d he said after morning skate. \u201cPlaying to my identity, quick, fast, hard, using my weight as much as I can. It\u2019s been good to see a few go in the net. Definitely helps with the confidence. But, yeah, I feel like I\u2019m in a good spot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Berard was last recalled for the Winter Classic earlier this month in Miami, but was promptly returned. It was just his second call-up of the season after the 23-year-old got a run of 11 games at the end of November into mid-December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP_Islanders_Rangers_Hockey_98790-cf04d-0.jpg\")
New York Islanders\u2019 Mathew Barzal (13) deke past New York Rangers\u2019 Brett Berard (65) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in New York. AP<\/p>\n
Over those 11 games, Berard registered zero points and just 10 shots on goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first few games, I thought I was good, but the last couple I thought maybe it dipped for whatever reason,\u201d Berard said when asked to evaluate his first stint of the season. \u201cI wasn\u2019t getting as many pucks on net. So yeah, I think it was good to go back down to Hartford and get my confidence back. I think this time around, I\u2019m really ready. I\u2019m ready to go and super excited to hopefully be in the lineup tonight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Slotting onto the left wing of the fourth line next to Sam Carrick and Matt Rempe, Berard appeared in his 48th career NHL contest. The 134th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft has only skated in the bottom six this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the expert take on the Blueshirts\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Goalie Jonathan Quick stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced in his 17th start of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Rangers are scheduled to be off Friday before they venture to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in nearly eight years, the Rangers lost every game to the Islanders in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5111],"tags":[5,2310,3328,159,35,5190,5193,4,349,36,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-435747","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-mike-sullivan-nhl","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-islanders","12":"tag-new-york-rangers","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkrangers","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-ny-sports-minute","17":"tag-rangers","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115982685201743158","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}