In the 2024 playoffs, it was “No quit in New York.” This season, it’s been “No B.S.”
The only member of the New York Rangers who adhered to the latter motto in the club’s 3-2 road loss to the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night was goaltender Jonathan Quick.
Quick turned aside 31 of the 34 shots he faced, ending with a .912 save percentage.
And the three goals that evaded him were hardly his fault. All came off either a broken play or a giveaway, more indicative of disjointed team play.
“Quickie was great,” said defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who tipped in an Adam Fox shot in the first period for his third goal of the season. “Made for us a couple huge saves, kept us in the game, and that’s exactly what we need in the moment.”
Some of that is the nature of the Rangers’ circumstances. They entered Saturday on a three-game skid that included losses to the division-leading Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche, and the high-powered Vegas Golden Knights. They were on the tail end of a grueling five games in eight nights. They were down captain J.T. Miller and steady defenseman Will Borgen.
But the Rangers’ issues on Saturday were all too familiar, as the club dropped its season-high fourth game in a row. They didn’t generate enough; Utah led New York in shot attempts and expected goals for in all three periods, according to Natural Stat Trick. The power play did not score on either of its opportunities. As a whole, the club looked disconnected.
“I think we’re too far away from each other,” Mika Zibanejad said. “It’s a lot of one-and-dones in the o-zone, try to get on the forecheck, it’s one guy, one guy, one guy, and we don’t come up with five together, and I just feel like we’re a bit late everywhere.”
Time is ticking. Thanksgiving, a key benchmark in the NHL regular season, is less than a week away. The Rangers have played 23 games — tied for second-most in the league — and sit in third-last in the Eastern Conference.
Their once-stellar road record, which had withstood a brutal 1-7-1 home start, has started to falter.
“I just didn’t think we won a whole lot of foot races,” said Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan. “And I didn’t think we won a lot of puck battles. And when you don’t win foot races or puck battles, you don’t tend to have the puck.”
As for Quick, he was at his best when his back was against the wall in the third period. The Mammoth registered 13 shots on goal and five high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. They had 82.8% of the expected goal share, as Quick conceded just one goal in the period.
While the Rangers failed to capitalize on their second power play of the evening, Quick held them in the game. He made a save on Mammoth winger JJ Peterka on a two-on-one, then stopped Utah left wing and captain Clayton Keller in tight. Later, he stopped Peterka on a breakaway after Artemi Panarin made a bad pass in the offensive zone, leading to a turnover.
“I feel like it’s every game, he gives us a really good chance to win,” forward Will Cuylle said. “Obviously, huge saves. He’s a world-class goalie, so lucky to have him.”
With just under 12:30 to play, Matthew Robertson was unable to control the puck amid chaos in the Rangers’ end. He attempted to clear the puck through traffic, but it wound up on the stick of Utah defenseman Nick DeSimone, whose point shot hit a spinning Taylor Raddysh and bounced through Quick.
DeSimone’s goal, which stood as the same winner, was emblematic of the goals the Rangers conceded Saturday.
On the opening goal, Utah defenseman Nate Schmidt’s point shot ricocheted off several bodies in front of Quick and off the post, before Peterka tapped it in.
In the second period, Keller hounded Rangers defenseman Scott Morrow into the corner. Morrow tried to clear the puck, but gave it away to Utah winger Kailer Yamamoto, who fed Keller for the game-tying goal — though the officials didn’t initially realize that the puck hit the back bar, not the crossbar.
In the opposing net, Mammoth goalie Karel Vejmelka didn’t need to be otherworldly against the Rangers, who managed just 10 shots on goal in the second and third periods combined.
New York’s best opportunity to tie the game came just under 6:00 into the third period, but Vejmelka denied both Alexis Lafrenière and Vincent Trocheck on a flurry of Rangers chances.
Though the Rangers generated seven shot attempts on their third period power play, they ultimately could not generate the goal they were looking for.
With 3:20 remaining, Quick was shaken up after Mammoth forward Michael Carcone drove the net hard and crashed into Quick.
Quick stayed in the game, even making another stretched-out save late, after Lafrenière took an untimely slashing penalty with 0:30 to play and the Rangers trailing by a goal — New York hasn’t scored a game-tying goal in the final three minutes of a game since March 2, 2024.
At the buzzer, Quick immediately left the ice for the Rangers’ locker room.
New York will return to Madison Square Garden on Monday to face the St. Louis Blues, who rank 29th in the league.
