NEW YORK — The boos grew louder as the third period waned on, each failed rush attempt and sloppy breakout adding to the frustration of the fans who’d paid hundreds of dollars to watch the New York Rangers.
The first cheer that emerged from the Madison Square Garden crowd in the final frame came with less than seven minutes to play. It was sarcastic. A New York Rangers dump-in attempt had slid to Carolina Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov. It was the first puck on net in a period that the Rangers entered down 2-0, and would exit 3-0 losers with one shot.
“In the third period, we got a little bit too far from each other,” Mika Zibanejad said. “We’re slow. We’re slow with puck decisions.”
Tuesday night’s game was supposed to be the home game New York would build on. They played better defensively with each passing game in their Pacific Northwest road trip last week, which culminated in a 3-2 overtime win in Seattle on Saturday, in which they held the Kraken to just 13 shots.
Instead, the Rangers’ effort against Carolina was more reminiscent of their home games throughout the first month — and then some — of 2025-26.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of something like this before,” Zibanejad said. “In terms of getting looks, not scoring, so that’s frustrating.”
The Rangers pressed hard at times. J.T. Miller, Artemi Panarin, and Carson Soucy all had quality looks early in the first period, as the Rangers totalled 15 shots in the frame. New York was also credited with three high-danger chances in the first period, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan specifically mentioned in his postgame media availability that his players couldn’t capitalize on prime scoring chances by Panarin, Miller, and Jonny Brodzinski.
“That’s just the way it’s going for us right now,” Sullivan said. “We just got to keep fighting.”
New York also faltered when they needed to turn up the urgency to mount a third-period comeback — the type they’d manufactured in Edmonton last week as they snatched an overtime win from what had been a two-goal deficit.
“We didn’t spend enough time in the offensive zone in the third,” Sullivan said. “That was a part of it. We didn’t do a good enough job getting through the neutral zone, hanging onto pucks in the offensive zone.”
If you’ve bought tickets to see a Rangers game at Madison Square Garden this year, you have yet to witness a win. You’re more likely to have seen the Rangers get shut out, which has happened in four of their six home games.
Credit is due to the Carolina Hurricanes. They’re a well-structured hockey club that puts pressure on its opponents. They leave minimal time and space to make plays.
The Hurricanes rolled into Madison Square Garden with three of their four highest-paid defenseman out of the lineup with injuries — including former Ranger K’Andre Miller, who did not play in his return to New York since the offseason trade that sent him to the Hurricanes. Carolina’s injured reserve, beyond Miller, includes defensive anchors Jaccob Slavin and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Most egregious was that the Rangers’ struggling power play went 0-for-3 on the evening. At a macro level, this unit is 4-for-36 on the season with an 11.1% conversion rate. That’s last in the NHL.
The Hurricanes capitalized on the man advantage and scored their first and game-winning goal on the power play, as Nikolaj Ehlers wired one past Igor Shesterkin’s glove to put the Hurricanes ahead in the first period. That was all they needed.
“Power plays are difference makers,” said Adam Fox. “They get one, we don’t. And you know, that’s the difference right there, especially early in the game, when you can get the lead.”
Sullivan has felt that the Rangers have generated quality scoring chances on the man advantage, but acknowledged that the club could make adjustments at some point.
Miller, the Rangers’ no-nonsense captain, shouldered the bulk of the blame. He kept his assessment of the club’s winless home slate simple: they need to score on their looks.
“It’s not really cute anymore,” Miller said.
