Despite the season-ending injury to their star goaltender, the New York Rangers are looking strong heading into the first Hudson River Rivalry of the 2026-27 season.
The Rangers (6-2-0) will be seeking for their seventh win across their first nine games to start the season when they head across the river to face the New Jersey Devils on Thursday in Newark, N.J.
Dylan Garand has stepped up in a big way since taking over as the starting goaltender for the Rangers after Igor Shesterkin sustained a lower-body injury on Friday. Shesterkin was ruled out for the remainder of the season on Saturday.
Garand, 24, earned his second consecutive victory when the host Rangers downed the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Tuesday.
“Taking it one day at a time and stopping pucks,” Garand said of his current approach. “Whenever they tell me to play, I’m just going to go in there and battle for the guys. If that’s every night, it’s fine. If it’s not, whatever, my job doesn’t change. It’s been fun so far.”
Garand is 3-1 with a 1.15 goals-against average and .951 save percentage. He has received plenty of support from teammates, including another strong performance from Alexis Lafreniere on Tuesday.
Lafreniere, the first pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, lit the lamp twice against Tampa Bay as he extended his point streak to five games (seven goals, three assists).
Will Cuylle and Mika Zibanejad also found the back of the net, while Tye Kartye picked up assists on both of Lafreniere’s goals.
“We’re thrilled,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said of his team. “I said to the guys after the game, we couldn’t be more proud of them, just the way we’re building a team identity. It’s fun to stand behind the bench and watch these guys compete and listening to the chatter on the bench.
“They’re cheering for each other,” Sullivan continued. “Guys block shots and they’re getting a lot of taps coming back to the bench and doing a lot of the thankless jobs that don’t necessarily show up on the score sheet, but they add up to winning.”
The Rangers are a perfect 5-0-0 at home this season but will face a different kind of test when they take the short trip to face the Devils on Thursday.
“It’ll be very fun,” Devils center Jack Hughes said of the upcoming tilt. “I think we didn’t play them until March last year, so I think we have them four times in the first two months this season. It’s a great rivalry and we’re excited to play them.”
Hughes secured some momentum for New Jersey heading into Thursday’s clash when he buried the overtime winner and tallied a pair of assists in a 5-4 road victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
“Jack was really feeling it tonight,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He had eight shot attempts, so it was fitting that he got our last shot.”
Jesper Bratt chipped in with a goal and two assists, Evan Rodrigues and Anthony Mantha added a goal and an assist apiece.
Devils captain Nico Hischier scored on the power play, while Jake Allen made 23 saves in the victory.
The Devils are looking to secure their first winning streak this season and will be hoping recent history repeats itself. New Jersey has won each of the previous three home meetings with the Rangers by a combined score of 15-3.