NEW YORK \u2014 New York Rangers fans must be getting sick of hearing (and reading) the same comments.<\/p>\n
Tuesday was yet another night when the Rangers talked about the scoring chances they created and offensive-zone time they generated, but it was also another occasion in which they failed to turn any of that into what they needed most: goals.<\/p>\n
A 3-0 loss to the lowly Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden \u2014 New York\u2019s seventh shutout loss of the season and sixth on home ice \u2014 was the latest example. It was the third time this season the Rangers lost to a team that sat dead last in the NHL standings, as well as their sixth loss in as many tries (0-5-1) in the second game of a back-to-back situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really frustrating,\u201d captain J.T. Miller said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s happened too many times, where we\u2019ve outplayed the opponent and we\u2019re not coming out with a win. Once or twice is fine, but it\u2019s happened a lot \u2014 especially at home, unfortunately. Our standard can\u2019t be just playing well and not scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n
“We feel good during the game but right now it sucks. This can’t be the standard we expect to play to. Go home tonight and feel we outplayed the other team. We didn’t score. To come up 0-2 this week at home it sucks. Same thing every game it feels like”<\/p>\n
\u2013 J.T. Miller pic.twitter.com\/3LNglRcyM9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) December 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The struggles at MSG have been most alarming, as evidenced by a 4-10-3 home record, but New York\u2019s offensive limitations have been plain to see all season, regardless of venue.<\/p>\n The \u201cit\u2019s early\u201d excuse no longer applies. As they approach the midseason point, the Rangers have only won 16 of 35 games overall. That\u2019s a large enough sample size to draw conclusions, and their average of 2.51 goals per game, which ranks 30th in the league, tells us that this team has a serious finishing issue.<\/p>\n It\u2019s left them searching for answers they admittedly can\u2019t find.\u00a0The harsh reality is they might not exist with the current personnel group.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had the solution, we would certainly bring it,\u201d said exasperated coach Mike Sullivan. \u201cWe\u2019re doing our best to control the process, because that\u2019s really, at the end of the day, what\u2019s within our control. \u2026 I thought we defended hard. I thought we controlled territory. We had a significant amount of O-zone time. The power play had a lot of good looks, so I feel like we\u2019re trying to solve it, for sure. But is it a little bit concerning at this point? Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are eight more observations from another discouraging night at the Garden:<\/p>\n 1. It\u2019s a drum we\u2019ve been beating most of the season, but it bears repeating: The Rangers\u2019 top forwards are on the downside of their primes and the depth behind them severely lacks scoring punch. And without Adam Fox, who\u2019s missed eight games and counting with a left-shoulder injury<\/a>, the blue line can\u2019t be counted on to contribute any offense at all. That\u2019s not a winning recipe.<\/p>\n For perspective, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad are tied for the team lead with 11 goals apiece, which puts them on pace for about 25 each. The next-highest scorers are Miller and Will Cuylle, who both have nine and are trending toward 20 or so. If those paces hold, it would mark the first time since the 2020-21 COVID-19 shortened season (56 games) that the Rangers don\u2019t have a 30-goal scorer. The last full season without a 30-goal scorer was 2017-18, when multiple players were shipped out at the trade deadline. Even then, though, three players scored 25.<\/p>\n \u201cThere needs to be more \u2014 more from me, more from the next guy, from whoever,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n 2. All the numbers were in New York\u2019s favor \u2014 other than goals. The Rangers outshot the Canucks, 23-17, and had a clear advantage in possession. They registered six high-danger scoring chances in the first period alone, according to Natural Stat Trick, while limiting Vancouver to one. But it was another disappointing third. They entered trailing 2-0, but rather than desperately trying to mount a comeback, it looked like they had accepted their fate.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest with you, in the moment, it felt like we were dominating the game,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThen you get down to three minutes, you look up, and it\u2019s 2-0. You\u2019re thinking, \u2018I can\u2019t believe we\u2019re pulling our goalie again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Five of the first-period high-danger chances came from the power play, which earned three opportunities in the opening 20 minutes and four in total. The five-forward unit the Rangers have been rolling out since Fox went down looked as good as it has at any point in the last couple weeks, but it didn\u2019t matter. The PP is now 2-for-22 since Fox\u2019s injury, with neither of those goals coming with that five-forward grouping on the ice.<\/p>\n Cuylle had a prime chance on a redirect on the first power play that was saved by Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko, who later robbed Miller with a diving save on PP No. 2. He also stopped Vincent Trocheck from the slot on the third opportunity, while several other quality chances were wasted. The Rangers attempted 14 power-play shots in total, but only five went on net.<\/p>\n 4. News flash: The Canucks aren\u2019t very good. They just traded their best player to the Minnesota Wild<\/a> and have effectively tanked their season. They aren\u2019t particularly fast or skilled, and there are holes all over their defense. Give Demko some credit because he had a handful of really nice saves, but the Rangers squandered plenty of prime opportunities. Panarin had one that stood out late in the second period, when he was wide open in front of Vancouver\u2019s net but seemed to hesitate or fumble the puck for a moment before shooting it right into Demko\u2019s stomach.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a lot of instances, that\u2019s the difference between scoring and not,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cIt\u2019s not always the velocity of the shot as (much as) it is the release, or how quick you get it off so you don\u2019t give the goalie an opportunity to get set. It\u2019s just a little bit deliberate in the process. We\u2019re trying to get better at that, with releasing pucks and things of that nature. That\u2019s all part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n 5. On the other end, it wasn\u2019t Jonathan Quick\u2019s sharpest game. The goal he allowed to Liam \u00d6hgren, who was part of the package the Canucks received from the Wild for Quinn Hughes, went off Quick\u2019s right pad and trickled in to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead 3:24 into the second period. But when your team doesn\u2019t score, there\u2019s no sense in blaming the goalie.<\/p>\n 6. The refs aren\u2019t to blame for the Rangers\u2019 scoring woes, but they didn\u2019t do them any favors, either. They were definitely at fault on Vancouver\u2019s first goal, when one effectively set a pick on defenseman Matthew Robertson to give Evander Kane an uncontested path to the net. There were also some very shaky calls. A couple penalties on Trocheck (slashing at 8:29 in the first period) and Noah Laba (tripping at 18:37 in the second) were debatable, at best.<\/p>\n 7. After 11 straight games without a point, Brett Berard was a healthy scratch Tuesday. The 23-year-old frankly hasn\u2019t made enough of an impact since being recalled last month, with a -2.2 net rating in this latest stretch, according to Hockey Stat Cards. He plays hard, but that aggression can get him caught in no man\u2019s land at times. Making matters worse, the shooting reputation he brought from the AHL has been MIA, with only 10 shots on goal across those 11 appearances. The Rangers don\u2019t have any great alternatives and are quickly reaching the point where they should lean into their youth and allow them to work through the growing pains, but the call-ups who have received looks so far this season haven\u2019t exactly seized their opportunities. Add that to New York\u2019s list of problems.<\/p>\n 8. As soon as I saw Zibanejad in the postgame locker room, I approached him to ask for his side of the story that made waves Monday. Sullivan scratched him from what turned out to be a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks after the 32-year-old center missed a team meeting that morning<\/a>. The coach cited \u201clogistical challenges,\u201d which Zibanejad said was a traffic jam caused by an accident while driving from his home in the city to the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, N.Y.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my 10th season here,\u201d he said. \u201cI know what the (traffic) challenges are and whatnot, but it was an unfortunate situation. I got stuck. They had an accident. I\u2019m just hoping everyone in that accident was fine. But rules are rules and I was late, so there\u2019s not much else to say, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n