ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 Ideally, having clarity on management\u2019s direction would allow the Rangers to play with a freer spirit.<\/p>\n
Reality, however, doesn\u2019t usually cater to idealism.<\/p>\n
The Blueshirts could not match the Ducks \u2014 and several of their ex-teammates \u2014 in an empty-net-abetted 5-3 loss Monday night, marking their ninth defeat in the past 12 games. While the Rangers came out swinging in their first game after Chris Drury\u2019s retooling announcement, the energy and execution wasn\u2019t as formidable this time around.<\/p>\n
On the heels of the organization\u2019s statement, coach Mike Sullivan accurately pointed out how the Rangers have been engulfed in outside noise since last season.<\/p>\n
The hope is that some organizational transparency ahead of the Olympic break would alleviate some of the pressure.<\/p>\n
Between poor puck management and a slow start to the third period Monday, any buoyancy the Rangers may have had was weighed down.<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks left wing Jeffrey Viel (28) scores a goal against New York Rangers goaltender Spencer Martin (41) during the second period at Honda Center. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the simplest, easiest ways to beat yourself is to not manage the puck appropriately,\u201d Sullivan said after the loss. \u201cIf you do, you give teams opportunities to create easy offense And I think in a few of the events of tonight, we beat ourselves because we didn\u2019t take care of the puck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly four minutes into the game, the Rangers were able to capitalize on some extended zone time.<\/p>\n
Mika Zibanejad tipped the puck back to Matthew Robertson, whose slap shot from the top of the zone went five-hole on Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal. It counted as the rookie defenseman\u2019s third goal of the season and his first since the last time the Rangers faced Anaheim on Dec. 15.<\/p>\n
The Ducks swarmed below the hash marks later in the period, creating some traffic in front of Rangers goalie Spencer Martin. A puck deflected off Robertson\u2019s skate and right to Mason McTavish for the 1-1 score.<\/p>\n
Alex Killorn #17 of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period against the New York Rangers at Honda Center on January 19, 2026. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Scoring on the power play in a third straight game, the Rangers retook the lead on Artemi Panarin\u2019s 19th goal of the season. Despite some prime chances to even the score later in the game, the power play converted on two of its four opportunities.<\/p>\n
Anaheim applied significant pressure on a goalie who was making just his second start of the season.<\/p>\n
Jeffrey Viel scored his first goal as a Duck to even the score at two-all, cleaning up a rebound after the Rangers were hemmed in their zone.<\/p>\n
Anaheim later made it a 3-2 game on their second power-play opportunity of the period. Alex Killorn buried a puck that had already trickled past Martin off Jacob Trouba\u2019s shot.<\/p>\n
Matthew Robertson, center, celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. AP<\/p>\n
Just over a minute into the third period, Drew Helleson\u2019s keep-in at the blue line allowed Cutter Gauthier to give the Ducks a two-goal lead. While Vladislav Gavrikov\u2019s power-play goal cut the Rangers deficit to one, the visitors weren\u2019t able to find the equalizer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the guys are doing their very best to take a professional approach through this process,\u201d Sullivan said Monday morning. \u201cIt\u2019s been a tough couple of weeks here, most recently. I do think that these guys take a lot of pride in what they do, and they and they care a lot. I\u2019ve had this conversation with you guys on so many different occasions, and it\u2019s not just coach speak, it\u2019s my honest assessment of this group of players. \u2026 Does it change the mindset? It may, in some strange way. There\u2019s clarity of direction and people understand where we\u2019re all at right now. I think there\u2019s no speculation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s clarity in the direction. And maybe clarity might bring a little bit of a freer spirit with that clarity. I\u2019m not sure, to answer your question. I think time will tell.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 Ideally, having clarity on management\u2019s direction would allow the Rangers to play with a freer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,824,165,164,6755,404,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-141159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-anaheim-headlines","11":"tag-anaheim-news","12":"tag-new-york-rangers","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}