Rangers Daily: Blueshirts elite PK; Chytil returns; Carolina injury updates

October 17, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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Though much of what’s been really good about the New York Rangers to start the season collapsed around them Thursday in Newark against the New Jersey Devils, there was one area that remained in top form.

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The Rangers killed off all four Devils power plays and their penalty kill is now third-best in the NHL, with a 92.9 percent success rate. Only the Toronto Maple Leafs (96,2 percent) and Carolina Hurricanes (93.3 percent) are better, and those three teams are the only ones in the League above 90 percent efficiency so far this season.

Overall, the Rangers killed off 26 of 28 short-handed situations, and haven’t surrendered a power-play goal since Oct. 6, a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders. They’re also 10-for-10 on the kill in road games, heading into their clash with the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Saturday.

What stands out is that the Rangers no longer rely so much on veterans J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad on the PK. Their collective short-handed TOI is way down with Tye Kartye, Noah Laba, Will Cuylle, and Eeli Tolvanen doing most of the heavy lifting, among the forwards. Joe Veleno was in that mix, too, before sustaining a lower-body injury that has him sidelined the next three months.

Per Natural Stat Trick, Zibanejad (8:52) and Miller (5:51) are sixth and seventh among Rangers forwards in 5v4 short-handed TOI this season.

However, when the Rangers faced a full two-minute 5-on-3 Devils power play in the first period Thursday, coach Mike Sullivan had Zibanejad out there with defensemen Vladislav Gavrikov and Braden Schneider to start, and then followed up by putting Miller on the ice with Sean Durzi and Adam Fox.

The Rangers didn’t allow a single shot on goal in those two minutes. And what was so impressive is that two of New York’s top penalty killers — Laba and defenseman Marcus Pettersson — were the ones in the penalty box.

So, there wasn’t a lot of good to take out that 7-1 loss to the Devils, but the Rangers penalty kill at least was able to keep up its dominant start to 2026-27.

New York Rangers news and analysis

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Here’s a breakdown of what’s next for the Rangers at the goalie position after veteran James Reimer signs PTO with Hartford of the American Hockey League.

Analyzing the fourth-line issues for the Rangers and how the recall of Taylor Raddysh could help in several ways.

After that ugly 7-1 loss to the Devils the other night, plus the Raddysh and Reimer moves, it was time for another Rink Rap podcast this week to break it all down. You can check out the latest pod at the Forever Blueshirts YouTube page.

NHL news and rumors

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Forever Blueshirts: Former Rangers center Filip Chytil logged 18:30 TOI and picked up an assist in his season debut for the Vancouver Canucks following a preseason shoulder injury, with coach Manny Malhotra expressing how Chytil “changes the dynamic of our group,”

Daily Faceoff: The Hurricanes have a mixed bag of injury updates: forward Taylor Hall is week to week with an upper-body injury, but Seth Jarvis may be able to make his season debut this weekend after offseason shoulder surgery.

The Athletic($$): Detroit Red Wings owner Chris Ilitch told Max Bultman in an extended interview that he’s not ruiing out a rebuild for his team, and said that hiring a new general manager could come early ier in the season or much later this season — so there’s no timetable to land a new head of hockey operations.

New Jersey Hockey Now: James Nichols dives into the underlying numbers to find out why Timo Meier has yet to score a goal this season for the Devils.

Sportsnet: Former Rangers forward Vladislav Namestnikov is week to week with an undiscosed injury for the Winnipeg Jets, amid a slow start (one assist in six games) this season.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Dan Kingerski sees a Penguins team coming apart at the seams after allowing five sraight goals in a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Athletic ($$): Harman Dayal analyzes why these five star players, led by Minnesota Wilde defenseman Quinn Hughes, very well could be traded before season’s end.

Montreal Hockey Now: Marc Dumont details why the Canadiens defense pairings are shaping up nicely despite a 3-3-1 record, crediting the addition of Adam Engstrom into the lineup and moving Cole Hutson up to the top pairing for much of the improvement on the back end.

Boston Hockey Now: So, what exactly sparked the Bruins comeback in their 4-2 road win against the Anaheim Ducks? Jack Studley breaks it all down.

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