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Mar 29, 2025; San Jose, California, USA; New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck (16) skates with the puck against San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (40) during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Rangers Center Exits Eventual Win Over Sabres

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI
By Jennifer Streeter | Last updated Oct 9, 2025 11:20 PM ET

The New York Rangers captured their first win in the Mike Sullivan era, but delivered some cause for concern in the process.

Game 2 of the regular season for the Rangers saw them boast an impressive 4-0 performance on the road while visiting the Buffalo Sabres. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin already claimed his first shutout of the year in an impressive fashion, and newly-named captain J.T. Miller rose to the occasion — this time tallying one goal and assist for the first time while wearing the ever-coveted "C."

Alexis Lafreniere, who is lovingly known by fans as "Laffy Taffy," also shined. He led the statsheet for the game by recording one goal, one assist and five shots on target. But even en route to the first win of the year, not all was sunshine and rainbows.

Rangers veteran Vincent Trocheck exited the game in the second period (13:10) for the locker room and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest at the start of the third period. Postgame, Sullivan told media that Trocheck was still being evaluated for an upper-body injury.

#NYR Vincent Trocheck still being evaluated for upper-body injury, Mike Sullivan says no other update right now.
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) October 10, 2025

Sullivan also said that while the Rangers showed the right intentions on Thursday, they still have a long way to go.

“We obviously had way more energy to start,” Sullivan said of the game against Buffalo. “Just from an energy standpoint, a lot of the guys, I think, felt a whole lot better physically, for whatever reason. I think that’s where it started. But I also thought we had the right intentions. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch. Buffalo has a dynamic offense and they’re not easy to handle. But I thought the start of the game, that might’ve been the best period that we played since training camp started.”

This latest win and development came after the Blueshirts got shut out — 3-0 — in their home opener against Sullivan's former team of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It is unclear when Trocheck's injury was sustained. He previously wore a full face shield for a majority of the preseason and through both games so far after the Pittsburgh native took a puck to the face in practice.

Trocheck has been with the Rangers since he was signed as a free agent back in July, 2022. The 32 year old has 579 points on his career (223 goals, 356 assists) across his 803 games played so far.

Including Miller and Lafreniere, a total of nine Rangers tallied points against the Sabres — Miller (two), Lafreniere (two), Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Braden Schneider, Carson Soucy, Sam Carrick, Vincent Trocheck, and Will Borgen.

Should Trocheck require missing playtime time, Sullivan could likely see to the use of Juuso Parssinen as Mika Zibanejad is currently skating on the wing. Rookie Noah Laba is also a potential option, but only just took his rookie lap within the past few days.

Lafreniere's goal was on the rebound from Panarin to open the scoring for the Rangers on the year — as the Blueshirts did not see the back of the net in the previously mentioned season opener.

Shesterkin finished the night with 37 saves and stopped a total of 11 in the second frame.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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