Rangers’ Home Regulation Woes Reach New Low

New York’s last regulation win at home came via a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 24. While Blues center Dylan Holloway scored the game’s opening goal, the Rangers bounced back with three consecutive scores from Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafrenière and Adam Edstrom. Brayden Schenn scored for St. Louis late in the third period, but Shesterkin held strong the rest of the way, and the Rangers pulled out the win. Little did they know it would be the last one — at least in regulation — that they’d pick up at home in a very long time.

Home Ice Has Become Anything But

While regulation wins at Madison Square Garden have been completely absent in New York, triumphs in overtime have been somewhat prevalent, though not as common as the outright losses. The Rangers have taken down the Dallas Stars (3-2 on Dec. 2), the Montreal Canadiens (5-4 on Dec. 13), the Philadelphia Flyers (5-4 on Dec. 20), the Boston Bruins (4-3 on Jan. 26) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2 on Feb. 28), all in overtime or a shootout.

Mixed in that bunch of happiness has been a multitude of unfortunate defeats that have set the Rangers back toward irrelevancy.

All that losing has made the Rangers certain sellers at the trade deadline. They’ve already moved Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings, and other players — like center Vincent Trocheck — could be out the door in the near future, too. If only the team had won some games in regulation at Madison Square Garden, perhaps the state of affairs wouldn’t be so sad right now. But that’s just the way the cookie crumbled, and there’s no looking back now.

When Will the Drought End?

The obvious next question is when the Rangers will next win a home game in regulation at MSG. Their next opportunity will come March 5 against the also-flailing Toronto Maple Leafs. After that, it won’t be until March 10 versus the Calgary Flames, another team that hasn’t had the most successful campaign. Two home bouts against the Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils will follow March 16 and 18, respectively.

Can the Rangers do it? Can they win a home game in regulation before the season ends? Probably. But there’s also a chance everything goes completely wrong and this unfortunate streak goes on for a long time.