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Oct 11, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) celebrates his goal with the Rangers bench against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Rangers Shouldn’t Panic Despite Scoring Drought

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Anthony Russo | Last updated Oct 17, 2025 8:55 AM ET

It’s been less than an ideal start for the New York Rangers, who find themselves battling through adversity from injuries to frustrating losses. Yet – panic shouldn’t creep in just yet, as we are only several games into 2025-26.

Unfortunately, adversity was not something the 2024-25 roster could overcome. Off-ice distractions and trade rumors waged mental warfare on the group, leading to a disastrous season. This season, however, isn’t filled with the same issues. In fact, the problems the Rangers face early in 2025-26 aren’t uncommon in the NHL through the course of an 82-game season. If the 2025-26 Blueshirts can overcome the early headwinds, it will make them stronger in the long term.

Overcoming Injuries

Every team, for example, deals with injuries. The Rangers are dealing with a lot of them, with none bigger than losing Vincent Trocheck, who has been the organization’s second-line center for the past several seasons. This one hits as a double whammy – not only does the team lose Trocheck for some time, but the Rangers have already placed him on long-term injured reserve. The only thing we know is that it’s an upper-body injury that will cause the 32-year-old to miss at least 10 games or 24 days.

Carson Soucy is another who will miss time due to an upper-body injury after going head-first into the boards on Saturday, Oct. 11, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. This one won’t hurt as much as the Trocheck loss because Soucy is more of a depth defenseman. But it definitely starts to pile onto the injury report.

The other thing to consider is star J.T. Miller, who missed much of training camp, might not be 100 percent healthy just yet. The newly appointed captain has just three points in six regular-season games so far and was noticeably laboring on opening night.

Rotten Puck Luck

Meanwhile, this next one might be something new for the Rangers. Ever since the rebuild essentially ended in 2021, the organization has followed a winning formula: elite special teams, coupled with stellar goaltending. Plus, puck luck has favored the Rangers. PDO is something that measures this, with the Blueshirts from 2021-24 ranking as the eighth most fortunate team in the NHL, according to Natural Stat Trick.

However, the tides have turned in the early portion of 2025-26. The Rangers have scored just one goal in their last three games despite producing the second-most high-danger chances this season and ranking fourth in expected goals at five-on-five. Plus, they own the 24th-ranked power play and are only shooting five percent as a team for 30th in the league. A simple way of putting it: The hockey gods have not been kind to the Rangers in the first several games.

Why This Could Make the Rangers Stronger

The good news is the group doesn’t seem to be panicking just yet. Maybe there’s some frustration, but the team is playing hard despite the less-than-ideal results. As Miller put it after Thursday’s OT loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to what Peter Baugh of The Athletic shared on X:

“If you’re mentally weak you’re going to go off the rails. We’re gonna be mentally tough in here and keep pounding pucks at the net and outplaying the team we’re playing against.”

If the Rangers continue their strong play, eventually they will be rewarded. Talented players and future Hall of Famers from Artemi Panarin to Adam Fox will find the back of the net eventually. If the Rangers can overcome this speed bump from the injuries to the tough puck luck, it will no doubt make them stronger, dare we say, for the playoffs. But it’s a long season that’s not even a quarter of the way done. It’s too early to make judgments on a 2-3-1 record to start. Just about every team, whether that’s those in a lottery position or fighting for the Presidents’ Trophy, deals with multiple highs and lows every season. And almost certainly, the Rangers will be no different.