The New York Rangers are not giving up on the season despite having lost five out of their last six games.
Their recent struggles have dropped their record to 17-20-1, but the Rangers are still feeling hopeful as they prepare for their game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon.
Things went wrong for the Rangers on Saturday when they lost to the Washington Capitals 7-4. New York was trailing by just one goal, 5-4, after Mika Zibanejad scored in the third period at 13:04. However, Washington responded quickly, scoring twice in the last six minutes of the game.
Even though the season hasn’t gone as expected for the Rangers, who were the Presidents’ Trophy winners last year, Zibanejad remains confident that the team can turn things around.
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? What’s our option? What’s our option? Just say, ‘We’re done with the season?’ No, we can’t,” Zibanejad said. “I think we have a lot of faith in the guys that are here.”
Zibanejad is focused only on the next game.
“We have no other option than try to stay positive, try to work,” Zibanejad said. “And just think about it: Tomorrow is a new day, a new opportunity to get two points, a new opportunity to get a win and that’s what we have to do.”
On Sunday, the Rangers will face the Chicago Blackhawks, who are looking to start a winning streak after a rough patch. The Blackhawks had a strong stretch of three wins in a row from Dec. 15-19, but then lost five games straight.
They bounced back with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, thanks to two goals from Nick Foligno.
Foligno sees the win over Montreal as a good start to a winning streak.
“Huge, huge,” Foligno said of the victory over Montreal. “Just for our fans. We left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, ourselves mostly, in how we played in that Winter Classic (a 6-2 loss to St. Louis on Tuesday). We want to make sure we’re proud of the brand of hockey we’re putting out there, and that’s more the Blackhawk brand they’re expecting to see.
“We’ll fine-tune it and get a little bit better, but the momentum will hopefully carry over. Yeah, it was big to get one at home ice here. We have a nice little homestand, so let’s take advantage of it.”
Chicago center Connor Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, is on a six-game point streak after getting an assist against the Canadiens. The 19-year-old now has 95 points (32 goals, 63 assists) in 107 career games, making him the second-highest scoring teenager in franchise history.
Sunday’s game is the second time this season the Rangers will face the Blackhawks. Chicago won the first meeting 2-1 on Dec. 9. However, the Rangers have won seven of their last nine games against Chicago.
