Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. We waited five days for this?
When setting the stage for the events that transpired on Sunday night in front of the Garden Faithful, then, and as noted, and the Rangers had the previous five-days off – a mini bye week if you will.
As fully recapped and talked about below, then the Blueshirts had a few practices in that time, while also hosting their annual team-wide bonding event – the yearly Halloween party.
While the Rangers were off doing figure-eights at practice and dressing up like women (we have pictures – and keep on scrolling if you want to see them), then the Oilers played two games in that time – a Wednesday night (10/28) 4-0 win against the Flames and then another 4-0 job on Halloween afternoon (10/31) on Long Island.
In turn, the Oilers were entering this game on the second half of a back-to-back, and where according to several former players throughout the league – then the Daylight Savings Time change hurts the Western Conference players playing in Eastern Conference cities – as routines and body clocks of these habitual players are thrown out of wack.
If that wasn’t enough for you, then the Oilers, much like the Rangers, are in goalie hell, as both assumed starter Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi are out.
Since Tristan Jarry starred in the team’s win against the Isles the day before, and with much deeper competition coming up next for the Oil on Tuesday night (against Connor Hellebuyck’s Devils in Newark), then they had to scramble when recalling a 32-year-old third-string goalie from Bakersfield – and a netminder named Matt Tomkins who had all of six games of NHL experience – and where for the kicker – those sextet of matches were played over two-and-a-half years ago (with the Lightning).
Enter the beleaguering Blueshirts – as nobody, and I mean nobody, likes to have no name third stringers embarrass them more than the Big Apple hockey club.
Not only did the Rangers allow the Oilers to strike twice early (two goals in the first 6:19 of the game), but they just sleepwalked throughout the entire first period.
The Rangers eventually came to play, but once again, and this was another game of “too little, too late.”
By the time Pavel DINGorfeyev scored his customary A-Rod goal, the Oil had already raced out to a 3-0 lead.
Come the final horn?
A 4-1 Oilers win – and the first victory for another no name third-string goalie on M$G ice.
It’s just a shame that Tomkins isn’t a fan of spicy pork and broccoli – because if he was – then he’d be on all of the highlight reel shows – and as was formerly the case for Louie Domingue back in May of 2022.
More frustrating than the entire game, the lack of a first period effort and an overall absence of execution?
Sullivan’s post-game remarks.
I have a detailed GAME REVIEW segment for you tonight, so I’ll leave all of the information from the match for you there, but just to jump ahead – then everything that Sullivan said following the loss just irked me to no end.
For starters, then Sullivan actually said that he didn’t think the start was bad tonight.
WHAT THE HELL WAS HE WATCHING?
THEY GAVE UP TWO GOALS IN SIX MINUTES – AND THE FIRST GOAL JUST 50-SECONDS IN – A NEW RANGERS’ STAPLE!
Sully later added that his team was ready at puck drop.
WTF?
What, they were so ready that they waited fifty-seconds instead of ten- twenty- or thirty-seconds before allowing McDavid his first breakaway goal of the game?
Sullivan also added that he was happy with his new line-up switch (fully covered below), where he promoted the $11M bust, Dorofeyev, to the first line, while demoting the hopeful future of this team, Gabe Perreault, to the team’s third line.
You see, Dorofeyev scored a puck luck A-Rod goal tonight with the game already featuring a 3-0 Oiler lead.
This score was also Dorofeyev’s fifth goal of the season.
Call me a hater if you want (but I’m really not) – but face the facts:
Has Dorofeyev scored one meaningful/clutch goal this season?
All of his goals scored this season have been in blowout games, and whether the Rangers are on the right end of them or not.
In other words, he’s no McDavid, who Sully said after the game, “Connor is a special player and that’s why I wasn’t too upset about his early goal.”
Here’s a follow-up question for Sully that no member of the Blueshirts’ beat dared to ask:
“Do you think anyone on the Edmonton side is calling any of your FAT CAT forwards “special?”
Heck, the only way anyone from Oiltown is calling a Ranger forward “special” after this game is if they are wondering if they are special needs or not!
For the Rangers, this 4-1 loss to the Oilers marked their fourth in a row and now six defeats in their last seven games played (1-5-1).
That hot start from the first two-weeks of the season is now a distant memory.
So is the p-word too – and no, not the word that’s also associated with a cat (but that may apply too) – but instead this p-word – “playoffs.”
The Rangers, who were artificially second-place in the division a week ago, are now fifth-overall in the Metrosexual division, as every other team in the league during the Blueshirts’ bye week caught up to their formerly league-wide season-high games played total (14).
And while you’d like to think that the two bottom-feeders of the division, the Flyers & Blue Jackets, won’t catch up and then surpass them – but the Rangers have already been shut out by Columbus this season.
Yes, it’s early, but if you take a glance at what’s going on in the other Eastern Conference division, the Atlantic division – and even after only 14-16 games played for these teams – and it’s looking like for a Metropolitan division team to reach the playoffs – then they are going to have finish in one of the three top seeds – as the wild card spots will most likely be won by Atlantic foes.
Making matters even more concerning is that after the team’s hot start, only to be followed by this free-fall and the Rangers are now 0-6-1 after giving up the first goal in any game played – and where they’ve been giving up first goals left-and-right ever since CZAR IGOR went down.
The silver lining in all of this?
Then at least I’m not a fan of the New York Jets or Dallas Cowboys!
UGH!
In case you missed it, or just forgot, as it was six days ago, then here’s where I last left off – the hopeful first-and-last James Reimer start as a New York Ranger:
NYR/LAK 10/26 Review: “REIM TIME” Lasts For All of Twenty Minutes; Reeling Rangers Get Blown Out Again, Blueshirts Honor Ron Duguay In Front Of His Family & Palin – But No #10 Patches/Decals To Be Found, Sullivan Makes Excuses For The First Time; Limits DINGorfeyev’s Minutes Too, Drury Continues To Flip Roster, First Home Loss & Three-Game Losing Streak; Welcomed Five-Day Vacation Ahead – But The Red-Hot Oilers Are Up Next, M$GN & More
The Rangers, following their embarrassing loss to the L.A. Kings on Monday night, actually practiced on Tuesday morning. The team then had off on Wednesday and Thursday, before practicing again on Friday and Halloween Saturday.
The October holiday gave us some interesting pictures, that is, when you only factor in what this team has been like during the past three-years:
After the team party, which was held Tuesday night, then Mika Zibanejad’s wife, Irma, posted a picture of her husband trick-or-treating with the couple’s young daughter:
Yours truly?
Then I miss these Halloween nights on M$GN:
The past week of Rangers’ news was never-ending, yet minor.
Among the events that took place prior to Sunday morning, which is when the team held an optional pregame skate at M$G:
— Joonas Korpisalo remains on the long-term injured reserve list, but he is back and skating with the team. Since he wasn’t activated prior to puck drop against Edmonton, then while he’s gearing up to make his 2026-17 debut, he’s not eligible to just yet.
— Sean Durzi, first injured two weeks ago, and where we don’t know the specifics of his nagging injury, has missed some practices in that time, as he wanted to make sure he’d be able to go come game time.
— Scott Morrow, who hadn’t played this season through the team’s first fourteen games, told the media he’s just staying ready. He’s been a good solider throughout despite his unfortunate lack of playing time circumstances. (And it must’ve stung when Carolina then won the Stanley Cup after trading him too.)
— Ditto Matt Rempe, who like Morrow, expressed the obvious – he wants to play more. That said, and he isn’t using the media to lash out against Mike Sullivan.
— Since we already know that the Rangers don’t embrace the meritocracy system, then Pavel Dorofeyev was promoted to the first line. To make this happen, then Gabe Perreault was demoted to the team’s third line. What a message to send – FAT CATS aren’t held accountable, while younger players are kicked to the side despite doing nothing wrong.
— Eeli Tolvanen continues to miss practices for personal reasons. I have no clue what these reasons are, but just using past history whenever the words “personal reasons” are used by the club, then it could be a pregnant wife, a family-related health matter or even something as stupid as moving into a new apartment.
— James Reimer was listed as “day to day” following Monday night’s loss. After missing Tuesday’s practice, he was back with the team by Friday. He later told the media that he felt much better after Saturday’s practice, where some fans made the obvious joke in a response – “No shit – after all – he just played against the Rangers in practice – and not versus a real NHL team!”
— In Hartford news, Marc Del Gaizo, who Chris Drury acquired over the summer, was named as captain of the Wolf Pack. While it has worked out for a few players (Jonny Brodzinski being a most recent example), then being captain of the AHL affiliate, more times than not, is a kiss of death for players with NHL hopes.
In some Blueshirt alumni news, then it was announced on Saturday that yet again, Filip Chytil is back on the injured reserve (Vancouver). In the latest unfortunate event for The Concussed Czech, and he took a simple hit, but since he’s made out of glass, he’s now sitting on his ass.
As noted about eight concussions ago in regards to the former #72 of the Rangers, then I no longer have any sympathy for him anymore. He’s just doing it to himself.
And the fact that it was his own ego that prevented the Rangers from getting more help at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline (they had to carry his salary-cap hit rather than just placing him on season-ending LTIR) – well good luck to him as he tries to remember his own name once he turns thirty-years-old.
A former Rangers’ prospect that didn’t get 76797677868696 chances like Chytil did, Adam Edstrom, well THE SWEDISH CONDOR just scored his fifth goal of the season on Halloween Saturday in Nashville’s 5-4 shootout win over Tampa.
For Big Ed, he now has more goals scored this season than Zibanejad (3, one of them was an ENG), DINGorfeyev (all four were A-Rod goals in blowouts) and Miller (4, two off his skate after Kartye shots).
That’s pretty impressive considering that Edstrom gets a fraction of what these FAT CATS make and even less in playing time (no power-play minute either) to boot.
In league-wide news that probably won’t affect the Rangers, then following the heels of Connor Hellebuyck forcing his trade out of Winnipeg and into New Jersey, then both Dylan Larkin and Nikita Kucherov did the same in their respective cities:
https://t.co/hJGY5RVpqy
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 29, 2026
https://t.co/wTTyN2BTug
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 31, 2026
As you’d expect, then SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman broke both stories.
When it comes to Larkin, then due to both his age (30) and position (center), then I’d love to see the Rangers try to make a trade for him.
However, the reason the now former captain of the Red Wings wants out of Motown is because they haven’t been a playoff team throughout his tenure in Michigan.
In other words, then the Rangers aren’t really attractive to a guy who just wants to contend for a Stanley Cup.
Of course, Larkin has made it known that he’s interested in the states with no income taxes and other contenders such as Florida, Vegas, and Tampa.
Ironically enough, and in a move out of left field too, then of all people, Kucherov, a pending UFA this summer, has said that he won’t re-sign with Tampa come the summer.
Who knows, perhaps this is some major chess move, as Kucherov tries to impact how other teams approach their salary cap plans this summer.
Supposedly, it was leaked that Kucherov wants to play with stars on his level, which is kind of a shot at Jake Guentzel. (Again, this is all alleged reporting as these words weren’t publicly uttered out of the Russian’s mouth.)
When it comes to the Rangers, then I have no interest in Kucherov.
After all, then he’s looking for max money, perhaps a five-year deal worth $100M overall. (And it could be even more than that.)
Kucherov will be 34-years-old next season and he doesn’t really fit a Rangers’ need either, due to his position (RW).
If this was the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, then yeah, I’d be all in on Kucherov.
But those Presidents’ Trophy winning Rangers feels like it was eons ago.
What once was is no more, so NO, I don’t think that Drury will be looking to overpay another player that will be long past his prime once the new contract goes into effect.
The Pepperoni Prince, Mr. ZOOM ZOOM, The Colony Grille Clown, Rangers’ GM Chris Drury, is someone that many fans would like to see removed from his position.
Going into this season, then it was my thought, and especially with Quinten Dolan now in charge, that Drury would get his walking papers come the end of what I predicted to be a losing campaign.
Then the CZAR IGOR injury happened, which in my eyes, just gave Drury another year, as his best player was lost through no fault of his own.
However, Drury’s job may not be set in stone just yet.
On October 27th, NBA business reporter, Mike Vorkunov reported the following:
NY Rangers lost about $30.5 million during 2026 fiscal year and $23.3 mil in 2025, according to MSG Rangers’ SEC filing. Rangers had $26.8 mill in profits in 2024. Company says “We are likely not to be profitable in the near term unless the Rangers make an extended playoff run.”
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) October 27, 2026
While the Dolan family can afford financial losses, and especially with all of the new revenue generated by Knicks’ championship gear; but either way and this news isn’t good for Drury.
As talked about in this space before, then there have been a lot of empty seats at M$G over the past two-and-a-half years.
Granted, while some of these empty seats are sold, but not all of them are paid for either.
Less asses in the seats means less concession and merchandise sales too.
It was recently reported that M$GN television ratings are down as well, which in turn, will drive down the price of ad rates.
As the Rangers told their stockholders, “we will not be profitable unless the Rangers make an extended playoff run.”
Until that time, then shedding Drury’s salary will help cut costs!
With that all said, that now brings us to the weekend.
The “Talk The Talk But Never Walk The Walk” Rangers returned to practice on Saturday at their training facility in Tarrytown.
Really, there is nothing to really cover from that event.
However, and as previously noted, then Durzi isn’t 100%.
In turn, and the Blueshirts made the following roster transaction after their skate:
Matthew Robertson has been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack.
— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) October 31, 2026
In other news from Saturday, then the Oilers, who played guest in Belmont for a 2PM puck drop, beat the Islanders by a 4-0 final and where it was former Sullivan goalie, Tristan Jarry, that picked up the shutout.
While not as severe as the Rangers’ goalie issues, but the organization that helped New York win the Stanley Cup in 1994 have had some injuries too.
Frederik Andersen, and despite winning the Stanley Cup with Carolina last year, is seemingly addicted to injuries.
He’s currently out.
So is former mini Ranger Killer, who broke the Blueshirts’ balls a few times over during his days in Buffalo, Devon Levi.
As you already know, then the Oilers are on a lengthy road-trip. With two goalies out, then following their win against the low-life Islanders on Saturday and the new bench boss in Alberta, Mike Babcock, announced that the 32-year-old Matt Tomkins was being recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate.
Tomkins last played in the NHL on April 17th, 2024 – a 6-4 win for his Lightning over the Leafs.
Tomkins, 3-2-1, played all six of his NHL games for the Lightning in that 2023-24 campaign.
In other words?
Then the Rangers couldn’t use the goalie excuse on Sunday night.
After all, then Dylan Garand was coming off a five-day break – and furthermore – possessed more NHL experience too!
Come Sunday morning and Jonny Lazarus reported the following from the team’s optional AM skate:
A well attended #NYR optional morning skate.
Forwards: J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Tye Kartye, Gabe Perreault, Eeli Tolvanen, Matt Rempe, Taylor Raddysh, Luke Glendening, Noah Laba, Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Defensemen: Braden Schneider, Alberts Smits, Matthew Robertson, Scott Morrow.
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) November 1, 2026
I guess the $11M Russian bust couldn’t be bothered to show up.
Following the light sweat, and despite several nagging injuries and line-up changes throughout the bye week too – and all that Sullivan was willing to say was that Garand would get the start in net:
Here was Sullivan’s line-up for the fifteenth game of this 2026-27 campaign:
FIRST LINE: Dorofeyev/Mika/Lafreniere
SECOND LINE: Kartye/Miller/Bjorkstrand
THIRD LINE: Cuylle/Laba/Perreault
FOURTH LINE: Tolvanen/Glendening/Raddysh
FIRST PAIR: Gavrikov/Fox
SECOND PAIR: Pettersson/Schneider
THIRD PAIR: Smits/Morrow
STARTER: Garand
BACK-UP: Reimer
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: Robertson and Tolvanen
UNHEALTHY SCRATCH: Durzi
LTIR: Korpisalo and Veleno
SEASON ENDING LTIR: CZAR IGOR
BOX SCORE time.
The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:
SCORING:
PENALTIES:
TEAM STATS:
GOALIES:
|
NYR
|
|
Dylan Garand#33
|
|---|
|
SA
|
GA
|
SV
|
SV%
|
ESSV
|
PPSV
|
SHSV
|
SOSA
|
SOS
|
TOI
|
PIM
|
| 24 | 3 | 21 | .875 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57:50 | 0 |
|
EDM
|
|
Matt Tomkins#90
|
|---|
|
SA
|
GA
|
SV
|
SV%
|
ESSV
|
PPSV
|
SHSV
|
SOSA
|
SOS
|
TOI
|
PIM
|
| 28 | 1 | 27 | .964 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59:13 | 0 |
I tuned into the M$GN at 5:30:00PM. I then returned to the NFL Redzone channel at 5:30:01PM once I saw that Sieve Vagistat, his god awful suit and made-up ANALytic stats were left to their own devices.
Furthermore, then what else is there to say?
It was time for the Rangers to back up their words.
The only thing to note from this half-hour were the following developments:
— Durzi was confirmed as a scratch. Obviously, his injury was serious enough to give him the night off.
— In Durzi’s steed was Scott Morrow – but the former Carolina defenseman wasn’t paired with Pettersson.
— Sullivan opted to use a young d-pair of Smits/Morrow, which sounded dangerous considering the firepower in Edmonton.
— Matt Rempe, who earlier in the week, was thought to be a player that Mike Babcock would like on his roster, remained as a healthy scratch. What a way to showcase him to a potential suitor.
— The Rangers were a -130 favorite heading into the game. I know that this game was played at M$G, the Oilers had played the night before and was aware of their goaltending situation too – but even so – and I can’t believe the Blueshirts were favorites – and especially when you consider the rust vs. rest aspect of it all.
Come 6:00PM and the best pinch-hitter in hockey, back-up M$GN play-by-play man Alex Faust, and Dave Maloney got their first bit of face time.
Kenny Albert, who has done double-headers before (he even did triple-headers during COVID), did the Jets game earlier in the day.
Apparently, the lowlife Jets did a number on poor Kenny, hence his absence at M$G on Sunday night.
And with the way that the Rangers have been playing (three-game losing streak entering this game against the Oilers) – and I can’t blame the future Hall of Fame announcer for taking a timeout from this mess.
Finally, GAME REVIEW time!
FIRST PERIOD
As Matt Tomkins and Dylan Garand got settled in-between their pipes, then Ryan Nugent-Hopkins beat Mika at the dot to take the game’s first draw.
After Mopey Mika was stopped at the 39-second mark, then a real center, a real captain, Connor McDavid, showed the Rangers how it was done:
Too easy #NYR https://t.co/0PJLgQ4ey6
— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) November 1, 2026
1-0, them, and just like that at only the 50-second mark.
I’d say you can’t make this up – but you could have.
I know that I did!
And I know it’s McDavid, but he did make fools of Gavrikov and Garand on this goal.
After this and Fox was blocked while Tomkins was able to deny Mika again.
Come the 4:23 mark and it looked like McDavid was going to get another goal, but thankfully and Garand was able to fight off this try.
About a minute later and Tomkins was able to prevent Tolvanen from tying the game.
Come the 6:19 (Rey Mysterio) mark?
2-0, Oil:
Dacher delivers 😤 #LetsGoOilers https://t.co/7gZQcxa6nr
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 1, 2026
Evan Bouchard found Colton Dach and that was all she wrote.
And yep – this goal was on Garand – as he has to stop this shot – as all Dach did was fling the puck on net and somehow, the rubber was able to cruise through the five-hole.
At the 8:53 mark, the Oilers seemingly had scored (Bouchard), but the refs felt sorry for the sack of losers in Rangers’ jerseys – and called goaltender interference.
It looked like Pettersson pushed Dach into Garand.
Babcock didn’t bother challenge, as apparently the referee told him during the TV timeout/chance to challenge that Dach was going into the crease before the contact was made.
I don’t know about all of that – as I felt the Oilers got screwed of a goal here.
After all, then perhaps like many of you – and I still don’t know what constitutes as goalie interference anymore.
Under 8:30 remaining and the Oilers had the Rangers’ fourth line and second pair buried into their own zone. Somehow, the Rangers were able to clear the puck, change and survive the attack. This then allowed the Blueshirts to challenge Tomkins some (Fox, Cuylle and Laba had chances).
This Rangers’ attack, their best of the game thus far, also drew a penalty – as with 7:35 remaining and Kasperi Kapanen was busted for tripping Alexis Lafreniere.
Now with a chance to cut the Edmonton lead in half (and where it should’ve been 3-0 Oil too), and McDavid almost scored a shorthanded goal some thirty-seconds in.
The Blueshirts ended their own power-play with 37-seconds remaining on it, as their dead-as-a-doornail man-up attack did nothing which then led Cuylle into taking a tripping penalty on Owen Michaels with 6:11 left in the period.
Once the brief foreplay concluded, then the Rangers got a big break when Bouchard whiffed on a slap shot.
Come 4:11 remaining and we were back to full-strength, and with no special team goals on the board either.
Down to 3:50 left to play and Tomkins prevented Laba from scoring his first goal of the season.
A Fox-to-Glendening try then went wide at the 2:00 warning and where it kind of felt like the Rangers had settled in a bit – albeit some eighteen-minutes and two goals scored against too late.
Come 30-seconds remaining and Dorofeyev turned over the puck in his own zone.
And that was that for the first period.
2-0, Oil.
Here’s what I said at the time:
2-zip, Oilers, through 20. 1P Thoughts:
— Rangers kinda woke up at the eighteen-minute mark, but of course, they gave up three goals by then (they got lucky the Bouchard goal was overturned as Dach was clearly pushed by Pettersson).
— 0/1 on the power-play.
— Are the Bad & Boring Blueshirts back? At least we’ll always have that CZAR IGOR goal.
— Inexcusable really – all that time off to get ready and playing against a goalie with all of six starts and who played last two years ago? I mean look at the SOG stat – 7-5, Oilers. Only five shots against Tomkins?
— FAT CATS sure love talking the talk but not walking the walk.
— I’m sure the BOGO ticket promotions will return soon if this keeps up.
SECOND PERIOD
After the moronic Sieve Vagistat said in his closing intermission remarks that “The Oilers played last night. They won’t have any more energy going forward. Now is the time for Rangers to respond,” then all I could think at the time was – “Famous last words” – and “as said by an asshole” too!
To start the period, RNH once again beat Mika at the center circle.
After a mini flurry from the Oilers some 30-seconds in, then Maloney decided to tell us that McDavid’s teammates are better because of him.
You see, this was big, because the same doesn’t apply with the FAT CATS in New York.
By the three-minute mark, the Oilers had a trio of chances, but no SOG after any of them.
At the 4:34 mark, Mika challenged the no name Oiler goalie once more, and where as a result, Tomkins recorded his eighth save of the game.
Twenty-seconds later and Morrow, after a nice spinorama, set up Laba, but no dice. As a result, Tomkins was now up to ten saves at the 5:30 mark.
Also at the time?
The Rangers were out-shooting the Oil, 6-0.
However, the Oil almost got their first shot on goal – and goal too – at the 6:50 mark – but Fox was able to break-up a McDavid and Podkolzin 2 x 1 odd-man chance.
Come the 8:45 mark and Cuylle & Perreault almost hooked-up but #50 put too much on the pass to #94.
Down to 11:20 remaining and with the Rangers playing well and the Oilers still looking for their first SOG of the period – and the Blueshirts hurt their own momentum when Laba took an o-zone holding penalty against Connor Murphy.
It took about a minute for Bouchard to score – and where there was no chance this one was going to be reversed either:
BOUCH BOMB ALERT 💣🚨 https://t.co/8MSyKtf5e3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 2, 2026
3-0, Oil, after the patented “BOUCH BOMB.”
It was very noticeable how calm the Oiler power-play was too. They were fully relaxed, no jerky stuff and they simply just waited to set up the blast.
And just like how he started the first period – and Garand had once again given up a goal on the first shot he faced in this period too.
Come 8:47 remaining and Tomkins denied Schneider for his fourteenth save of the match.
Garand made his first save of the period with 8:10 to go, as he gobbled up a harmless shot from Dach.
Tomkins stopped Gavrikov and Mika for his 15th and 16th save with 6:58 remaining – as nobody has a better night at M$G than a no name goalie.
It was Pavel Dingorfeyev, with 6:38 remaining, that brought the score to 3-1. This goal also earned a review too – for goaltender interference.
The refs ultimately just said good goal and Babcock didn’t challenge them
This was kind of weird as we now had a +2 goal differential with these questionable calls and no calls.
I mean, when was the last time the Rangers got two breaks from the officials?
Ever?
Anyway, here’s the goal:
Dorofeyev gets one home #NYR https://t.co/2uFoTgsqWH
— Nick Ziegler (@NickZiegler20) November 2, 2026
About a minute later and McDavid almost scored a goal, but he just sent the puck an inch too high. A few seconds later and Perreault prevented a goal, as he got a piece of a Ryan Shea shot.
Down to 3:16 remaining and Garand prevented a Trent Frederic stuff-in try.
About a minute later and Sullivan made an in-game line change where the head coach flip-flopped Perreault and Bjorkstrand.
With 92-seconds left to be played and Dach, from two feet out, went in-between the legs – and where Garand was able to prevent a highlight reel goal for the Oiler.
To close the period, Garand prevented this game from being a three-goal deficit again, as he made a pair of saves on Draisaitl and Ekholm with just seconds remaining.
3-1, Oilers, through two periods.
Here’s what I said at the time:
3-1, Oil, after 40-minutes. #NYR 2P Thoughts:
— Blame the goalie all you want, but you can’t spot them three to start and then score your first with about 26-minutes left in game-time either.
— Special teams haven’t been hot either – O-fer on the PP, 1 PPG allowed.
— The Dingorfeyev goal wasn’t really an A-Rod goal, but that’s what it may turn out to be some twenty-minutes from now.
— I can’t remember the last time the Rangers got two goal calls to go their way.
— I can remember all the times the Rangers have made a no-name third-string goalie into the second coming of Patrick Roy.
— Garand, after a rough start, came up big when he had to.
— Maybe the Oilers are saving some gas for the third, but they didn’t get their first SOG about half-way in. Of course they scored on it tho..
— SOG: 20-14, Rangers. So Tomkins has made 19 saves.
THIRD PERIOD
Mika finally beat RNH at the dot to win the first faceoff of this frame. Twenty-seconds later and Pettersson blasted a puck towards Tomkins, but just missed the goalie.
Come the 1:07 mark and McDavid & Draisaitl almost pulled off some tom-foolery, but Garand was there to prevent the 4-1 score.
After some back-and-forth, Raddysh iced the puck at the 3:05 mark.
A Miller all alone try, at the 4:35 mark, went high-and-wide. That could’ve been something had he put the puck on net.
At the 5:25 mark, the Rangers got a chance to strike within one, as Murphy was boxed for interfering with Cuylle.
Now on the power-play, Fox challenged Tomkins just five-seconds in, but the goalie was able to survive this try.
Tomkins was then able to deny both Mika and Lafreniere with 30-seconds remaining on the man-up attack.
However, the end result was still the same for the Blueshirts’ power-play – another 0-fer, and this time, 0/2 in the game.
Back to full-strength and Tomkins made his 24th save of the game, as he denied Bjorkstrand at the 7:39 mark. Right out of the TV timeout and Miller allowed Tomkins to make his 25th save.
Down to 11:46 remaining and the Rangers took their second o-zone penalty of the game – as this time, Kartye hooked Captain Connor.
McDavid almost had Draistaitl set-up immediately as the Oilers’ power-play began. This try went wide, but the Rangers got more bad news, as with 11:14 left in the game, 1:28 on the power-play – and Cuylle went to the box for hooking McDavid.
In turn, McDavid basically drew a 5 x 3 power-play all by himself.
He also burnt two-minutes of a potential Rangers’ attack too.
To the Rangers’ credit – and they killed off both penalties, thus returning the game at full-strength with just a little over nine minutes remaining.
Down to 8:06 remaining and Garand fended off a mini Kapanen breakaway.
Come 6:40 left to play and Gavrikov prevented a McDavid one-on-one opportunity with Garand.
Under the FOXWOODS FINAL FIVE mark, and Garand made a homerun pass to Gavrikov, but the Oilers were there to break up any sort of ensuing attack.
Come 3:44 left in regulation and Garand stoned McDavid to keep the game somewhat alive.
Following an Oilers’ icing with 2:50 to go and this is when Garand left his net for the extra skater.
The Rangers put a good effort in here, but with 1:13 left, Mika broke his shot on a slapper. Thirteen-seconds later, sixty-seconds on the clock and Tomkins was able to get a stop-and-a-freeze. As a result, Sullivan used his timeout in order to get his six-man unit a breather.
Dach, with 39.4 seconds left in the game, sealed the deal with the 4-1 empty netter.
4-1, Oil, your final.
Up Next For the Rangers: John Giannone making 786786869676986978 “WILL THE RANGERS SING THE BLUES?” jokes on Tuesday night, as Blueshirts v. Blues is scheduled on 11/3 at M$G.
The Rangers, following whatever happens against St. Louis, will host another bottom-feeder this week when they play the Flyers this Thursday.
Again, whether you want to say “on paper” or “in theory” – and these two games should produce four-points in the standings.
But of course, then the games are played on the ice – and where the Rangers haven’t looked very good on it as of late.
I know that I also promised to give you some sort of Top 10, 15 or 20 list on BELOVED BLUESHIRTS.
I’ll try to save that for after a win – as I don’t want positive material to be buried after a negative game.
Let’s hope that win comes sometime this week!
Ugh.
Maybe “ugh” for you too?
My mandatory closing segment, you know…
PLUGS TIME! (Buy a book and support my Rangers’ induced therapy bills. After all, I don’t run ads on this site!)
My fourth title and tenth book is now available!
“The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History,” is now available for sale!
For complete information, please visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/rangerkillers/
My second plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden.”
As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD
For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:
Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today
My four-volume set of books, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is a game-by-game recount of the Rangers 2021-22 campaign.
My second title as an author, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats.
To obtain signed copies, visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/onegamebook/
To purchase all four volumes on Amazon, visit: Amazon.com – “One Game at a Time.”
The greatest volume-set of books on Rangers’ history today!
“Tricks of the Trade – A Century-Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers’ History,” a four-volume set of books that meticulously covers every trade made in franchise history, is now on sale.
All four volumes of the title can be purchased on Amazon.com and are presented in three different formats – eBook, paperback and hardcover.
To purchase Volume I: Conn Smythe (1926) – Craig Patrick (1986), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume II: Phil Esposito (1986) – Neil Smith (2000), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume III: Glen Sather (2000-2015), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume IV: Jeff Gorton (2015) – Chris Drury (2022), visit Amazon.com
To purchase signed copies of all four volumes, visit https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:
Don’t forget to order my four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade!”
If you don’t order through me, all four volumes are now available on Amazon.com
For more details, check out: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
Thanks for reading.
LET’S GO RANGERS!
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
