NY Rangers Need More From Defense To Help Out Goalies

The New York Rangers need to get their defense back on track to help their goaltenders.

Oct 24, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; New York Rangers defenseman Marcus Pettersson (26) skates with the puck in the first period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Rangers have hit a skid over their last five games and a lot of attention has been placed on the performance of goalie Dylan Garand.

He has appeared in eight straight games, with seven consecutive starts, entering the team’s game against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 26. At the very least, the starting streak will be coming to an end, with James Reimer making his debut in net against the Kings.

It is the right move for the Rangers to make. Garand has been shouldering the load essentially by himself. The only time he hasn’t been in net for the team since Igor Shesterkin suffered a lower-body injury on Oct. 9 was when he was pulled against the New Jersey Devils in a 7-1 blowout loss.

In each of his last two starts, against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, Garand has allowed at least five goals. Certainly not the kind of performance the team or fans want to see, but head coach Mike Sullivan made it a point to say that his struggles aren’t solely of his own doing.

Mike Sullivan calls out Rangers defense for recent struggles

Oct 22, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan watches the play against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The head coach spoke at length about how the team’s defense wasn’t up to par against the Maple Leafs in a 5-4 loss. A similar sentiment was shared following a 7-4 loss to the Senators in their most recent game.

“When you look at the goals that were scored, they’re 10-bell chances,” Sullivan said, via Peter Baugh of The Athletic (subscription required). “They’re high-, high-quality looks. The first two goals he had no chance on. The game winner is a two-on-one. That’s a rebound. He makes the initial save. … I thought Dylan made a lot of good saves for us today. We’ve got to do a better job in front of him making sure we cut down on the quality of chances we’re giving up by having more discipline and positional play.”

Too many miscues led to an onslaught of attempts against their goalie, something the team has to do a better job of cutting down on. Turnovers in the defensive zone or mistakes that lead to advantageous opportunities for the opposition have become too prevalent for the Rangers to overcome given the lack of experience in net.

Sullivan has shown that he is willing, almost too much in the opinion of some people, to shake up his forward line combinations. Oliver Bjorkstrand has played on the second, third and fourth lines in recent games, with Pavel Dorofeyev on the first, second and third.

That same willingness should be used on the defensive pairings. For the second straight year, Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov are excelling as the No. 1 pairing, but the four defensemen behind them aren’t consistently getting the job done.

Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi are taking on a lot of the toughest assignments, which skews some of the numbers. But Alberts Smits and Braden Schneider have not been overly productive, which could prompt a change.

Shaking up the pairings, or giving Scott Morrow, who has not been active yet this season, a chance would make a lot of sense. Whatever decision is made, the team needs to start playing at a high level at the blueline to help their goalies as much as possible.