NY Rangers Need More From New Defensemen Pairings

It was the same old story for the New York Rangers on defense in their opener against the Boston Bruins.

Sep 29, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center James Hagens (44) and New York Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider (4) battle for the puck during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Opening night did not go according to plan for the New York Rangers, who hung with the Boston Bruins for 56 minutes of action, but unraveled down the stretch.

In a span of 1:15 in the third period, with less than four minutes remaining in regulation, the Rangers surrendered three goals to the Bruins, resulting in a disappointing 3-0 loss. After being shut out 10 times last season, which was the most in the NHL, going scoreless for a second straight opener is certainly discouraging.

New York had its opportunities to score, but was unable to capitalize. Boston made the most of their chances, with 3.6 expected goals in the game, compared to 2.0 for the Rangers, per Hockey Stats. The Bruins had goalie Igor Shesterkin under siege more often and were eventually able to get the puck past him.

The New York goaltender did everything in his power to will his team to victory, but an ugly trend that developed during the 2025-26 season carried over into this campaign: the performance of the defensemen in front of him was underwhelming.

Rangers defensemen were not great against Bruins

Sep 29, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (44) shoots the puck ahead of Boston Bruins defenseman Conoir Clifton (75) during the second period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Their No. 1 pairing of Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov was solid as always. They had an xGF of 0.67 and an xGA of 0.53, with an xGgoal share of 55.9%. They were the only pairing to have a positive percentage, with the other duos of Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi and Alberts Smits and Braden Schneider struggling.

The No. 2 pairing of Pettersson and Durzi had an xGF of 0.51 and an xGA of 0.89 with an xGoal Share of 36.5%. Smits and Schneider were even less effective, with an xGF of 0.43, an xGA of 0.82 and an xGoal Share of 34.2%.

It was actually Gavrikov who made a mistake that allowed the scoring opportunity for Boston on their first goal. On the second, it was another neutral zone mistake that led to Schneider getting shaken off his skates; that was the equivalent of a basketball player having his ankles broken on the court.

In a surprising turn of events, the distribution of playing time at the blue line will raise some eyebrows as well. Durzi handled the most playing time at 23:15. Pettersson was right behind him with 23:08.

JJ Peterka with a DISGUSTING first goal as a Bruin! 🥵 #NHLFaceOff pic.twitter.com/h1z4Z3jUjJ

— NHL (@NHL) September 30, 2026

Their best defenseman, Fox, was on the ice for only 18:25, which was the fourth-highest total among players at the position and fifth most on the team, with Mika Zibanejad logging 18:31. Gavrikov was on the ice for 19:58, which was the third most on the team.

Further down the list were Smits, with 16:54, the seventh most on the team, and Schneider, with 16:14, which was the ninth most.

It was only one game, but this is something to keep an eye on moving forward. The Rangers have two extra defensemen on the active roster, Matthew Robertson and Scott Morrow, who could log No. 3 pairing minutes.