The New York Rangers blazed through their first six games by scoring 31 goals before fizzling out for the first time this season.
Coming off their lowest goal output of the new campaign, the Rangers attempt to avoid consecutive losses for the first time when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.
New York scored at least four goals in every game throughout its 5-0-1 start, marking the franchise’s longest points streak to start a season. The Rangers had 14 different goal scorers across their first six games, which matched the most in the league during that span.
New York’s hot start included wins over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and a pair over the Detroit Red Wings.
On Thursday, the Rangers’ run was halted in a 3-1 loss to the visiting Florida Panthers. It was the teams’ first meeting since Florida beat New York in six games in last season’s Eastern Conference final en route to winning its first Stanley Cup title.
The Rangers looked more like the offense that struggled in the postseason against the Panthers on Thursday. Alexis Lafreniere provided the team’s lone tally, which pulled New York within 2-1 at the 15:16 mark of the first period.
The Rangers were held to a season-low 25 shots on goal and went scoreless on four power play opportunities, which disappointed coach Peter Laviolette.
“It seemed like we didn’t have the pop we needed to beat that team, I would agree with that,” Laviolette said. “That’s on us. We have to be better than that.
“They had more jump than us, they were quicker on the rush, they added the third man and the fourth man on the rush all night, and we didn’t catch them. We weren’t there to defend it.”
Anaheim is among the lowest-scoring teams in the Western Conference through its first six games. The Ducks have managed 15 goals and are seeking consecutive wins for the first time as they begin a four-game road trip.
After dropping a 4-1 decision on home ice to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, Anaheim rebounded with a 3-1 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
Troy Terry scored on a second-period power play for the Ducks to open the scoring against San Jose. He has four goals this season and a five-game point streak.
Leo Carlsson delivered the tiebreaking goal for the hosts in the third period on the power play less than a minute after the Sharks equalized with a man up.
Terry and Carlsson’s goals marked Anaheim’s first two scores this season on the man advantage. The Ducks had gone 0-for-17 on the power play over their first five contests. Anaheim generated 40 shots on Tuesday after managing 33 across its previous two games.
“I thought, for most of that game, we skated well and we played well,” Terry said. “That was the way we want to play, and we all needed that going into the (four-game road) trip.
Lukas Dostal made 27 saves for the Ducks on Tuesday to improve to 3-1-1 this season. Fellow goaltender John Gibson has not played this season while recovering from emergency appendectomy surgery but is expected to travel with Anaheim for the road trip. Dostal is still in line to start Saturday.
New York is 8-1-1 in the past 10 meetings with the Ducks and outscored Anaheim 10-3 in two victories last season.
