Rangers vs. Blues: Survival of the Luckiest
A win is a win, even against the Blues. Notes on Will Cuylle at center, a familiar power-play problem, and the Rangers’ biggest hole down the middle.
- On Tuesday night, we saw Dylan Garand play in his 11th straight game. This workload is intense for even the heaviest of workhorses.
- The organization may have had several goaltender injuries this season, some more tragic than others, but the fact that the team is in a position where Garand is forced to play as much as he has is another example of a misguided strategy at best.
- To continue on this cynical trajectory for a moment, how about that Will Cuylle experiment? It's easy to buy into head coach Mike Sullivan's commentary—Cuylle has all the tools, yadda yadda yadda. I don't disagree, but the team has made several questionable decisions trying to find a depth center and has spent assets or wasted cap space and contract slots in failing to do so.
- Cuylle lined up at the dot for five faceoffs throughout the game. He didn't win a single one.
- Playing center is more than faceoffs, though, isn't it? Sure, it's a pretty big component, but Cuylle had some great plays throughout the night. A big blocked shot and an effective and excellent forecheck that led to a goal leave us with the questions: Would we have gotten that from him even if he lined up on the wing? Does it even matter?
- In need of a center? How fun would it have been if the New York Rangers had claimed Brad Lambert? It hasn't clicked yet for the shifty young centerman, but the Winnipeg Jets drafted him with the first-round pick they got from the Rangers when a condition in the Andrew Copp trade was met. Talk about another questionable decision.
#WPGJets place Brad Lambert on waivers.
— Brennan Klak (@nhlupdate) November 3, 2026
- I miss Pavel Buchnevich. I'm being dramatic, but I genuinely believe trading him led us down the I miss Pavel Buchnevich. I'm being dramatic, but I genuinely believe trading him led us down the darkest timeline.
Pavel Buchnevich trying to mess with Mika Zibanejad pic.twitter.com/0tv49RZiEa
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) November 3, 2026
- I talked a lot about Garand playing too much, but he was great Tuesday. He was tested early and often and came up big for the Rangers all night. The shutout bid breaking with less than a minute left was tragic.
- The Rangers' special teams looked better Tuesday, but a casual reminder: Their opponent was the St. Louis Blues.
- One thing is certain, and that is that the team took far too many penalties, several of which were easily avoidable. They were lucky to walk away with a win.
