Rangers vs. Canucks: Gawdin Almighty
The Rangers close their western trip at 3-1-0. Plus: Glenn Gawdin makes a point, Alexis Lafrenière keeps rolling, and Adam Fox answers his critics.
- Guys, I have a sneaking suspicion that the Vancouver Canucks aren't a very good hockey team.
- With that win over Vancouver, the New York Rangers conclude their western trip with a 3-1-0 record, losing only to the Edmonton Oilers, who, if you aren't aware, have this cat named Connor McDavid who is on pace for one of the most insane seasons in NHL history. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
- Our old friend Filip Chytil made his return to the Canucks lineup in this game.
Former #NYR center Filip Chytil will return to the #Canucks lineup tonight after missing the previous five games with a shoulder injury.
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) November 14, 2026
We caught up this morning, which I'll have more on in a coming story, but let's just say his determination to overcome his injuries has not…
- When I saw this, I texted Joe and Chip that watching this game would be like watching a NASCAR race. You're just waiting for the crash, for something bad to happen.
- And while Chytil managed to avoid the worst possible outcome, he did collide with his own teammate (with the teammate taking the brunt of it) and also managed to perfectly deflect a pass from Canucks goaltender Leevi Meriläinen right to Glenn Gawdin for his first career National Hockey League goal.
- I just want the best for Chytil. I understand why he wants to overcome his injury issues—playing hockey is all he knows, after all—but it'll never not make me uncomfortable to watch him. Which is just sad.
- A while ago, I wrote that, in their current situation, the Rangers should just play the kids. This was around the time they signed Luke Glendening to a contract. Similar to how Joe has said that you can't complain about the goaltending when the team only scores one goal (or fewer), you really can't complain about league-minimum contracts.
- And, in the interest of fairness, Gawdin is not a "kid." He's a 29-year-old journeyman. But playing him as your 4C is in line with what I was getting at in that piece.
- Gawdin had posted a 5-9-14 line with the Hartford Wolf Pack before getting the call-up. Now he's played two games and has two goals. In four games, Glendening has skated cardio.
