Recap: Rangers Extend Win Streak to Four in 4–2 Victory in Minnesota

In their first meeting following all the rumblings between the two leading up to the trade deadline, the New York Rangers paid the Minnesota Wild a visit in their final meeting of the 2025-26 season. Riding their longest win streak since early December, the Rangers looked to finally get over that three game hump and establish a four game win streak for the first time since October of 2024.

Mike Sullivan would make some tweaks to their lineup as the Rangers got Taylor Raddysh back, as well as their captain in J.T. Miller. Miller would slot in on the right wing of the second line, forcing Jonny Brodzinski and Jusso Parssinen out of the lineup, moving Adam Edstrom to center on the fourth line with Raddysh playing the left side. 

First Period

Less than a minute into play, the Rangers got the game's first power play as Brock Faber tripped up his Olympic teammate in J.T. Miller as he was making a break towards the Wild’s net. Lots of attention was put on the Rangers’ top power play unit with Miller taking Gabe Perreault’s place upon returning to the lineup. While that first unit wouldn’t get it done, the second one would as Noah Laba beat Filip Gustavsson with a quick wrist shot off another fantastic pass from Perreault to make it a 1-0 game early with 14 seconds to go on the power play. 

Laba now has three goals in his last four games. In addition to scoring, the Rangers were off to a physical start highlighted by a Will Cuylle hit on Kirill Kaprizov that Ryan Hartman and several other Wild skaters were not happy with. Throughout the period, he would be going at it both physically and verbally with a number of opponents as the Wild definitely had his number in mind. 

Nearing the midway mark of the opening period, the Rangers were caught in a lengthy scrum in their own end that ended with Will Borgen being sent off for tripping Joel Eriksson-Ek. A strong penalty kill from the Rangers not only kept the Wild off the board, but continued to limit their chances as they were credited with just three shots on goal through the first 15 minutes of play. 

With five minutes to go, Vladislav Gavrikov made a beautiful one touch pass at the point to Conor Sheary which helped move the puck over to Adam Fox. The play would start and end with Gavrikov as he snuck a backhander through Gustavsson after the shot from Fox redirected off the stick of Tye Kartye. Just an overall fantastic shift from all five players involved, 2-0 Rangers. 

The Wild came alive in the final minute of the period as they more than doubled their shot total causing Igor Shesterkin to come up with some big saves, specifically on a pair of chances from former friend Vladimir Tarasenko. However during this stretch, Kartye was called for a cross-checking penalty, meaning the Rangers would start the second period shorthanded. Shots after the opening twenty were 9-7 in the Rangers favor. 

Second Period

It was another quick goal to start the period but this time around, it was from the Wild. A drop pass from Quinn Hughes allowed for Matt Boldy to use his speed to cut through the neutral zone and let a shot go in the slot that was destined for the back of the net, cutting the Rangers lead in half. Boldy's 38th of the season came just 35 seconds into the second period.

Another thing that was increasingly noticeable throughout this game was the fact that the Rangers fourth line was having a strong showing. Another excellent shift from that trio resulted in Raddysh chipping the puck ahead for a Jaroslav Chmelar breakaway. He pulled off a nice forehand-backhand move with a rolling puck to beat Gustavsson for his second of the season. Just an outstanding goal for a young player that has been extremely fun to watch.

Just 22 seconds later, the Rangers extended their lead to 4-1 as a shot-pass from Gavrikov redirected off what looked like the skate of Hartman to find the back of the net. The goal was initially credited to Vincent Trocheck which is where it would stand as upon a closer look, the puck caught a piece of Trocheck's blade before finding Hartman's skate.

Shesterkin continued to be at the top of his game as he was making some big saves to help keep the Wild offer the board.

With less than two minutes to go in the second, Gavrikov's stick caught Hartman up high which gave the Wild a late power play. While it didn't appear that any blood was drawn on the play, Hartman kept pointing to a missing tooth which sold the officials on assessing the Rangers a double minor penalty. As Kenny Albert clarified on the broadcast, the rule book states that blood or any other injury from a high stick can result in it being called a double minor.

Once again, the Rangers held the Wild off and took their 4-1 lead into the second intermission. Shots after forty minutes of play were now 27-17 in Minnesota's favor as they still had over two minutes of power play time ahead of them in the third.

Third Period

The Rangers killed off the remainder of the penalty as they'd return to even strength two minutes into the final period of regulation. At that point, it felt like the Rangers had a good grasp on the game and were looking to close things out. However, with just under 13 minutes to go, Danila Yurov got in front of the net and managed to get one past Shesterkin to make it a 4-2 game.

Nearing the midway point, Trocheck went to the penalty box as he was called for tripping. The Wild made a heavy push on the power play but with 25 seconds left, would turn it into a 4-on-4 as Boldy took Laba down in the midst of a clear attempt. This would have given the Rangers close to a full power play attempt however Adam Fox was called for an incredibly weak hooking penalty.

As the penalty to Fox was coming to an end, Eriksson-Ek collided with Shesterkin who was in the middle of his crease. This resulted in a spirited scrum involving all ten skaters on the ice and rightfully so. Shesterkin certainly didn't make any attempt to get out of Eriksson-Ek's way but that's his crease, he's under no obligation to. Eriksson-Ek had no business cutting through the blue paint and definitely had no right to make contact with the goaltender.

The Rangers came out of this with another power play but wouldn't convert as they were not generating much of anything here in the third period. With close to three minutes to go, Minnesota was out-shooting them 15-1 in the period. With two and a half to go, they pulled Gustavsson for the extra attacker which turned into a 6-on-4 as Gavrikov was called for a slash as Hartman took another stick to the face.

The Wild would fight hard to try and climb their way in this one, both metaphorically and literally, but the Rangers held strong and came out of it with a 4-2 win. A real team effort as they got contributions from everyone on both sides of the puck. A busy night for Shesterkin who faced a total of 47 shots on goal, allowing just two.

The Rangers are back at it Monday night as they'll host the Los Angeles Kings in Artemi Panarin's return to Madison Square Garden.