Following a 7-1 shellacking at the hands of their cross-river Metropolitan Division rivals, the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers took accountability.
"Obviously, today was not our best." said Rangers captain J.T. Miller. "Not proud of that performance."
"Disconnected all over the place," Miller added. "It wasn't good enough."
Miller was the architect of the first crack in the team's armor on the night. Late in the first period, Miller misplayed a pass on the boards in the defensive zone, allowing Evan Rodrigues to walk in and score the opening goal of the game.
"I just fanned on it," Miller responded. "I think I should have just ate it."
Veteran forward Mika Zibanejad is confident that tonight's disaster will look like an anomaly over the course of the 84-game 2026-27 regular season.
"We got away from it. That's going to happen in the season," lamented Zibanejad. "I think we've built enough habits. Tonight shows what happens when we don't do it."
After Igor Shesterkin's season-ending injury, rookie goalie Dylan Garand was making the crease his own with a string of good performances.
Tonight poured some cold water on those good vibes, as Garand allowed four goals in less than 30 minutes of game time.
Regardless, Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan had his young netminder's back.
"It's not on Dylan," Sullivan declared postgame.
Sullivan was then asked why he decided to pull Garand for backup Spencer Martin after Arseny Gritsyuk scored to make it 4-0 in favor of the Devils early in the second period.
"We were trying to change the momentum of the game a little bit. I know Dylan will bounce back, he's a high-character kid," Sullivan asserted. "I would expect him to bounce back the right way."
Garand and the Rangers will have the chance to bounce back on Saturday night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.