Winning solves almost everything, and the New York Rangers are figuring that out first-hand as they try to reverse a miserable first half of the 2024-25 season.
Following a 12-4-1 start, the Blueshirts lost 15 of 19 games to sink toward the very bottom of the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. General manager Chris Drury traded away Jacob Trouba and Kaapo Kakko, and it appeared that it was going to be the very start of a Rangers firesale as reports emerged that the culture within the franchise was rotten.
But things are turning around. New York has won six of its last nine games to get back over .500. They entered Sunday night’s matchup with the Montreal Canadiens just three points out of the final Eastern Conference Wild Card spot.
“Of course [things feel different around here],” star defenseman Adam Fox said. “You ask any team when they’re winning games; it’s just a lot better vibe and a lot better energy. It was easy for us to kind of pack it in when things were going bad, we were dropping in the standings, but we know the team we have in here. We know what we’re capable of. I think we’re just taking it game by game and trying to just work our way back up the standings.”
It seems that head coach Peter Laviolette has found the right pieces of his team’s puzzle to maximize results. Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil are back in the lineup after injuries. Fourth-line center Sam Carrick has helped change the culture, described as a “heart-and-soul guy” by teammate Braden Schneider.
Arthur Kaliyev was claimed off waivers and has added some juice to New York’s third line, which included his first goal of the season during Thursday night’s 5-3 win over Utah.
“Probably a little bit more belief in the way we’re playing the game. I think the players feel it and see it as well,” Laviolette said. “It’s a different group as well. There’s a lot of different pieces in here now and I think that took a minute. But I do think that the players see it, and they realize it as well. They know what they need to do. If they’re good, they know it’s good, and if they’re not on point, then we talk about things and try to get back on point with how we need to play.”
