Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers were in for yet another disappointing loss during their visit to the New Jersey Devils at “The Rock”. After Jack Hughes scored a hat trick to power his team past the Blueshirts, Sullivan addressed New York’s struggles with a direct shot at certain players in the lineup.

Sullivan and the Blueshirts have a lot of work to do. Despite keeping Vincent Trocheck in town—a decision that caused the Rangers and Chris Drury to catch a shot from Wild GM Bill Guerin—New York has yet to figure itself out. As a result, the Rangers keep shooting themselves on the foot, losing against despised foes night in and night out.

The 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Devils in “The Garden State” was no different to other rough losses the Rangers were handed in the 2025-26 NHL campaign. Still, Sullivan had enough, putting certain players on notice with an unminced statement.

“They gained a ton of momentum on their penalty kill and their power play,” Sullivan admitted, according to NHL.com. “A big part of this game is momentum, and we didn’t get any juice from our special teams today.”

Who did Sullivan call out?

With his message, Sullivan put many players on the spotlight. Among them, household names like Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad, and Adam Fox, the latter was the only player in New York to finish the night with a -2 plus/minus.

As Fox’s future with the team is reportedly in doubt heading into the offseason, it was far from an encouraging outing fresh off the trade deadline. Much has to change for him and the Rangers to get back on their feet. The way things are trending, it can’t continue much longer, or there could be more roster casualties this summer.

Rangers struggles’ extend to New Jersey

With the 6–3 loss at Prudential Center, the Rangers remain winless against NHL teams in the Tri-State area. The Blueshirts were swept 0-4-0 and outscored 14-3 by the New York Islanders in the 2025-26 season series. Now, they’ve started their series against the New Jersey Devils on the wrong foot.

New York and New Jersey will meet two more times on March 18 and March 31, both at Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers recently snapped their 101-day winless drought in regulation and are 8-15-6 this season.

The way the year has unfolded, playing at home may be more of a burden than a blessing for Mike Sullivan and company.