New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan didn’t mince words on an honest message for J.T. Miller and the rest of the team. As the Blueshirts struggled at home to start the 2025-26 NHL season, the new bench-boss in Manhattan delivered a firm wake-up call for the locker room.
Hadn’t it been for Artemi Panarin’s early goal against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 20, the Rangers would’ve set the new NHL record for the longest scoring drought at home to start a season. New York barely escaped the pit of agony that would mean setting an all-time low, but it has yet to win a game at Madison Square Garden.
The barn often called the most famous arena in the world is on every sports fan’s bucket list. For the rest of the NHL, however, visiting the rink in New York City is an exciting sight. So far in the 2025-26 campaign, the visiting side has a 100% win-rate at Madison Square Garden. Moreover, Sullivan’s side has been outscored 15-6 in front of its home fans. When hitting the road, the Rangers look much different—and better—so it’s all about doing the same at home.
“It’s not like we’re trying to put a certain game on the ice at home and then put a different game on the ice on the road,” Sullivan admitted to NHL.com. “Is there a human element associated with playing at home versus playing on the road? There could be a little bit of that.“
Head coach Mike Sullivan of the New York Rangers arrives for the game.
Marching back into the concrete jungle
Now, the Rangers return home after a very successful, spirit-lifting road trip through the Northwest. With three straight wins and a 3-1-0 mark over the stretch, Sullivan and his squad return home determined to right their wrongs.
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“I think the most important thing is just understanding what successful hockey looks like,” Sullivan noted. “I think that road trip provided plenty of evidence to suggest that if we play the game a certain way, we’re going to set ourselves up for success.”
Swag surfing
“think we provided a lot of evidence for ourselves [on our road trip] that if we play the game a certain way with the right intentions, we’re going to see give ourselves a chance to win. We had lost a couple of games at home and we started to lose our swagger, so to speak,” Sullivan concluded. “I feel like we regained that.”
Of course, words can only take the Rangers so far. Amid a crucial NHL season, Sullivan and the Broadway Blueshirts must raise their tempo and climb back into the Metro Division race.
Losing every game at home is far from a recipe for success, and the Rangers need to prove Madison Square Garden can once again be the fortress it once was. There’s no quit in New York—but there are no wins either—and that’s enough to make fans restless.
