Rangers Edged by the Jets in the Shootout after a Solid Goaltending Duel

By Daniel Feuerstein | New York, NY | March 22nd, 2026

After returning from Columbus in a bad loss to the Blue Jackets, the New York Rangers came back to Madison Square Garden for an early Sunday Afternoon game as they hosted the Winnipeg Jets. This was the start of a back-to-back home games for the Rangers as they will face the Ottawa Senators on Monday night, and that means the backups for the two teams were in net. While the game was entertaining and lasted all the way to the shootout, the Rangers fell to the Jets by a final score of three to two, with a two-to-nothing loss in the shootout.

Dylan Garand gets the call

With Jonahton Quick getting scratched due to an upper-body injury during a practice session at the MSG Training Center, the Rangers called up Hartford Wolf Pack starting goaltender Dylan Garand, who has looked good in the net and is considered the third goaltender in the Rangers system. Outside of several pre-season starts, he made his NHL Debut as he gave Igor Shesterkin a breather as he prepares for the Ottawa Senators on Monday Night.

“I thought he was terrific. You know, I thought he looked really solid. He had a calm demeanor in there. Tracking pucks well. You know, rebound control was great. He made some big saves for us. I thought he had a really strong game,” said Mike Sullivan

Game Recap

Adam Lowry entered the Rangers’ zone and dropped the puck off to Cole Perfetti at the far point. He makes the quick pass down low to the near side toward Gabriel Vilardi, who forced Garand to move away from his net, and makes a quick backhand pass to Lowry as he stuffs it home at 13:06 of the first period. The Rangers tied the game up as they jumped on the puck down low in the near corner, as Tye Kartye collected the puck and threw it back toward the slot at J.T. Miller. The Captain of the Rangers saw Kartye skating back towards the front of the net and delivered a hard pass as Kartye snapped one past Eric Comrie at 41 seconds of the second period.

Winnipeg on the Power Play regained the lead as Josh Morrissey kept the puck inside the Rangers’ zone. Sent it down low to the far side. He saw Vilardi coming in down the slot and made the quick pass to him, and Vilardi, at point-blank range, quickly shoots it in at 6:43 of the second period. The Rangers tied the game again on their power play as Miller down low passed the puck back to Adam Fox at the near point. Skated toward the middle of the ice and tried to pass the puck down low, but was blocked, and the rebound went back to Fox. He saw Mika Zibanejad at the far boards and gave it to him. Ripped a one-timer from his usual spot and scored at 14:03 of the second period.

While there were no goals in the third period or in overtime. Both Garand and Comrie showcased themselves very well in the final period of regulation and the extra five minutes. Making strong saves and helping to keep that puck out of the net to try and give their team a boost to earn that go-ahead or game-winning goal. In the shootout, Comrie made both stops on Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller, while Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi scored for the Jets to take the extra point. The Rangers are nearly at the end of this losing season, but seeing some players getting called up from Hartford is a good thing to see what they have for the future.

Mike Sullivan’s Comments

Despite the loss, Sullivan saw areas for growth. “I thought there were momentum swings, you know. There were moments when I felt like we had it. There were moments when we were on our heels a little bit, so I thought there were momentum swings, but I thought we competed hard. You know, I thought after the first period. We had opportunities to create off the shot once again, and I know I have this conversation with you guys a lot.

Trust me, I have the same number of conversations with our group. Because I feel like we’re looking for a better place sometimes. You know, in particular, when we’re driving pucks, you know, when we have the puck on the perimeter of the rink, whether it’s off the rush or… within a cycle game. You know, we’re looking for lateral plays that don’t exist, and we’re challenging sticks and legs, and they gobble it up, and it goes the other way, where if we have an opportunity to put a forward diagonal on the… Goalie’s pads to create the next play. Not necessarily shooting to score, but shooting for the next play, I think it can give us more opportunities to create more offense. You know, there were.

I want to say. Based on the short time that I’ve looked at it, I think five or six opportunities in the first period alone where we did that. We’re looking for lateral plays to the high slot where, you know, there’s bodies and sticks. Nothing materializes other than we start their breakout. And so that’s an element of our game that I think we can get better at. You know, we’ve talked a lot about creating off the shot more. I just think it’s an area we’ve got to try to do a better job at having a heightened awareness of being willing to put more pucks in play,” said Head Coach Mike Sullivan

MIKA ZIBANEJAD: Scored his 30th goal of the season and his 280th goal as a Ranger, tying Adam Graves for the fourth-most goals in franchise history. He has registered 30 or more goals in four different seasons with the Blueshirts and is one of only seven players in team history to have done so. His 14 power play goals this season are tied for fifth among all NHL skaters, and he sits one power play goal away from tying Daniel Alfredsson (135) for the third-most in NHL history by a Swedish player.

ADAM FOX: Has recorded an assist in back-to-back games and has notched eight points (1G-7A) over his last eight games. This season, his 32 assists lead all New York defensemen and rank fourth among all Rangers skaters.

DYLAN GARAND: Made 35 saves in his NHL debut and helped the Rangers earn a point this afternoon.

TYE KARTYE: Scored his third goal as a Ranger and tallied his eighth point since joining the team on Feb. 28. Since recording his first point with New York on Mar. 7, his three goals are tied for third on the Rangers, and his eight points rank fifth

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