It didn’t take long — just 5:09 of game time across the first and second periods — for Dylan Garand’s strong opening act to his chance as the Rangers’ starter to come to a screeching halt across the Hudson River.
It didn’t take long, just one 7-1 embarrassment against the Devils that ended with train times back to New York City being broadcast on the Prudential Center video board and “Rangers suck” chants, for the entire lineup to produce their first dud of the season in the first Battle of the Hudson matchup.
And after Garand allowed four goals across the disastrous stretch and was pulled in favor of Spencer Martin, Thursday night served as a reminder that for everything that emerged as bright spots for the Rangers in the first two weeks of the season, they’re still without Igor Shesterkin for the next six months. Garand, for all the potential he has flashed, only has seven starts and eight appearances to his ledger with massive skates to fill.
It wasn’t entirely his fault, as the Rangers didn’t generate many chances across the final 40 minutes and had just 19 shots for the game. But, after a start to the year where the Blueshirts had fixed plenty of their wrongs from 2025-26 by winning at home and defeating the Islanders, they failed to get another rivalry win.
For once, it wasn’t Jack Hughes — who entered with 35 points in 26 games against them — tormenting the Rangers. His brother, Luke Hughes, scored twice, while Evan Rodrigues, Nico Hischier, Arseny Gritsyuk, Stefan Noesen and Cody Glass all added goals for the Devils. Pavel Dorofeyev scored his second of the season on the power play for the lone Rangers tally, but by that point, with the Blueshirts facing a 6-0 deficit, it was far from being enough.
Garand allowed four goals on 14 shots and was pulled less than five minutes into the second period, with two goals in 31 seconds for the Devils — as they extended their lead over the Blueshirts to 4-0 — ending his night.
Thursday marked the first time in his NHL career that Garand had allowed more than two goals in a game, and he entered the night with a 1.15 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage in 2025-26, which included a shutout against the Red Wings after Joonas Korpisalo’s injury and then consecutive wins following Shesterkin’s injury.
The Devils jumped out to a 1-0 lead with just 29.6 seconds left in the first, when J.T. Miller whiffed on a cross-ice pass that ended up going right to Rodrigues — and then right past Garand — in the Blueshirts’ zone. Then, 18 seconds into the second frame, Hughes’ shot seemingly hit Adam Fox’s skate and ricocheted past Garand. Just minutes later, Meier scored off a rebound before Gritsyuk made it 4-0.
Everything unraveled quickly for the Rangers. Earlier in the first period, when Jack Hughes tore in on the rush, Garand kept a tough shot in front of him. As the Rangers were killing a penalty, Mika Zibanejad threaded a pass to Braden Schneider that nearly led to a goal. The Blueshirts finished with four high-danger chances in the opening frame and generated 12 scoring chances compared to just seven for the Devils, according to Natural Stat Trick.
But then everything that’d worked for them since the season opener in Boston — when they were shut out and imploded in the final minutes of the third — disappeared. The Devils controlled possession. They maneuvered around the Blueshirts’ previously sound structure with ease, creating plenty of open chances. Late in the third period, Alexis Lafrenière was given a game misconduct for what he said to an official.
And if the last seven games served as the blueprint for the Rangers, if the previous two with Garand as starter served as their formula to win enough without Shesterkin to crack the postseason tournament, this was the antithesis of that.
