It was Kids Day at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, but for the Rangers, it’s been All About The Kids for months.
The Blueshirts had at least one rookie at every position in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Jets, which was secured by goals from Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi in the skills competition. That included goalie Dylan Garand, who made 35 saves in his NHL debut and got his first taste of OT and the shootout in the big league.
In a matchup between the 2024 and 2025 Presidents Trophy winners, who both faceplanted in the subsequent season, the latter prevailed.
Garand held his own in his first official NHL appearance at MSG.
Facing 37 total shots from the Jets, Garand was steady and only conceded goals he couldn’t do much about. He even stonewalled Connor on a shorthanded breakaway in the second period.
The 23-year-old netminder had been waiting for this since he made his AHL debut with the Wolf Pack on Feb. 21, 2021.
It took just under five and a half years, since the Rangers drafted him 103rd overall in 2020, for Garand to get his moment. There were certainly moments, like now with Jonathan Quick banged up, where the organization could’ve looked to Garand, but opted to go with the more experienced goaltender in their system.
Even earlier this season, the Rangers recalled Spencer Martin – signed out of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League in November – instead of Garand. It’s been a particularly difficult season in Hartford, which likely played a role in the decision to bring up Martin.
With playoffs out of reach and the Letter II out in the open, however, the Rangers decided the time for Garand was now.
The Rangers were held to just four shots on goal through the first period, in which the Jets took a 1-0 lead off Adam Lowry’s fifth goal of the season.
Tye Kartye, however, got the home team going right after the first intermission.
Burying his sixth goal of the season past Winnipeg goalie Eric Comrie, as well as his third as a Ranger, Kartye made it a 1-1 game for the Rangers. It counted as his eighth point (three goals, five assists) in 12 games since the Blueshirts claimed him off waivers from the Kraken at the end of last month.
The 24-year-old has certainly made an impact since coming to New York, and the Rangers may have a solid pickup on their hands.
Winnipeg regained the lead on Vilardi’s power-play goal at the 6:43 mark of the second period, but the Rangers answered with one of their own to even the score at two-all.
Mika Zibanejad blasted a one-timer from his sweet spot in the circle, which tied the Swede with Adam Graves for the fourth-most goals in franchise history with 280.