The Baby Blueshirts came out on top against an equally young Blackhawks team Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Drew Fortescue made his NHL debut in the 6-1 win over Chicago, bringing the rookie count in the Blueshirts lineup to six amid the club’s youth movement as part of a larger evaluation period for the entire organization.
There was a lot of young blood on the ice between the Rangers and Blackhawks, the second- and third-worst teams in the NHL entering the game.
The Rangers’ youth undoubtedly shined the brightest.
Fortescue notched his first point — a secondary assist — in his debut.
Adam Sykora scored his first NHL goal in his first game at Madison Square Garden.
Goalie Dylan Garand made 28 saves in his first career NHL win.
Matthew Robertson notched the fifth goal of his career while skating in his 29th straight game.
And Jaroslav Chmelar was relentless on his way to earning his first NHL assist on Jonny Brodzinski’s second-period score.
The win snapped a season-high six-game losing streak for the Rangers, who have gone through a few different lineup variations as of late with all the youngsters coming up.
Braden Schneider and Will Borgen skated as a defense pair during warmups again, but head coach Mike Sullivan deployed them separately during five-on-five play. In the previous game in Toronto, Sullivan broke up the two right-handed defensemen after the first period.
Borgen largely skated with Robertson, while Schneider primarily took shifts alongside Fortescue. They still teamed up on the penalty kill, but Sullivan’s lack of trust in the duo is evident.
Sullivan is still trying to navigate his options on defense, especially with Urho Vaakanainen still unavailable due to an upper-body injury. Past the top duo of Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov, the drop-off has been considerable this season.
Nick Lardis opened the scoring with Robertson and Borgen on the ice, tapping home a feed from Tyler Bertuzzi.
The Rangers’ equalizer came off the skate of J.T. Miller, who battled in front as Conor Sheary banked the puck in. After posting just one goal through the first 43 games of the season, Sheary has broken through offensively a bit this month with three goals and two assists in the last 10 games.
Sullivan has continuously lauded Sheary for what he brings to the ice despite the lack of scoring, but his continued presence in the lineup goes against what the team’s priorities should be right now.
There’s no question an abundance of AHL Hartford players have gotten opportunities with the Rangers this season. Sullivan pointed that out when fielding a question about what is keeping Sheary in the lineup.
Whether Sheary is blocking, say, Carey Terrance or Brody Lamb, is certainly debatable. Even Adam Edstrom, who is under contract through next season, was edged out of the lineup to make room for Sykora.
Brett Berard, who has played in 13 NHL games this season, is still sidelined with an upper-body injury.
Sheary turned a professional tryout into a one-year deal at the start of the season. At 33, he is probably not in the Rangers’ long-term plans. Sullivan has maintained he will continue coaching to win, and the veteran bench boss views Sheary among the top players in the organization to help him to do so.
That says more about the Rangers prospect pool than it does Sullivan.