Colin Stephenson: Was the Rangers' lopsided loss to the Devils just one tough night or a sign they need a goalie?
Rangers goalie Dylan Garand skates to the bench as he is replaced during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Devils on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Newark, N.J. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
NEWARK — Dylan Garand was bound to have a bad night at some point. The dream start to his NHL career was never going to go on forever.
He had that bad night Thursday at Prudential Center as the Devils blitzed him and blew out the Rangers, 7-1.
Garand — thrust into the role of the Rangers’ No. 1 goalie in the wake of the season-ending injury to Igor Shesterkin and the weeks-long injury to backup Joonas Korpisalo — started his third straight game but was pulled from the net at 4:39 of the second period, having allowed four goals on 13 shots.
“It’s not on Dylan,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think Dylan’s played pretty good for us. He’s played sound hockey. We were trying to change momentum of the game a little bit, and I know Dylan will bounce back. He’s a high-character kid. He’s a competitive guy. He’s played really well for us to this point. I would expect him to respond the right way, just like our team.”
To a man, the Rangers stood up and said it wasn’t Garand’s fault.
The first goal, with 29.6 seconds left in the first period, came after J.T. Miller partially fanned on an attempted cross-ice pass in his own zone and the puck went softly onto the stick of New Jersey’s Evan Rodrigues, all alone in the middle of the ice. He scored.
The second, 18 seconds into the second period, was a shot by Luke Hughes that hit Adam Fox’s skate and changed direction.
After that, the whole team fell apart. A giveaway by Garand led to Nico Hischier’s goal at 4:08 of the second, and Sullivan called a timeout. Then, 31 seconds after play resumed, Arseny Gritsyuk scored to make it 4-0, and that’s when Sullivan pulled Garand and sent in Spencer Martin.
So the game was lost in the span of 5:09.
“We definitely didn’t help him out on those goals,” Fox said. “But ‘G’ knows we’re going to need him here, a lot. And he’s a pretty mentally tough guy, so I’m not concerned with that affecting him.
“Obviously, we feel bad when you let down your goalie and he gets pulled. You obviously feel the burden of that. I think he’s been playing great. It’s one game for everyone, and you’ve just got to have a good response next game.”
Maybe it is only one game — for the team and for Garand. Certainly, after carrying a 1.15 goals-against average and .951 save percentage into the game, the 24-year-old is entitled to one off night. But with only 10 NHL games on his resume, the question is, was it really just one game?
Was all this just a minor blip for Garand and the high-flying Rangers, to be flushed without a second thought and forgotten if he wins his next start?
Or was it an indication that, after winning six of eight games to start the season, the Rangers are going to have to get themselves an experienced quality goaltender to come in and keep them competitive for the remaining games?
They did sign 38-year-old goaltender James Reimer on Thursday to add to the depth in the organization. Reimer, who played 14 games for Ottawa last season, signed a professional tryout agreement with the Rangers’ Hartford farm club, which was in need of a backup to young Callum Tung with Garand and Martin up with the Rangers.
If Garand bounces back and Korpisalo gets healthy and plays well enough, maybe getting Reimer to serve as a No. 3 goalie in the organization will be enough and the Rangers can use all of that cap space available to them with Shesterkin on long-term injured reserve to get some help elsewhere within the lineup.
But this Rangers team, which has missed the playoffs the last two springs, has played well enough this season to suggest it might be good enough to get back into the postseason.
However, it must have goaltending it can trust. And without overreacting to one game, it’s fair to wonder if the Rangers can trust Garand or, for that matter, Korpisalo. He hasn’t played yet this season and still is a minimum of three weeks away from returning from a lower-body injury.
Out in Winnipeg, there is a world-class goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck, who was the goalie for the U.S. Olympic team, coached by Sullivan. He currently is suspended after having demanded a trade.
Trading for Hellebuyck would be difficult, given that he carries a salary-cap hit of $8.5 million and is under contract for four more years after this. Even if the Rangers were willing to give up the assets necessary to get a player of his level, and if Hellebuyck, who has a full no-move clause and can dictate where he goes, is willing to come to New York, it would be just for this season.
There certainly will be other goalies who become available. Perhaps Jordan Binnington, who is in the last year of his contract in St. Louis, could be an option. If not, perhaps the Rangers could find someone else.
The question is, will they need to?
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
