If the New York Rangers could stop playing at Madison Square Garden, they might be a Stanley Cup Final contender.
After a 2-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, the Rangers became the first team in NHL history to start a season losing three straight games at home via shutout.
Tuesday’s game is at least easy to explain away because the Oilers are arguably the best team in the league right now and are coming off back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Final.
The combination of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have allowed a total of four goals on 67 shots faced in three games for Edmonton this season.
New York’s first home game, though, was against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens have allowed 13 goals in their three games since the season opener, including six to the Rangers when they met in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
“This is a unique start to a season,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said after Tuesday’s loss. “It sucks that we had a couple games where we feel like we’ve really thrown a lot at the other team and we’re not getting rewarded.”
Per the Associated Press, the previous modern-era record for the longest streak without a home goal to start a season belonged to the 2001-02 Florida Panthers (155:17).
The good news for the Rangers is positive regression is almost certainly coming soon because they’ve had no issues scoring on the road. They have 10 goals in two games away from MSG, and their next two games are on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
New York’s next chance to end the home scoring drought will come on Oct. 20 against the Minnesota Wild.
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