Bjorkstrand, 4th line breakthrough among key takeaways in 5-2 Rangers win over Ducks

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Rangers are getting pretty darn good at this winning on home ice thing. They did it again Monday night at Madison Square Garden, dispatching the Anaheim Ducks with a 5-2 victory to remain perfect at home through six games.

It’s the third time in franchise history the Rangers started out 6-0-0 at MSG, and this run is now tied for second longest all-time by the Blueshirts and is two shy of tying the best home start ever in their history.

To further showcase their home dominace so far in 2026-27, there’s this nugget: the Rangers haven’t trailed for even one second at MSG. They’ve scored first in all six games and never once fell behind at any point. In 360 minutes of hockey at The Garden, the Rangers led for a touch more than 300 minutes, and were tied the remainder of the time.

On Monday, the Rangers (7-3-1) raced to a 1-0 lead, scoring yet again in the opening couple of minutes on home ice. Sean Durzi scored at 1:18 of the first period, and the Rangers put the game away with three unanswered goals in the middle stanza to carry a 4-0 lead into the second intermission.

They’ve now outscored the opposition 29-10 at The Garden and scored at least four goals in all six games.

Oliver Bjorsktrand had his second two-goal game this season at MSG, J.T. Miller netted a power-play goal, and Gabe Perreault scored off one of the prettiest set-ups you’ll see all season, courtesy of Alexis Lafreniere and Mika Zibanejad.

TIC-TAC-GOAAAALLL 🚨

Gabe Perreault nets the @NYRangers‘ third goal of the game off a sweet passing play! pic.twitter.com/5n3zfqtcIV

— NHL (@NHL) October 20, 2026

The Rangers needed a win like this, not only to keep the great vibes going at home, but because they came in on their first mini skid of the season (0-1-1) with two straight road defeats. Plus, they play two straight on the road later this week at the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, and are 1-3-1 in five away games this season.

Key takeaways after Rangers win again at home, 5-2 over Ducks

Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dylan Garand is a star again

For the second time in as many games, Dylan Garand stopped the first 28 shots he faced before getting beat on the 29th. Unlike Saturday, when that 29th shot was an overtime winner for Kent Johnson and the Columbus Blues Jackets in a 1-0 Rangers loss, a late goal by the Ducks simply ended Garand’s bid for his second NHL shutout, but nothing worse.

In fact, the Ducks scored on two shots in a row — with Nick Jensen hammering a shot past Garand with 1:09 left in the third period, and A.J. Greer banking one off the Rangers goalie from behind the Rangers goalie 36 seconds later.

Again, it meant nothing really. Garand finished with 29 saves, and earned Third Star honors — he’s now been named one of the game’s three stars in six of his first nine NHL games, dating back to his debut last season.

The 24-year-old was at his best in the first period Monday, stopping all 14 shots he faced, before the Rangers blew this one open in the second period. Yet again, Garand tracked the puck well, battled through traffic in front, and was exceptionally sharp, improving to 6-1-2 in nine career starts.

The Rangers’ net came off its moorings, but it made no difference to Dylan Garand 😭👏 pic.twitter.com/QH31c6Tdao

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 20, 2026

Get to the net

It clearly was a conscious effort by the Rangers to get to the net Monday. That’s in get bodies to the net and get pucks to the net. They did both really well, and that paid immediate dividends.

Just 78 seconds into the game, Miller skated hard to the net, bumping a Ducks defenseman into goalie Ville Husso, knocking the netminder off balance. Then Miller parked himself atop the blue paint to screen Husso, when Durzi let fly with a long shot that wound up in the back of the net.

Sean Durzi – New York Rangers (2) pic.twitter.com/bt8NfWZwaR

— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 20, 2026

Get a body to the net, and get the puck to the net. It’s a real good strategy. Miller and Durzi clearly got the message. So did the rest of the team. The Rangers had 26 shot attempts in the first period, firing from all over. Then in the second period, the Rangers generated 14 scoring chances 5v5, including 10 high-danger ones, per Natural Stat Trick. On the first two of their three goals in the second, they got a body to the net — first when Miller’s power-play deflection in front made it 2-0 at 4:38, and again on Perreault’s slam dunk from the doorstep to finish a gorgeous passing sequence.

First and second for the fourth

After being held off the score sheet in the first 10 games of the season, New York’s fourth line finally broke though in Game 11 on Monday. Bjorkstrand was in the right place at the right time when, under pressure from fourth-line center Justin Dowling, Anaheim defenseman Noah Warren threw a blind pass right in the middle of the ice. Bjorkstrand picked it off, skated in, and wired a shot over Husso’s glove to make it 4-0 Rangers at 13:14 of the second period.

Oliver Bjorkstrand makes it 4-0 for the Rangers 👀 pic.twitter.com/KBfan7dgbx

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 20, 2026

Then Bjorkstrand, later named the First Star of the game, scored again 3:26 into the third period to make it 5-0 after the Ducks turned it over in the neutral zone. The 31-year-old split the defense after taking a pass from <a href="https://www.foreverblueshirts.com/tag/taylor-raddysh"

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.