DALLAS — The Rangers kept the third-best team in the NHL scoreless for nearly 53 minutes.
That is noteworthy for a club that has been eliminated from playoff contention for two and a half weeks now.
After a 2-0 loss to the Stars, aided by an empty-net goal, the only zero in the equation belonged to the Blueshirts — their 10th of the season.
No team in the NHL has been shut out more than the Rangers this season, and there are still two games to go.
The 2025-26 Rangers tied the franchise record for the most shutout losses in a single season, joining the 1928-29 team.
While eight of the 10 blankings came in the first 40 games of the season, with the last one on Feb. 5 against the Hurricanes, the Rangers have gone through too many spurts with zero offense.
Saturday’s game against the Stars, however, was still one of the team’s better performances this season.
“I think we came in kind of having to accept that it was going to be a low-event game,” Adam Fox said. “I think that’s kind of the way they play. Obviously, they have firepower, but they’re stingy defensively. They got a lot of big guys back there, and it just turned out the special teams ended up being the difference. I thought that was really just the story of the game.”
Neither team generated much on special teams for a majority of the 60-minute contest, but Dallas’ Jason Robertson was the first to make an impact by converting on the power play.
A holding penalty against Matthew Robertson set the Stars up with their fourth man-advantage opportunity of the game.
An incensed Robertson argued former Ranger Colin Blackwell was holding his stick.
The Robertson in green then collected a rebound and buried a backhander past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin — for his 43rd goal of the season — with 7:11 left in regulation.
“You could tell, from both sides, the puck was bouncing a lot,” Mika Zibanejad said of the Rangers power play going 0-for-5 on the night, echoing similar comments Fox made. “I feel like the ice was eh at times, but I think just we had some opportunities to execute maybe a little bit better.”
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There wasn’t much space on the American Airlines Center ice Saturday night.
The Rangers limited the Stars to three shots in the first and six in the second, but the visitors were kept in the single digits themselves in each of the first two frames.
It was more of a physical affair than anything else.
Captains J.T. Miller and Jamie Benn dropped the gloves in the second period, after the latter landed a massive hit on Vladislav Gavrikov.
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“I just think all good teams have that,” Miller said. “It’s not really a decision. It’s just part of a pack mentality type of thing. There’s going to be hits that happen in the course of the season that people don’t like. It’s fiery game. It’s supposed to be this way. It’s been a part of the game for a long time, and I think our team’s done a good job over the last little while of sticking up for each other.
“There’s like an automatic thing to it. Now you just don’t think. We’re all really close in here. So, yeah, it’s a no-brainer, and obviously we’ve got a lot of guys doing it, so it’s awesome to see.”
The only lineup change Sullivan made to his group of skaters on Saturday was replacing Drew Fortescue with Urho Vaakanainen, who had missed the previous 11 games due to an upper-body injury and a few healthy scratches. As a result, Fortescue lost out on an $80,000 performance bonus he would’ve received if he played in 10 games. He can max out at nine.
By playing fewer than 10 games this season, Fortescue will fall into the 10.2(c) restricted free agent category and won’t be eligible for an offer sheet or salary arbitration at the end of his entry-level contract, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Players aged 18-21 at the time they signed their ELC earn a year of pro experience by playing 10 or more professional games in any league while under an NHL contract.
Since Fortescue burned a year of his ELC by reporting to New York, he is set to become a RFA in the summer of 2028.
