Rangers hope Pavel Dorofeyev's power-play goal on Thursday is a harbinger of things to come
Rangers right wing Pavel Dorofeyev sets before a faceoff against the Edmonton Oilers in the third period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 1, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Every time Pavel Dorofeyev scores a goal this season, the hope for the Rangers is that this is the one that will finally get him going.
That was the case again after the 26-year-old Russian scored on the power play in Thursday’s win over the Flyers in the final game of the Rangers’ homestand. His third-period power play goal, a quick-release beauty that was up over the catching glove and into the net before goaltender Joseph Woll could even move, tied the game for the Rangers, and set the stage for Tye Kartye’s game winner 1:29 later.
“I think it's a huge goal for him, for us and him,” coach Mike Sullivan said afterward. “I think it'll be good for Pav.”
The Rangers, who opened their four-game swing through the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada Saturday afternoon in Seattle, have been waiting for Dorofeyev to catch fire and start scoring goals in bunches this season. They’ve come in a trickle though, not the flood the team had hoped for. His goal against Philly was just his fifth in 17 games, which put him on pace to score 25 this season, well short of the 37 he had last season for Vegas.
All season, Sullivan has been trying to find the right combination to unlock Dorofeyev. He started him on the second line, with J.T. Miller and Oliver Bjorkstrand — who was soon replaced by Kartye — and for a while he tried him on the first line, with Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere. After dropping him to the third line, with Will Cuylle and Noah Laba in the third period Thursday, Sullivan started Dorofeyev on a reconstituted third line against the Kraken Saturday, with Eeli Tolvanen and Cuylle.
“Obviously we're trying to find combinations where we can develop some chemistry,’’ said Sullivan after the game Thursday. “It's been a few games now [for Dorofeyev on the top line]. We just felt… we need more from our top guys, and so we made that switch.”
Dorofeyev has hit so many goalposts and crossbars this season that Sullivan and the Rangers — and Dorofeyev himself — keep believing that as long as the chances keep coming, eventually his luck will change, and those shots off the iron will start going into the net.
“I just gotta keep focus… and keep trying, again and again,” Dorofeyev said Thursday. “And hopefully it’s gonna come [off the] post and in, at some point.”
It had better, if the Rangers are going to challenge for a playoff spot this season. Getting Dorofeyev in a blockbuster trade on Draft Day over the summer was a stunning coup for Rangers GM Chris Drury, who gave up two first-round picks and a third-rounder for him, and then immediately signed him to a seven-year, $77 million contract. Dorofeyev gave the Rangers an element they didn’t have — a pure goalscorer, one who scored 32 goals for Vegas in 2024-25, then 37 last season, plus another 12 in the playoffs.
And while it was understood he wouldn’t have Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner spoonfeeding him high danger chances with the Rangers, as he did in Vegas, the Blueshirts were nevertheless counting on Dorofeyev to fill the net, regardless of who his linemates were on Broadway.
But before Thursday, it just hasn’t happened. Early on, it was easier to be patient, as the Rangers won four of their first five games. But now, in the wake of the season-ending injury to star goaltender Igor Shesterkin, the need for Dorofeyev to start scoring consistently is simply crucial. Without Shesterkin giving them a chance to win low-scoring games on a nightly basis, the Rangers are going to need to find other ways to win. One way would be to score more goals.
Going into Saturday, the Rangers had scored 51 goals in 17 games, and their average of 3.00 goals per game ranked 21st in the 32-team league. They need to increase their goal production and getting more from Dorofeyev would certainly help with that.
Before Thursday, Dorofeyev had not scored goals in consecutive games, but he had scored three goals in the previous five, so maybe that meant he was starting to heat up.
The Rangers certainly hope so.
Blue lines: Goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who had been out of action since the opening game of the season, due to a lower-body injury, was activated off injured reserve and started Saturday, making his regular season debut for the Rangers… Rookie defenseman Alberts Smits was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. Matthew Robertson drew in and made his season debut.
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.
