Colin Stephenson: Former Penguins coach Mike Sullivan gets a sad reminder of what Rangers season has become
New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan, center top, yells instructions during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. Credit: AP/Gene J. Puskar
PITTSBURGH — How strange was it to see Mike Sullivan standing behind the visitors’ bench at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday instead of behind the Penguins' bench, where he’d stood for 10 1/2 years before this season?
And how wistful must he have been as he watched his old team, playing under former Rangers assistant Dan Muse? The Penguins sit comfortably in a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division, 17 points ahead of the Rangers after their 6-5 victory over the Blueshirts.
“The core guys that have been here as long as they have, they're a unique group,’’ Sullivan said of Pittsburgh’s roster, still led by 38-year-old Sidney Crosby, 39-year-old Evgeni Malkin and 38-year-old defenseman Kris Letang. “And although they are aging, there’s still elite-level play in their game. And you know, it's driven by Sid, their captain. And so it doesn't surprise me.”
The team he’s currently coaching announced two weeks ago that it will undergo a “retool,’’ which doesn’t look as if it will be a quick one. The extended period of retooling or rebuilding or whatever it is the Rangers are about to go through certainly is not what Sullivan signed up for when he agreed to take the job last summer.
But three weeks after his team got blown out on national TV by his hometown Boston Bruins and two weeks after general manager Chris Drury met with the team and then put out his Letter 2.0 to the fans announcing his plans, this is where Sullivan is.
The Rangers again were without their best offensive player and primary play-driver, Artemi Panarin, who sat out his third straight game as he waits to be traded. And Panarin, who still leads the Rangers in scoring — and has in every season since he signed with them as a free agent in 2019 — isn’t going to be the last player Drury ships out before the March 6 trade deadline.
Defenseman Carson Soucy already is gone, traded Monday to the Islanders, and after Panarin goes, who knows who’ll follow him out the door? Vincent Trocheck? Braden Schneider?
On Saturday, the Penguins celebrated the 10th anniversary of their 2016 Stanley Cup team, which was coached by Sullivan. When he was introduced, Sullivan just about jumped off the bench to join his former players on the ice before the opening faceoff. He had said before the game that he attended an event Friday night, after the Rangers got to town, and was able to see some of the players and executives who were part of that team.
“It's a proud moment for me,’’ Sullivan said. “I was really happy to get a chance to see some of those guys that I was fortunate enough to win a Stanley Cup with. And that group of players deserves to be celebrated. They were a great team . . . It was a privilege to coach them, and so it's a bit of an emotional moment. It's fleeting, because once the puck drops, it's you're back in the heat of the battle.’’
Sullivan quickly was brought back to reality. A turnover by rookie defenseman Scott Morrow led to a shot by Rutger McGroarty that was tipped in by Anthony Mantha at 2:37 of the first period to put the Penguins ahead 1-0. Noel Acciari scored on a one-timer to make it 2-0 at 6:02.
Mantha and Acciardi each scored again as the Penguins went ahead 6-3. Alexis Lafreniere scored his second goal of the game at 18:53 of the third period and assisted on a goal by Will Cuylle with 11 seconds remaining that made it 6-5.
Trocheck had a goal and assisted on the Rangers' final two goals. Vladislav Gavrikov also scored for the Blueshirts (22-28-6), who are last in the Eastern Conference.
There are going to be a lot more games like this one as the Rangers get deeper and deeper into this retool. But Sullivan insisted he is doing OK through it all.
“Yeah, I'm fine,’’ he said. “It's a different challenge. And so we are where we are, and you know, we're going to keep digging in here. We're going to try to rally around one another and control what we can, and we're going to try to win the game right in front of us . . . It's a different situation. I'd be lying if I [told] you otherwise, but I think our guys have done a good job in just trying to compartmentalize their emotions. And when the puck drops, trying to do their best to compete and play the game the right way.’’
Two weeks ago, Sullivan earned his 500th victory as an NHL coach when the Rangers beat the Flyers in Philadelphia the day after Drury’s letter. It was a nice moment in what has been a difficult January (3-10-1) in which No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin and No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox went down with long-term lower-body injuries in the same game, effectively killing any chance the Rangers had of staying in the playoff race. The win over Florida in Miami in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2 and Sullivan’s milestone win in Philadelphia probably are the only two highlights.
After Saturday, the Rangers have one more game before Sullivan gets a respite from the season to coach the U.S. team in the Olympics. He’ll bring his captain, J.T. Miller, and Trocheck with him. Mika Zibanejad will go for Sweden. When they get back, the Rangers will have 15 games left in the season.
Sullivan will have to find a way to get his team to play hard for all of them. No, it wasn’t what he signed up for, but it is what it is.
Notes & quotes: The Rangers claimed defenseman Vincent Iorio, 23, off waivers from San Jose. The 6-4, 220-pound righthander had no goals and three assists in 21 games for the Sharks. To make room for him, Brett Berard was returned to AHL Hartford.
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.
