Rangers finally finding confidence at MSG after season-long struggles

GREENBURGH — Mike Sullivan, as is his wont, grew philosophical.

Standing behind the glass dais inside the interview room at the Rangers’ practice facility, the coach had been asked the hows and whys his team has recently begun to win games on home ice after spending the first five months-plus unable to find ways to experience success at the Garden.

Sullivan listened intently, and then began to answer.

“Success breeds confidence,” Sullivan said. “So when you have success, I think everybody feels better about their own particular circumstance. And I think that breeds confidence, but how do you build confidence?”

Before the home regular-season finale Wednesday night against playoff-bound Buffalo, the Rangers may be beginning to develop some confidence on home ice.

The Rangers (33-36-9, 75 points) have won five of six at the Garden, including Sunday night’s 8-1 win over the Capitals.

“You always want to win at home,” Mika Zibanejad said after a near hour long practice Tuesday morning. “[It should be] a good feeling playing at home.”

Over the course of the season, that has not been the case.

The Rangers are 14-19-7 at the Garden in the 2025-26 season, and they are guaranteed to finish under NHL .500 at home for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign, when they compiled a 13-21-7 mark.

“We’ve tried to make an emphasis on reclaiming the home ice,” Jericho’s Adam Fox said after the win over Washington. “That’s usually a great advantage for us. Obviously early in the year we struggled here and maybe it was a little bit mental. But I think since the [Olympic] break, there’s been some good games at home for us, some good efforts.”

Indeed, the Rangers did open the home portion of their schedule with a 3-0 shutout loss to Pittsburgh, followed by 1-0 and 2-0 defeats at the hands of the Capitals and Oilers.

The Rangers have been shut out nine times this season. Seven have occurred at the Garden.

According to naturalstattrick.com, the Rangers have been outscored on home ice in all situations 118-101, and have yielded more high-danger goals (53-50). However the data also shows that the Rangers have generated more scoring chances (1132-1101) and more high-danger chances (461-441) in that same window.

“I think early in the year we played well at home but kept getting shut out. And I think that stuff could kind of get a little mental,” Fox said. “So I think after the break [we] kind of maybe reset and use this Garden ice to our advantage. When we’re playing like that, the building’s electric. So it’s good to see and nice that we’re using this homestand to get some wins.”

The Rangers are 11-7-3 since hockey resumed after the Olympic break. And in the 14 games they have played at the Garden, the Blueshirts have compiled an 8-4-2 mark.

“We’re trying to build good habits. We’re trying to define what we think Rangers hockey looks like that sets us up for success,” Sullivan said. “Most recently it’s allowed us an opportunity to enjoy some success here at home, which I think is important for us. So I think the fact that we won a handful of games here . . . I think is a good thing for our team.”

Can it translate to the 2026-27 season?

“If you’re not winning, then you’re hoping for a clean slate,” Zibanejad said.

“ . . . Hopefully we can finish it off well Wednesday] so we leave here for the summer with [the memory of] how the Garden was the last few weeks.”