Noah Laba from the Rangers leaves the game early because of a lower-body injury

Rangers Face Challenges After Loss to Devils

The Rangers had a rough time during their 6-3 defeat to the Devils on Wednesday, having to continue without one of their standout forwards from a crucial line.

Rookie Noah Laba, playing as a third-line center and also contributing on the penalty kill, suffered a lower-body injury just as the third period began. It’s not entirely clear how he got hurt, but he had clocked 8 minutes and 40 seconds of ice time before that. His last shift was during the power play.

On top of that, Urho Vaakanainen exited the game with an upper-body injury early in the second period, leaving the Rangers to finish with only five defensemen. Coach Mike Sullivan mentioned after the game that both players are under evaluation, and he isn’t sure if they’ll be able to travel for Thursday’s matchup against the Blue Jackets as they seek consecutive wins.

When addressing the team’s need to adapt quickly, Sullivan commented, “That’s what it is. It’s just part of the game. Every team goes through that. We’ve got talented players on the bench, so we need to adjust.”

Laba, who has nine goals and 21 points in his debut NHL season, had recently been playing alongside Ty Carty and Connor Sheary. If he ends up missing more time, the Rangers could be in a tight spot at center.

Adam Edström, currently the fourth-line center, hasn’t had steady minutes in Sweden leading up to now—especially after Juuso Palsinen dealt with a health issue. Meanwhile, JT Miller is working with Vincent Trocheck on the second line, and the team traded Sam Carrick to Buffalo before the deadline.

After Laba went down, Miller stepped into the third-line role to finish out the game against the Devils. Surprisingly, that line managed to score early on, with Sheary converting a rebound from Matthew Robertson’s shot, while Miller snagged the second assist.

Reflecting on their previous loss to the Devils, in which Jack Hughes dominated on the power play, Sullivan had expressed concern about the Rangers’ penalty-killing efforts. He mentioned a “lack of urgency,” stating they seemed to struggle with boxing out in front of the net and screening their goaltenders.

This game was no different. The Devils managed to score two more power-play goals, and now the Rangers have allowed 11 power-play goals in the last 11 games. Their penalty kill unit, which has been integrating new players like Carty, currently ranks 25th in the NHL at 77.6 percent.

“It hasn’t been a good situation for a while. A lot of it comes down to details—understanding your role and executing it with urgency,” Sullivan said. “There’s a lot at play. Right now, as a group, we lack confidence in that area, although it has been solid for much of the year.”