The New York Rangers faltered down the stretch, losing 2-1 to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night, which snapped a three-game winning streak.
On Sunday morning, the Rangers sent down Gabe Perreault to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League after just a three-game stint.
Despite being given an opportunity to play a top-six role, we did not quite see Perreault’s offensive explosiveness on display, with the pace of play simply moving too fast for the young rookie.
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The Rangers brass felt it was best for him to continue to develop in the AHL.
“He’s got an awful lot of talent and he’s got a bright future in this league, but this is a man’s league,” David Quinn said. “Gabe did some good things when he was up here, but when Gabe is here, he plays on the top two lines, and when you play against the top two lines, you play against everybody’s top D pairings, and you play against everybody’s best players, and that can get a little overwhelming for you, physically and with the pace.
“We just felt like this was part of the growing process and the development process for him, give him an opportunity to come here, play meaningful games. Now, he’s going back down and I’m sure this experience will be beneficial to his development.”
It was announced prior to the game that Mike Sullivan would not be behind the bench tonight, with David Quinn and Joe Sacco splitting the head coaching responsibilities.
Throughout the season, Quinn has helped manage the defensemen, while Sacco has assisted Sullivan with the offensive lines.
Despite both taking on the role of head coach, Quinn continued to manage the defense, and Sacco took care of the offensive gameplan.
“It was very simple for Joe and I because I’ve been managing the D all year, and Joe has been helping Mike with the lines,” Quinn said of what went into the dual head-coaching strategy. “I managed the D and Joe called the line changes. There really wasn’t a lot of change to it. It was a pretty seamless situation for both of us and the players.”
The Rangers played a relatively steady game throughout the first two periods although they were outshot 29-16.
Mika Zibanejad scored on the power play in the second period, marking the team’s fifth power-play goal in six games, as the Rangers have been red hot on the man advantage since elevating Will Cuylle to the first unit.
In the third period, the Blueshirts’ game seemed to completely unravel. The tone of the third period was set with two consecutive penalties.
The Rangers were undisciplined all night, committing a total of six penalties throughout the contest.
The Red Wings dominated time of possession in the final frame, clearly shown by the 14-3 shot differential in favor of Detroit.
Jonathan Quick stood on his head and gave the Rangers a puncher’s chance to win with his 40 saves, but New York’s lackluster play in the final frame ultimately caught up to them in the form of a Lucas Raymond game-winning goal.
“Obviously, Quickie was unbelievable tonight,” Quinn said. “He made some huge saves… I thought we got away from it, that we were inconsistent with our purpose. I thought we fueled an awful lot of their offense too often. That’s a team that thrives on the rush. If you manage the puck against them, you get a chance, and if you don’t, you’re gonna pay for it. It looked like we might be able to steal a point there as the game was evolving, but we weren’t able to get it done.”
The game ended with both benches clearing in what turned out to be a big scrum involving every player.
Mason Appleton shot the puck into the empty net after the final horn sounded, and an upset Quick went to confront him, causing other players to get involved. Quick explained the root of his frustrations.
“You guys all saw it,” Quick said. “The horn goes, a couple seconds (pass), (Appleton) shoots it in the net. I don’t know why they were surprised. That’s usually the response when something like that happens.”
Quinn addressed the media in place of Sullivan. He was asked about the possible longevity of Sullivan’s absence, but Quinn didn’t delve into detail.
“I don’t have an update right now, obviously, from the coaches to the players of the organization, we certainly are thinking about Mike and his family, and never an easy situation,” Quinn said. “Attending family, that’s all I can give you right now.”
The Rangers will be back in action on Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Nathaniel Lowe is expected to be cut loose by the Red Sox this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)AP
The Red Sox have some roster cleanup due this week, with Tuesday marking the date by which teams need to add eligible prospects to their 40-man rosters to protect them from the Rule 5 draft and Friday representing the annual non-tender deadline for arbitration-eligible players. Don’t expect Boston to clear a roster spot by cutting bait with a homegrown former All-Star starter, though.
At this point, Boston is unlikely to non-tender injured righty Tanner Houck, multiple sources said Monday. With a 40-man roster crunch coming, there was some thought that cutting bait with Houck was possible due to his current situation. Houck, who took home $3.95 million in 2025, is projected (by MLBTradeRumors’ widely used model) to take home the same salary in 2026, but is expected to miss most if not all of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August. Considering the 2027 season is in jeopardy due to labor tensions and Houck is set to hit free agency after that year, the possibility existed that the Red Sox could non-tender (release) Houck into free agency to save a bit of money knowing he won’t be ready to pitch for most of 2026. But sources indicate the Red Sox plan to tender him a contract.
It’s unclear if the sides have talked about a creative long-term deal. Tendering Houck a contract would keep him under club control ahead of negotiations to avoid arbitration and set a 2026 salary later in the winter.
By Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, teams must add eligible prospects to their 40-man rosters to protect them from being poached in next month’s Rule 5 draft. The Red Sox, who have a full 40-man roster, don’t have a long list of candidates but are expected to make at least a move or two. Right-handed prospect David Sandlin is a virtual lock to be added, requiring at least one 40-man roster spot to be cleared. Lefties Shane Drohan and Hayden Mullins, righties Yordanny Monegro (injured) and Jedixson Paez and outfielder Miguel Bleis are among the other potential Rule 5 candidates in the organization. If the Red Sox want to make sure any of those players aren’t taken in the Rule 5 draft, they can add them. Doing so would require spots to be cleared.
Any roster spots that need to be cleared for prospect additions need to be opened simultaneously Tuesday, which is a day when small trades are usually made throughout baseball. Therefore, the Red Sox could get a jump on the Friday non-tender deadline (set for 8 p.m. ET) by moving on from players four days early. The non-tender date represents an opportunity for teams to cut bait with arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration-eligible players and send them into free agency. The Red Sox, unlike in previous years, could be busy on non-tender day.
The most obvious non-tender candidate on the roster is first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who is projected to earn $13.5 million in 2026. That mark represents much more than what he’d get on the open market after a down season that included him being cut by the Nationals. Lowe will almost certainly be lopped off the roster but could re-sign at a lower rate as he tests the open market. Boston is anticipating the healthy return of Triston Casas next season and is looking to upgrade the first base position via free agency or trade.
The Red Sox have seven other arbitration-eligible players and are certain to retain Kutter Crawford, Romy Gonzalez, Triston Casas and Brennan Bernardino at their low projected numbers. Connor Wong, who is projected to make $1.6 million in 2026, is expected to be tendered after Craig Breslow gave him a vote of confidence last week. Cooper Criswell already agreed to a one-year, $800,000 deal for 2026, removing him from non-tender consideration.
In addition to Lowe, the Red Sox could cut bait with some younger players on the roster. Righty Josh Winckowski (projected to make $800,000) is a candidate to be cut from the roster, as is lefty Jovani Morán. Tough roster decisions might be made with the utility group of Vaughn Grissom, David Hamilton, Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard later in the winter but for now, those players are projected to be safe.