On Sunday night, Scott Morrow made his New York Rangers debut after being called up from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League earlier that day.
The Rangers acquired Morrow over the summer as part of the sign-and-trade deal with the Carolina Hurricanes centered around K’Andre Miller.
During training camp, Morrow was given an opportunity to make the opening-night roster, as he played in multiple preseason games while practicing on the second power-play unit.
He was one of the last players to be sent down to the AHL before the start of the 2025-26 season. In 11 games for the Wolf Pack, Morrow recorded one goal, one assist, and two points.
With Will Borgen out with an upper-body injury, the Rangers called up Morrow, and he was immediately slotted into the lineup in place of Urho Vaakanainen.
The 23-year-old defenseman played 9:56 minutes in his NHL season debut, the fewest amongst all Rangers blueliners.
However, Rangers assistant coach David Quinn praised Morrow for his performance.
“I liked his game. I thought Scotty did a good job,” Quinn said. “I thought he kept it simple. He moves the puck well, gets us out of our end when we needed to get out of our end when the chances presented themselves. I thought he defended well.”
Borgen’s injury status remains a mystery, so it’s possible Morrow could find himself back in the lineup on Tuesday night when the Rangers go up against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Toronto Maple Leafs (9-9-2) entered Tuesday’s matchup versus the St. Louis Blues on a five-game losing skid and without Auston Matthews or Matthew Knies. Plagued by injuries and stumbling through the first quarter of the 2025-26 season, this squad needed something to celebrate, and it needed to do so in front of the home crowd. William Nylander and John Tavares mercifully obliged.
While many fans understandably focus on Matthews, these two core players can still propel the Leafs to victory on any given night. And they did so in rather improbable fashion against the Blues. Fending off multiple St. Louis players along the boards, Tavares kicked the puck loose to Morgan Rielly who found Nylander, who used nifty stick work to score the decisive goal near the end of the first and final overtime period. A relieved Scotiabank Arena basked in the much-needed 3-2 win.
Nylander has scored at least one point in 16 of the 17 games he has played in this season and ranks in the top-five in the NHL. While Matthews recovers from his lower-body injury, Toronto needs the 2014 first-round draft pick to consistently step up. He is embracing that responsibility, but the Maple Leafs are still languishing near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Craig Berube’s squad has considerable ground to make up after a disappointing start. When healthy, Toronto has the talent to climb the standings and solidify its regular spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but these are turbulent times. Although Mitch Marner was a polarizing presence during the postseason, the team sorely misses his production. The shorthanded Leafs must figure out how to overcome the challenges that lie in front of them and string together wins.
This triumph over St. Louis could be the momentum boost they urgently require. William Nylander, John Tavares and the rest of this group will try to ride his high when they welcome in the Columbus Blue Jackets (10-8-2) on Thursday.