Rangers Daily: Sully pushes back; Crazy Ottawa return for Brady Tkachuk

New York Rangers coach Mike Sullivan defended his team's defensive metrics on Wednesday, arguing that contextual factors like defensive-zone starts against top opponents explain poorer analytics despite a 7-3-1 start. Sullivan emphasized that defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi have provided quality minutes that contribute to winning, cautioning against viewing isolated statistics without context.

Around the NHL, former Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk faced intense crowd hostility in his return with the Florida Panthers, as the Senators earned a 5-1 victory. Other league developments included Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark suffering a lower-body injury and the Boston Bruins signing forward Marat Khusnutdinov to a three-year contract extension.