Will Borgen’s continued Rangers injury absence forces Mike Sullivan to keep shuffling
As the Rangers took on the Bruins Friday afternoon, Will Borgen missed his fifth straight game due to an upper-body injury.
The 28-year-old defenseman, who was placed on injured reserve this past weekend, has now been sidelined in seven of the Blueshirts’ last eight contests.
As a result, Scott Morrow drew back into the Rangers lineup for the fourth time this season.
The rookie blueliner skated on the third pairing alongside Matthew Robertson, while the top four of Vladislav Gavrikov-Adam Fox and Carson Soucy-Braden Schneider remained intact.
That bumped Urho Vaakanainen from the defense, making the Finn a healthy scratch for the eighth time this season.
Vaakanainen missed two other games with a lower-body injury earlier this month.
Head coach Mike Sullivan opted to make one tweak to the top six, swapping J.T. Miller and Will Cuylle.
New York Rangers defenseman Will Borgen (17) skates with the puck in the second period against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in New York, NY.
The Rangers captain lined up on the top unit next to Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere.
Cuylle then slotted on the wing of Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin.
Conor Sheary, who appeared in the first 24 consecutive games, was a healthy scratch for the second straight matchup.
In his 20th start of the season, Igor Shesterkin stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced in his 10th victory.
With Jonathan Quick unavailable on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, Sullivan wouldn’t say if rookie goalie Dylan Garand would play in the second game of the back-to-back Saturday afternoon against the Lightning at Madison Square Garden.
New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan reacts on the bench during the first period.
“We’ll take each day as it comes,” Sullivan said.
The Rangers faced a shorthanded Bruins team Friday afternoon at TD Garden.
David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Pavel Zacha and Matej Blumel were all out.
Though Pastrnak and Zacha are considered day-to-day, Blumel is expected to be sidelined long term.
After taking on Tampa, the Rangers will have the day off on Sunday.
They are back in action on Tuesday night against the Stars at the Garden.
Cricket Australia Furious At Star Batter After 'Piece Of S**t' Remark On Ashes Pitch, Demand Explanation
Australia batter Usman Khawaja had used a derogatory term to criticise the pitch at Perth for the first Ashes Test against England.
Veteran opener Usman Khawaja is set to give an explanation to Cricket Australia (CA) officials after his "a piece of s**t" remark on the Perth Stadium pitch during the first Ashes Test against England. As per SEN Cricket, CA officials were not satisfied with the Australian opener's comments, given that the match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, had rated the Perth Pitch as a "very good" surface on Thursday. At the Usman Khawaja Foundation event, the veteran cricketer criticised the Perth pitch for the number of wickets falling and for batters such as Steve Smith being hit by extra bounce.
At that event, Khawaja noted that it is not the first time that the Perth track had produced similar results on the opening day of a Test game.
"Nineteen wickets on the first day and about 20 people got hit, that's a great wicket, that seems real fair," he said as quoted by SEN Cricket.
"Steve Smith's by far the best cricketer I've ever played with, and he's missing the middle of his bat by a long way - he does not miss the middle of his bat. He's getting hit in the elbow," Khwaja added.
"Up and down (movement) is the hardest, sideways is a little bit easier, but up and down, your hands can't catch up. So, day one wicket at (Perth) is a piece of s**t, I'm happy to say that. It has been last year; it was this year," the Australian opener said.
Australia won the first Test by eight wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match Ashes Test series. Chasing down a tricky target of 205 runs, Australia opener Travis Head played a match-winning knock of 123 runs, guiding his side to a convincing win.
The second Test between Australia and England will be held at The Gabba in Brisbane, starting December 4. The Brisbane game will be a pink-ball Test.
