If you had on your bingo card that through five games at Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers would be winless and their leading scorer would be Taylor Raddysh, you would probably give that board a second look.
That's right, the Rangers still have not won on home ice, but a long-awaited breakout happened for a new Blueshirt. Raddysh lit up the scoreboard with a hat trick on home ice. The only problem is that it was all in a losing effort.
In a 6-5 overtime loss to San Jose, it was a battle of dueling hat tricks, as Macklin Celibrini was also on fire on Thursday night. Sure, it was another loss at home, but it was a solid outing compared to how things are going at the moment
Raddysh proves his worth
The Rangers have been looking for scoring from just about anyone. The top six, aside from Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, have been very quiet so far this season. Raddysh's offensive explosion from the third line was a welcome sight for two reasons.
Earlier in the game, Matt Rempe threw hands with former Rangers brawler Ryan Reaves. That resulted in him leaving the game with an upper-body injury. With an empty spot on the fourth line, Raddysh was able to grab a couple of extra shifts than normal. He made the most of it, for sure.
Second, Raddysh's arrival on Broadway has some long-term implications. There are still a couple of prospects down in Hartford itching to get their chance, with Brennan Othmann now getting his last shot to make an everlasting impression. The bottom six is open season, but Raddysh might have cemented himself as a full-timer for the rest of the year.
Rangers still need to figure it out
Ultimately, the Rangers still lost the game. It was one of those losses that should have been much worse, but still stung badly. Even though they grabbed a point, the Sharks are still a beatable team, as their own identity is still in question.
Raddysh secured his second career hat trick, and the first Rangers hat trick at home since Chris Kreider did against Montreal on February 15, 2024.