WASHINGTON (AP) — How the New York Rangers stay positive as the losses pile up is “the million-dollar question” to $8.5 million center Mika Zibanejad.
“What’s our option?” Zibanejad said after the Washington Capitals beat the Rangers 7-4 on Saturday. “What’s our option? Just say, ‘We’re done with the season?’ No, we can’t.”
Click to Gallery
New York Rangers center Sam Carrick (39) scores a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) loses control of the puck against Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox, right, clears the puck away from Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome (17) in front of a pile up at the Rangers' net during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Capitals center Aliaksei Protas (21) moves in behind New York Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick (32) to score a goal on a rebound during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette, rear left, watches a replay during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
There are far more questions than answers now that the Rangers' struggles have dragged on for far longer than a month. They've lost 16 of their past 21 games to go from solidly in a playoff position in mid-November to tied with the Islanders for last place in the Metropolitan Division.
“You cannot drag yourself down just because you lose a game,” said Filip Chytil, who along with Zibanejad scored in the third period against the Capitals. “At some point, it must turn around because last year we won the Presidents’ Trophy, and we can play hockey. We know that. … So, it must turn at some point, but we don’t know when.”
Time is running out.
General manager Chris Drury has already made two moves in an attempt to get his should-be contender out of this tailspin. He traded captain Jacob Trouba to Anaheim on Dec. 6 after the veteran defenseman said he accepted the move following the threat of going on waivers and sent winger Kaapo Kakko to Seattle on Dec. 18 to end the 2019 No. 2 pick’s tumultuous tenure with the organization.
Even if the coaching of Peter Laviolette is not to blame for top players from Zibanejad to Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox underperforming, his job may still be in jeopardy given that it's one of the few logical buttons left to push. He said starting well and then breaking down defensively at Washington was a frustrating turn of events.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Laviolette said. “It’s not just the power-play goals. It was the even-strength goals as well. We gave up four of them. So, we score four and we give up four and that’s too much.”
New York's downturn is baffling after not only winning the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular-season team in 2023-24 but going to the Eastern Conference final with nearly the same roster. The Rangers have not won consecutive games since winning three in a row from Nov. 14-19.
Back then, they were on track to get back to the playoffs. Now, they're trying to salvage their season.
“That’s an attitude and mindset thing," Fox said of staying confident. “Coming out of (the Christmas) break, we’ve been playing a lot better hockey. Obviously not the points to show for it, but there’s still those breakdowns and chances that (opponents are) capitalizing on that we still have to clean up a little bit more.”
Players believe there's still plenty of faith in each other to turn things around.
“From the top down, we have to work — we have to keep working,” Zibanejad said. “That's the only way we’re going to get forward. Yes, it’s not easy. Yes, it’s not going to happen overnight. But if it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. We have a challenge, and we just got to accept it and keep working. We have no other option.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
New York Rangers center Sam Carrick (39) scores a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) loses control of the puck against Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox, right, clears the puck away from Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome (17) in front of a pile up at the Rangers' net during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Capitals center Aliaksei Protas (21) moves in behind New York Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick (32) to score a goal on a rebound during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette, rear left, watches a replay during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Congress will gather Monday to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s election under the tightest national security level possible. Layers of tall black fencing flank the U.S. Capitol complex in a stark reminder of what happened on this day four years ago.
Here's the latest:
On the morning of the certification, the U.S. Capitol was covered in snow with roads blocked off for miles as police hoped for a quiet day in Congress.
At certain points, there were more officers than staff as many lawmakers were expected to be absent Monday due to the inclement weather. It’s a stark difference from what transpired four years ago today as lawmakers, staff and reporters hid from a violent mob that overtook the Capitol building, leaving mayhem in their wake.
President Joe Biden is decrying what he calls an “unrelenting effort” to downplay a mob of Donald Trump supporters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 election — seeking to contrast that day’s chaos with what he promises will be an orderly transition returning Trump to power for a second term.
In an opinion piece published Sunday in The Washington Post, Biden recalled Jan. 6, 2021, writing that “violent insurrectionists attacked the Capitol.”
“We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault,” Biden wrote. “And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year.”
▶Read more about Biden’s opinion piece
Under heavy security, lawmakers in the snowy Capitol will gather at 1 p.m. ET to count the electoral votes in the 2024 election and declare Donald Trump the winner.
The joint session, which takes place on Jan. 6 every four years, is the final step after the Electoral College meets in December to officially elect the winner of the White House.
At the center of the process are sealed electoral certificates from each state, which are brought into the House chamber in special mahogany boxes that are used for the occasion. Those same boxes were rushed to safety four years ago as rioters breached the Capitol.
Bipartisan representatives of both chambers will read the results out loud and do an official count. No challenges to the results are expected this year, which means the process should move quickly.
Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, will preside over the session and certify her defeat to Trump.
Four years ago, then-President Donald Trump urged supporters to head to the Capitol to protest Congress’ certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
“Will be wild!” Trump promised on Twitter a few weeks before Jan. 6, 2021. And it was.
This year, the only turbulence preceding the quadrennial ratification of the presidential election resulted from House Republicans fighting among themselves over who should be speaker.
▶Read more on why the calm may be illusory
It’s the largest prosecution in Justice Department history — with reams of evidence, harrowing videos and hundreds of convictions of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Now Donald Trump’s return to power has thrown into question the future of the more than 1,500 federal cases brought over the last four years.
Jan. 6 trials, guilty pleas and sentencings have continued chugging along in Washington’s federal court despite Trump’s promise to pardon rioters, whom he’s called “political prisoners” and “hostages” he contends were treated too harshly.
In a statement Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Justice Department prosecutors “have sought to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6 attack on our democracy with unrelenting integrity.”
▶ Read more about Jan. 6 prosecutions
Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday is set to preside over the certification of her defeat to Donald Trump four years after he tried to stop the very process that will now return him to the White House.
In a video message, Harris described her role as a “sacred obligation” to ensure the peaceful transfer of power.
“As we have seen, our democracy can be fragile,” she said. “And it is up to each of us to stand up for our most cherished principles.”
Harris will be joining a short list of other vice presidents to oversee the ceremonial confirmation of their election loss as part of their role of presiding over the Senate. Richard Nixon did it after losing to John F. Kennedy in 1960. Al Gore followed suit when the U.S. Supreme Court tipped the 2000 election to George W. Bush.
▶ Read more about Vice President Kamala Harris
What’s unclear is if Jan. 6, 2021, was the anomaly, the year Americans violently attacked their own government, or if this year’s expected calm becomes the outlier. The U.S. is struggling to cope with its political and cultural differences at a time when democracy worldwide is threatened. Trump calls Jan. 6, 2021, a “day of love.”
“We should not be lulled into complacency,” said Ian Bassin, executive director of the cross-ideological nonprofit Protect Democracy.
He and others have warned that it’s historically unprecedented for U.S. voters to do what they did in November, reelecting Trump after he publicly refused to step aside last time. Returning to power an emboldened leader who’s demonstrated his unwillingness to give it up “is an unprecedentedly dangerous move for a free country to voluntarily take,” Bassin said.
The fourth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has a new focus as lawmakers brace for the prospect that President-elect Donald Trump may soon pardon many of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes for their actions related to the riot.
▶Read more about Trump’s promises to issue pardons
As Congress convenes during a winter storm to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s election, the legacy of Jan. 6 hangs over the proceedings with an extraordinary fact: The candidate who tried to overturn the previous election won this time and is legitimately returning to power.
Lawmakers will gather noontime Monday under the tightest national security level possible. Layers of tall black fencing flank the U.S. Capitol complex in a stark reminder of what happened four years ago, when a defeated Trump sent his mob to “fight like hell” in what became the most gruesome attack on the seat of American democracy in 200 years.
No violence, protests or even procedural objections in Congress are expected this time. Republicans from the highest levels of power who challenged the 2020 election results when Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden have no qualms this year after he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.
And Democrats frustrated by Trump’s 312-226 Electoral College victory nevertheless accept the choice of the American voters. Even the snowstorm barreling down on the region wasn’t expected to interfere with Jan. 6, the day set by law to certify the vote.
▶ Read more about what to expect today
Security fencing surrounds Capitol Hill as snow blankets the region ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Security fencing surrounds Capitol Hill as snow blankets the region ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Snow falls at the Capitol ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
