The New York Rangers have not been playing the best hockey recently, going 1-4-1 in their last six games.

In need of a rest and reset, the team got one, with five days off between games. While nearly a week off will be nice for the team, they are going to be challenged right away in their return to the ice, hosting the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden.

One of the best teams in the NHL, the Rangers have their work cut out for them to keep pace with the high-octane offense. Entering the matchup, there are plenty of questions the team has to answer in their return to the ice.

Will Dylan Garand Bounce Back?

The injury bug has bitten New York’s depth. No. 2 goalie Joonas Korpisalo has been sidelined since the first few days of the season with a foot infection. No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending lower-body injury on Oct. 9, thrusting Dylan Garand into the starter’s role.

He has appeared in nine consecutive games, starting seven of them. It will be 10 straight when he is in net against the Oilers. Even if Chris Drury has something up his sleeve to bring in a more established option, Garand will be part of the game plan moving forward.

Can the team put him in a position to succeed as he did early when he took over? Head coach Mike Sullivan has spoken about the defensive structure needing to improve in front of his goalies to give them a chance to succeed as well.

Garand isn’t on the level of Shesterkin, but he has proven capable of being part of a winning formula.

Can Only Hope to Contain Connor McDavid

With defensive structure issues, the last team anyone wants to play against is the Oilers. They are impossible to stop; teams can only hope to slow them down, led by superstar Connor McDavid.

On pace for 222 points this season, it feels like a mere formality that he will be on the score sheet; it is just a matter of how many times his name shows up. The Rangers are catching a bit of a break with Edmonton on the second day of a back-to-back set.

With their defense struggling beyond the top pair of Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov, they will take whatever help they can get. Slowing McDavid down will be the No. 1 priority; the question is, can they actually do it? 

Getting Pavel Dorofeyev on Track

The biggest acquisition New York made this offseason was Pavel Dorofeyev, who was brought in from the Vegas Golden Knights via trade. The Rangers were so confident in his skill set that they signed him to a seven-year extension worth $11 million annually after that.

Thus far, the move hasn’t panned out. Dorofeyev has only three goals and a team-worst plus/minus of -13. He is shooting the puck a ton, and his underlying metrics are solid, so there could be some positive regression in the near future.

New York certainly hopes so. Dorofeyev has been moving up and down the lines, but is back in the top-six coming out of the extended break, looking to find his rhythm.