New York Rangers at Toronto Maple Leafs: Pregame
By Kenny Belvin
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
The New York Rangers (6-4-2, 14 points) skate into the Air Canada Centre tonight to face the Toronto Maple Leafs (6-5-2, 14 points) and will look to avenge a 6-3 loss at their home opener. Last season, the Rangers were 25-14-2 away from Madison Square Garden and were top three road team in the National Hockey League; this season the Rangers are currently 2-2 on the road and the Maple Leafs are 3-4 at home. Tonight Cam Talbot gets the nod for the Rangers, hes 0-1-1 with a .899 save percentage and a .284 goals against average. For the Leafs, it seems like Jonathan Bernier will get the call, Bernier is 3-3-2, with a .916 save percentage and a 2.59 goals against average.
Rangers getting healthy
I always said once this team gets healthy they’ll be a very scary team to play, well they’re finally starting to get healthy so watch out Eastern Conference. Tonight, Rangers number one center and assistant captain Derek Stepan makes his season debut. Dan Boyle, the Rangers most veteran defense-man and power play quarterback who’s been injured since game one skated with the team this week and will most likely be back this coming week. Stepan will apparently start on a line with Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello, but I’m assuming head coach Alain Vigneault will mix it up until he finds the right fit.
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- Chris Kreider has had quite the Summer
- Andy Hosler Takes Helm as Head Athletic Trainer for the New York Rangers, Succeeding Jim Ramsay
Red Hot Rangers
There are quite a few Rangers players that have finally gotten their games going after slow starts to the season, Rick Nash, the only Ranger that did not have a slow start has only improved to a very impressive 13 points in 12 games, 10 of them being goals. Martin St. Louis and Derick Brassard have also gotten their games going, St. Louis has tallied four points in the last two games and Brassard has tallied seven points in the last five. Surprisingly, Matt Hunwick has also had a strong showing and is contributing on offense, he’s registered five points in as many games with the Rangers and is really contesting the sixth defenseman job in the big apple. The Rangers are still searching for bigger contributions from players like Carl Hagelin, Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider but should see results soon.
Special Teams, Special Teams, Special Teams
The Rangers are currently one of the worst teams in the entire NHL when it comes to special teams, they’re in the bottom half of penalty killing and the bottom ten of power plays. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs are one of the best teams in these regards and rank in the top half of both categories in the league. If the Rangers want to win tonight they have to not only limit the number of penalties they take but they have to tighten up the penalty kill and hopefully get some help from Stepan at the back door of the power play.
Players to watch
Rangers – Zuccarello. Zucc has been pretty much awful for most of the season and has yet to really get his play going, he’s tallied four points in ten games and hasn’t really done anything to contribute to the Rangers recent success. However, we all know “the hobbit” will break out eventually and look for tonight to be the night he finally does that
Maple Leafs – Phil Kessel. I mean why not, Kessel is one of the best offensive players in the NHL and is gifted with abilities unlike anyone else. Kessel has registered a scary 18 points in 13 games and is third in the NHL in this category. Look for him to get on the board early against the Rangers and Cam Talbot and try to please a usually unhappy ACC crowd.