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New York Rangers: Why tonight’s game versus Ottawa is a must win

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers tends the net against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2019 in New York City. The Montreal Canadiens won 4-2. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers tends the net against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2019 in New York City. The Montreal Canadiens won 4-2. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 29: Chris Kreider #20, Mika Zibanejad #93 and Pavel Buchnevich #89 of the New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 29: Chris Kreider #20, Mika Zibanejad #93 and Pavel Buchnevich #89 of the New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Stuff you need to know about the game

  • About the Rangers
    • Pavel Buchnevich is expected to play tonight after sitting out one game as a precaution after a collision Sunday.
    • The Rangers will finish the season above .500 against teams in the Atlantic Division. They are below that mark against the other three divisions.
    • The Rangers were awful on faceoffs Monday and have dropped to the second worst winning percentage in the NHL (47.3%).
    • Brendan Lemieux has played only 16 games as a Ranger, but is already seventh on the team in penalty minutes. In an earlier game while with Winnipeg he fought Ottawa defenseman Ben Harpur.
    • The Rangers will announce the winner of the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award before the game.
    • New York prospect and free agent signee Jake Elmer’s Lethbridge Hurricanes were eliminated from the WHL playoffs last night.   Don’t be surprised if he signs an Amateur Tryout with the Wolf Pack who have six more games left.
    • Prospect Patrick Newell is on an ATO in Hartford and should make his debut tonight.
    • Forward Riley Hughes and the Victoria Grizzlies were eliminated from the BCHL playoffs last night.  He will next be seen at Northeastern University. .
  • About the Senators
    • Since firing head coach Guy Boucher on March 1, the Senators have gone 6-8-1 under interim coach Marc Crawford.   They fired Boucher four days after the trade deadline when they dealt Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel.
    • Under Boucher, the Senators were 22-37-5.
    • To describe the Senators as offensively challenged would be an understatement.  Brady Tkachuk is the only player with over 20 goals and leads all forwards with 43 points.  In Thomas Chabot, Ottawa has a budding star on defense. He has 13 goals and 53 points.
    • Anthony Duclair has found a home in Ottawa.  He has 18 goals this season, 11 with Columbus and is headed for his best season in four years.
    • Oscar Lindberg is the other ex-Ranger on the Senators.  He came over from Vegas in the trade for Mark Stone. .
    • The Senators have allowed 289 goals, the most in the league, allowing 3.69 goals per game. They allow an average of almost 36 shots per game, most in the NHL.
    • Ottawa has the worst road record in the league  at 10-27-2.
    • The Senators signed goalie Joey Daccord out of Arizona State University. He’s a finalist for the Mike Richter Award for the best college goalie.  He will report to the Senators and stay with the team for their last three games.
  • Head to head
    • The teams have split the first two games of the season series. They played a back-to-back series in November with the Rangers winning 4-2 at MSG and the Senators shutting out the Blueshirts 3-0 three nights later.
    • Henrik Lundqvist started both games in the series.
    • The Rangers haven’t won a season series against Ottawa since 2015-16.

Next. Best and worst draft scenarios. dark

  • Game Info
    • The game is starting at 7:30pm, a half our later than normal. The game will be televised on MSG Plus.  Radio will be WNYM 970 AM.
    • The next game for the Rangers is Friday night against Columbus.
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