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Blueshirts look to bounce back in Montreal

By Joseph Gucciardo

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: New York Rangers Defenceman Brendan Smith (42) takes a shot off the goalpost during the first period of the National Hockey League game between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers on March 1, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: New York Rangers Defenceman Brendan Smith (42) takes a shot off the goalpost during the first period of the National Hockey League game between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers on March 1, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Three things the Rangers need to do to win

  1. Be physical – Max Domi isn’t the only physical Habs player. Tomas Tatar and Jeff Petry play a hard game and Brendan Gallagher is one of the great agitators in the NHL. If Montreal comes out tough, the Rangers have to match their intensity, and possibly even exceed it.
  2. More than bread – Artemi Panarin can not be the only player to have an impact to win, which has happened numerous times already this season. The Rangers need production from all aspects of their lineup – or at last most of it – in order to win tonight.
  3. Win the special teams battle – Montreal’s power play percentage is 12th-best in the NHL at 20.9 percent, while their penalty killing percentage is 72.5 percent, fourth worst in the league. The Rangers need to take advantage of every power play they have tonight against what is a very weak Montreal penalty kill. They’ve been stopped in four of the last five games so they need to reverse that trend.

Game Information

Tonight’s game will be televised locally on MSG 2, and WEPN 1050AM will carry the local radiocast. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

After tonight’s contest, the Rangers return home to host the Minnesota Wild on Monday.

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