Blue Line Station
Fansided

The New York Rangers head to the Desert

By Rachel Nones

LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 08: Vegas Golden Knights and New York Rangers players stand at attention during the national anthem prior to their game at T-Mobile Arena on January 8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 08: Vegas Golden Knights and New York Rangers players stand at attention during the national anthem prior to their game at T-Mobile Arena on January 8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Alex Tuch #89 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates
Alex Tuch #89 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates /

About the Golden Knights

As we head into the desert versus city matchup tonight, the Knights and Rangers have very similar records with one additional win for Vegas and two fewer overtime losses for New York.  However, the memory of Monday’s loss still stings, freshened by the Montreal loss. The Knights have been without elite goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury due to the death of his father and have been using Malcolm Subban between the pipes for six straight starts.

Following Vegas’s overtime loss to the New York Islanders Thursday night, Subban said that he felt it was his best game in terms of technique, but it is expected that Fleury will be in the net against the Rangers.

Vegas currently clings to the third place spot in the Pacific Division and ranks 13th overall in the standings. Reilly Smith currently leads his team in  with 12 goals while William Karlsson leads the team in assists with 17.  Max Pacioretty has the overall points lead with 26 and all three have played in all 31 Vegas games.

The special teams for the Knights has been one of the more efficient units in the league. The Golden Knights currently have the sixth most power play goals in the league and they have scored 22 goals in 96 chances for a  22.9% scoring rate. Only six teams in the league have a better percentage than that.

About the Rangers

With Henrik Lundqvist expected to be in net for New York, both he and backup Alexandar Georgiev have been playing fantastically. The Rangers seem to sit comfortably with their current goaltending situation. Georgiev’s performance against Columbus was the highlight of the game, and he was just as solid against Montreal.

The Rangers rank sixth in the stacked Metropolitan Division and place 20th overall. Considering their record is comparable to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Nashville Predators, this is not a bad place to be heading into the mid-way point of the season.

As for New York’s offense, Artermi Panarin leads the team in the big three categories in his 28 games played. He has 13 goals, 21 assists, and 34 total points. Ryan Strome is just below Panarin for assists (18) and points (24), with Filip Chytil in second place for goals (8).

Thus far, the Rangers are tied for 14th overall with a power play success percentage of 19%.  In 100 opportunities they have scored 19 goals, tied for ninth most in the NHL.

When it comes to being short handed, the Rangers have six shorthanded goals on the season, the most of any team in the NHL.  That’s the good news. Their overall success rate is 76.3%, 23rd in the NHL. They have been shorthanded 107 times, the most in the league.  Vegas is second in the league in shorthanded goals with five.

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