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New York Rangers vs Vegas Golden Knights: Join the live conversation

By Steve Paulus |
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 02: Adam Fox #23 of the New York Rangers battles for the puck as Malcolm Subban #30 of the Vegas Golden Knights makes a save at Madison Square Garden on December 2, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 02: Adam Fox #23 of the New York Rangers battles for the puck as Malcolm Subban #30 of the Vegas Golden Knights makes a save at Madison Square Garden on December 2, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
William Karlsson #71 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates with the puck against Ryan Lindgren #55 of the New York Rangers
William Karlsson #71 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates with the puck against Ryan Lindgren #55 of the New York Rangers /

Tonight in Las Vegas the New York Rangers play the first game of an important west coast road trip . It’s a chance for the Blueshirts to get revenge for their loss to the Golden Knights less than a week ago.

The last time these two teams played, the Golden Knights totally overwhelmed the New  York Rangers, winning 4-1.   The Rangers were riding high, having not lost in regulation in five games. They had high expectations and they were dashed early when Alex Tuch scored barely a minute and a half into the game.   Vegas went on to score three more unanswered goals before Brendan Lemieux scored the Rangers’ only goal.

The Rangers will be riding Alexandar Georgiev for the third straight start as David Quinn is going with the hot hand.  Henrik Lundqvist had started on Monday night against  Vegas.  Vegas coach Gerard Gallant is doing the same, as Malcom Subban is starting his seventh straight game.

It’s expected that Quinn will shake up his lines this game, but we won’t know until pregame warm-ups. He used a number of combinations against Montreal including moving Brendan Smith up after he scored his breakaway goal.

Getting off to a good start is absolutely crucial for the Rangers.  Vegas is 12-3-1 when they score first and 3-8-4 when the opposition does.   The Blueshirts have similar numbers when they score first.   If they want to win on the road, fast starts are vital.

Kravtsov news

In another bit of news, there’s some action regarding Vitali Kravtsov and his time with Traktor in the KHL.

This latest move by Traktor has unleashed a ton of speculation on social media ranging from reports that they are looking to trade him to reports that he is depressed.   There’s no way of knowing exactly what is going on, but the Rangers have to be concerned.  I

Although he signed a contract with Traktor, he is still under contract with the Rangers and is on loan to the KHL.  t’s a situation worth keeping an eye on.

Projected Lineups

New York Rangers

48 Lemieux – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 17 Fast
20 Kreider – 72 Chytil – 89 Buchnevich
14 McKegg – 21 Howden – 42 Smith

76 Skjei – 8 Trouba
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
18 Staal– 77 DeAngelo

40 Georgiev
30 Lundqvist

Vegas Golden Knights

81 Jonathan Marchessault – 71 William Karlsson – 19 Reilly Smith
67 Max Pacioretty – 26 Paul Stastny – 61 Mark Stone
20 Chandler Stephenson – 9 Cody Glass – 89 Alex Tuch
28 William Carrier – 92 Tomas Nosek  – 75 Ryan Reaves

3 Brayden McNabb – 88 Nate Schmidt
14 Nicolas Hague – 27 Shea Theodore
15 Jon Merrill – 5 Deryk Engelland

30 Malcolm Subban
29 Marc-Andre Fleury

Next. A big weekend for the Wolf Pack. dark

Join the live conversation!

While you cannot call this a must-win game, the Blueshirts have fallen six points out of the last wild card spot  though they still have two games in hand on Carolina and Pittsburgh, the teams ahead of them in the wild card.

The live thread is open….now.

Gametime is 7pm (4pm in Las Vegas).  The game will be televised on the MSG  Network and the radio call is on ESPN Radio 98.7 FM.

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