It’s round two of the slugfest between the New York Rangers and the Islanders. Round One went to the Blueshirts and the Isles will be spoiling for revenge.
The New York Rangers make their first visit to the Nassau Coliseum in five years as round two of this three game series is scheduled for tonight. The Coliseum was a house of horrors for the Rangers in the early 80’s and it is less than ten miles awayfrom the house where Adam Fox grew up. Fox’s first game near his home is just one of the many storylines surround tonight’s game. Here are just a few:
- Alexandar Georgiev gets the second straight start, mostly due to his stellar record against the Isles. He has never lost to them in a game he started and his goals against average is below two goals per game. With the trade rumors swirling, another sparkling performance will only enhance his value.
- Adam Fox comes home. He grew up in Jericho and was a lifelong Ranger fan (thank god for that). Will be put on a show for his hometown crowd?
- Can Artemi Panarin top his two goal, five point performance on Monday night? Even more important, will the Islanders let him or will they try to wear him down physically?
- The battle resumes. Will we see a rematch between Brendan Smith and Matt Martin? Ross Johnston is not in the projected lineup, so take one big thug factor out of the mix. There was bad blood between the team, specifically aimed at Brock Nelson for his borderline hit on Mika Zibanejad. How much fisticuffs will there be?
- Did the Islanders overdo it on Tuesday? The Isles avenged their loss to the Rangers Monday, by beating the Red Wings senseless on Tuedsay night. They won 8-2 and hopefully, they used up all of their offense in that game. Tonight is their third game in four nights so fatigue could be a factor.
- Will the Rangers prevent the Islanders from scoring in the first minute? Hopefully.
- Will the insertion of Casey Cizikas and Otto Koivula into the Islanders’ lineup make a difference?
Did I miss anything. I’m sure I did. At any rate, this will be a fun game and a real test for he Blueshirts.
Projected lineups
New York Rangers
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 17 Fast
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanead – 89 Buchnevich*
21 Howden – 72 Chytil – 24 Kakko
38 Haley – 14 McKegg – 42 Smith
76 Skjei – 8 Trouba
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
18 – Staal – 77 DeAngelo
40 Georgiev
30 Lundqvist
New York Islanders
27 Anders Lee – 13 Mathew Barzal – 7 Jordan Eberle
18 Anthony Beauvillier – 29 Brock Nelson- 10 Derick Brassard
28 Michael Dal Colle – 12 Josh Bailey – 14 Tom Kuhnackl
17 Matt Martin – 53 Casey Cizikas – 21 Otto Koivula
2 Nick Leddy – 6 Ryan Pulock
25 Devon Toews – 24 Scott Mayfield
8 Noah Dobson – 55 Johnny Boychuk
Join the live conversation!
Whenever the Rangers play the Islanders there is a lot to talk about and after Monday night’s beatdown, this one should be chock full. Join in and share your feelings with other Blueshirt fans.
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Gametime is 7pm. Telecast is on MSG2 Network and the radiocast will be on ESPN 1050 AM.