New York Rangers vs Detroit Red Wings: Join the live conversation!
It’s hockey time again in the Big Apple! The New York Rangers look to shake off the cobwebs as they play their first game in ten days.
The New York Rangers have lost two games in a row and need to get on the winning track if their slim hopes for a playoff spot are to be realized. Who better to play than the Detroit Red Wings, the worst team in the NHL. Not only do they get to play the Red Wings, it’s part of a home and home series so the Blueshirts have a real chance to get off to a good post-break start.
How bad are the Red Wings? They have a record of 12-35-4. Their 28 points are the fewest in the NHL and at this pace, they will finish with 45 points on the season. That will be the worst in the NHL since the Atlanta Thrashers finished with 39 points in 1999-2000.
They are awful on the road, winning only four of 25 games away from Detroit. Coming into this game on a six game losing streak, they have already had other losing streaks of twelve, eight and six games.
The Wings have scored 108 goals this season, an average of 2.12 per game. That’s worst in the NHL with the next worst team (Anaheim) averaging 2.48. The Rangers average 3.29, over one goal per game more than Detroit.
They have also allowed the most goals (198) in the NHL, giving up an average of 3.88 goals per game. The next worst team is New Jersey with 3.54. The Rangers aren’t going to win any awards for defense, but they still allow 3.27 goals per game, fully a half a goal less than Detroit.
What does it mean? The New York Rangers must win this game.
Some changes
The Rangers have lost the first game out of the all-star break or bye week every year for the last decade. Playing the Red Wings gives the Blueshirts the best chance to reverse that record of futility. To do it, some lineup changes are being made.
Up front, Brendan Lemieux is moving to the left wing on Filip Chytil’s line with Kaapo Kakko. That means Brett Howden will be on the fourth line with Greg McKegg centering him and Brendan Smith.
Bigger changes are being made on the blueline with the top two defense pairings changing. Jacob Trouba will be paired with Ryan Lindgren as David Quinn continues to look for a shutdown defensive duo. Trouba has been playing with Brady Skjei, but it’s obvious the Rangers aren’t happy with that combination. Skjei has been moved to pair with Adam Fox. The third duo of Marc Staal and Anthony DeAngelo remains intact.
This shuffling is a positive reflection on Ryan Lindgren. Quinn acknowledged that the Fox-Lindgren duo was effective, but this is more of moving Lindgren up to help Trouba’s game.
Hopefully, the team will come out fast and take the Wings out of the game. They’ll be doing it behind Igor Shesterkin with Henrik Lundqvist getting the start tomorrow in Detroit. Shesterkin didn’t have as long a layoff as the rest of the team as he started two games in Hartford last week, winning both while allowing three goals.
The Rangers beat the Red Wings pretty handily back on November 6 at the Garden. Five different Rangers scored as Lundqvist stopped 35 of 36 shots and was named the game’s first star. Hopefully, history will repeat itself.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 17 Fast
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 89 Buchnevich
48 Lemieux – 72 Chytil – 24 Kakko
21 Howden – 14 McKegg – 42 Smith
55 Lindgren – 8 Trouba
76 Skjei – 23 Fox
18 Staal – 77 DeAngelo
31 Shesterkin
30 Lundqvist
Detroit Red Wings
59 Tyler Bertuzzi – 71 Dylan Larkin – 11 Filip Zadina
29 Brendan Perlini – 51 Valtteri Filppula – 14 Robby Fabbri
43 Darren Helm – 81 Frans Nielsen – 73 Adam Erne
48 Givani Smith – 41 Luke Glendening – 8 Justin Abdelkader
22 Patrik Nemeth – 17 Filip Hronek
83 Trevor Daley – 74 Madison Bowey
52 Jonathan Ericsson – 3 Alex Biega
35 Jimmy Howard
31 Calvin Pickard
Join the live conversation!
It’s been a long time since we have had a chance to share our thoughts about the Broadway Blueshirts. Join the live conversation and weigh in on the game, the trade deadline, the three goalie system or anything else you may want to talk about.
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The game is scheduled to start at 7pm. The telecast will be on the MSG Network. ESPN Radio 98.7 FM will carry the radio call.