New York Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes: Join the live conversation
By Steve Paulus
It’s a big game for both teams as the New York Rangers take on the Carolina Hurricanes.
If everything goes right for the New York Rangers, they could find themselves four points out of a playoff spot by the end of the evening. That’s a position that no one could have predicted even one month ago and it is really complicating the trade deadline strategy for Jeff Gorton and the Blueshirts brass.
Starting Igor Shesterkin in back to back games and not holding any potential trade bait out of the contest is a concession to coach David Quinn’s desire to keep pushing for a playoff spot. While some may think it is foolhardy to risk an injury to the most valuable piece of trade bait the Rangers have had in years, the Rangers are going all out and will continue to even if they trade their red hot left winger.
If anything, if Kreider is traded, they are giving him a taste of what the team will be like in the future and if he likes that picture as much as he likes playing with Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich, it could be enough for him to consider a return to Broadway as a free agent this summer (if the team can afford him).
There are numerous storylines to follow in this game:
- The Rangers will be going for a team record-tying seventh road win in a row.
- Artemi Panarin will be looking to score his 400th NHL point.
- Julien Gauthier will try to wreak some havoc on the team that never gave him a chance to succeed in three seasons.
- Igor Shesterkin will try to extend his streak to eight wins in nine starts.
- Kaapo Kakko will get a chance to play against and observe Andrei Svechnikov, the player everyone is citing as an example of what he can do as early as next year.
This is a big game for the Hurricanes as well as they out of the playoffs, but they are in a virtual tie for the last wild card spot and must win to get back in. They have won 19 of 30 home games this season, the third best home record in the Metropolitan Division.
Projected lineups
New York Rangers
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 89 Buchnevich
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 17 Fast
33 Di Giuseppe – 72 Chytil – 24 Kakko
48 Lemieux – 21 Howden – 12 Gauthier
76 Skjei – 8 Trouba
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
18 Staal – 77 DeAngelo
31 Shesterkin
30 Lundqvist
Carolina Hurricanes
37 Andrei Svechnikov – 20 Sebastian Aho – 86 Teuvo Teravainen
13 Warren Foegele – 11 Jordan Staal – 14 Justin Williams
21 Nino Niederreiter – 56 Erik Haula – 88 Martin Necas
18 Ryan Dzingel – 71 Lucas Wallmark – 23 Brock McGinn
74 Jaccob Slavin – 57 Trevor van Riemsdyk
51 Jake Gardiner – 22 Brett Pesce
4 Haydn Fleury – 6 Joel Edmundson
34 Petr Mrazek
47 James Reimer
About the game
The game is scheduled for 7pm and it will be televised on MSG2. The radiocast will be on ESPN 1050AM.
The live thread is open now!
Join the live conversation and share your thoughts with your fellow Ranger fans. It’s a big game and there will be a lot to talk about.