Could we ask for a bigger game for the New York Rangers? It’s the Blueshirts vs the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum. It’s a true four point game in a playoff race.
This has been a long time coming. Although the three games the New York Rangers played against the Islanders were big, that was before the revival that has brought the team to within striking distance of a playoff spot.
The Rangers can set a new team record for consecutive road wins if they can take this contest. The team has won seven in a row, tying the team record first set in 1934-35. They Rangers can also win the season series from the Islanders having taken two of the first three.
But streaks and season series are irrelevant. The most important fact is that with a win tonight, the Rangers can draw within four points of the Islanders who are sitting in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. A Ranger loss will drop them eight point behind. This game is the very definition of a “must win” contest.
New faces
There will be some new and faces and not so new faces seeing action tonight. For the Islanders, Semyon Varlamov should be getting the start and J.G. Pageau will be making his debut. This will be the first time the Rangers will see ex-Devil Andy Greene in an Islanders uniform.
Pageau has a reputation as a Ranger killer with 13 points in 17 games, but that reputation is based on the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs when he had six goals in six games versus the Blueshirts. The real Ranger killer is Anthony Beauvillier who has an unbelievable nine goals and 15 points in 13 games against the Rangers. Consider that Beauvillier has scored 57 goals in 266 NHL games against other teams. Mathew Barzal isn’t too shabby either with 16 points in 11 games.
Alexandar Georgiev will be in goal for the Blueshirts. Chris Krieider missed practice yesterday with an illness, but will be in the lineup tonight. Pavel Buchnevich is out after his car accident on Sunday. That means Greg McKegg is back into the lineup on the fourth line.
Replacing Brady Skjei on the left side of Jacob Trouba will be Brendan Smith.
Projected starting lineups
New York Rangers
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 17 Fast
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 48 Lemieux
33 Di Giuseppe – 72 Chytil – 24 Kakko
12 Gauthier -21 Howden – 14 McKegg
42 Smith – 8 Trouba
18 Staal – 77 DeAngelo
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
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 – 44 JG Pageau – 12 Josh Bailey
17 Matt Martin – 21 Otto Koivula – 47 Leo Komarov
4 Andy Greene – 6 Ryan Pulock
25 Devon Toews – 24 Scott Mayfield
2 Nick Leddy – 55 Johnny Boychuk
40 Semyon Varlamov
1 Thomas Greiss
About the game
The game is due to start at 7pm and will be televised on the MSG Network. The radio call will be on ESPN Radio 98.7 FM.
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