If you thought the Philadelphia Flyers were a challenge for the New York Rangers, think again. Here come the St. Louis Blues.
The New York Rangers need to get back on the winning track, but the St. Louis Blues will be a tough team to beat. The defending Stanley Cup champions are riding a seven game winning streak and are in first place in the Central Division. They have scored 25 goals while allowing only 12 in those seven games.
The Rangers can take hope in the fact that prior to the winning streak, the Blues had won only two of 13 games. St. Louis has been a streaky team this season and the Rangers have to hope that they can start the Blues on another downward slide.
In his post-practice comments Monday, Coach David Quinn alluded to that in his discussions with the team “You look at our league, can be a streaky league. We’ve been through a tough stretch, won a lot of hockey games lately, (we should) not get discouraged, press the reset button and get back at it tomorrow.”
Alexandar Georgiev will be in net tonight. It will be his third career start against the Blues and he has yet to lose in regulation. As a rookie in 2017-18 he lost in overtime 4-3 and he beat them a year ago at the Garden, 4-2. Over the two games he faced a lot of shots, 79 shots in all.
Quinn also provided an injury update. He said that Shesterkin is “feeling better” and making a lot of progress. When asked if the two week status check was accurate, he said “It might be sooner, it might be later. This type of injury is free flowing.” He did say that they will be sure about when Shesterkin is fully recovered by observing him in practice.
As for Chris Kreider, he is in a boot as he recovers from his fractured foot. Quinn made light of it saying”He thinks he’s gonna come back next week, we”ll see. How quickly he heals will depend on when he gets back.”
Krieder was in the locker room before the Flyers game and Ryan Strome told reporters his presence gave the team a boost.
For now, Phil Di Giuseppe will remain on the left wing with Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich. Quinn explained why. ” I love his pace, he plays a lot like (Jesper) Fast. He’s got that hard working mentality, gets to the net, plays at a pace. He can create room for Buchie and Mika.”
Quinn also said that he had spoken with Ryan Strome about his game and he would be back in the lineup. Strome was benched the entire third period after taking two unnecessary penalties and having a lousy overall effort.