New York Rangers' mission: Get the Sabres back on a losing track

rnrn[caption id="attachment_106249" align="alignnone" width="1600"] New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) hits Buffalo Sabres left wing Jeff Skinner (53) . Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]rnrnThe New York Rangers go for two in a row as they try to get a streak going against the Buffalo Sabres. They need to get a streak going if they expect to contend for a playoff spot. With two games against Buffalo, followed by a pair with Pittsburgh, this is a crucial stretch for the Rangers. After the Penguins they play twice on Long Island followed by four in a row against the Devils. If they can sweep the Sabres and Devils and split with the Islanders and Penguins, that means eight out of 10 and the playoff hope is alive. Anything less and it will be practically impossible.rnrn The Sabres ended their record setting 18 losses in a row last night against the Flyers. They took a 2-0 first period lead and built on it after the Flyers scored. The final score was 6-1 as the Flyers had another bad defensive effort. The question is how that win will affect the Sabres moving forward. We'll have an answer to that question in a few hours and Rangers fans will either be predicting another losing streak for Buffalo, or ruing the fact that the Blueshirts had to take on the Sabres after they had jump started their season.[nextslide teaser="About%20the%20Rangers" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_105991" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) celebrates his second goal of the game Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]rn About the Rangers rn Igor Shesterkin will get the start and it looks like the lineup will remain the same as the group that won against Washington. That means that Vitali Kravtsov will remain a spectator with no prediction on when he will get into the lineup. While David Quinn said that they hadn't decided on the lineup, he also said that no one had played badly enough to be pulled. Quinn also said that Kravtsov is not a fourth line talent so if he was to play he would replace Julien Gauthier on the third "kid line." After Wednesday's practice, Quinn was very complimentary about Gauthier's recent play, so it looks he will be in the lineup for a while. If Kravtsov is not going to play in either game against Buffalo, why not let him play for the Wolf Pack who have a game Friday at Bridgeport. It would get him into a hockey game for the first time since March 11 and if he plays well, maybe he could crack the lineup against Pittsburgh next week. Keeping him with the Rangers has to mean that he has a chance of playing on Saturday, but if that is not the intent he should be playing for real in Hartford. Watch Ryan Strome tonight. He needs one assist to tie Rod Gilbert's club record for consecutive games with an assist by a forward. Brian Leetch holds the franchise record with 15 consecutive games with an assist. Projected lineup 20 Kreider– 93 Zibanejad – 89 Buchnevichrn10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 24 Kakkorn13 Lafrenière – 72 Chytil- 12 Gauthierrn33 Di Giuseppe- 17 Rooney - 43 Blackwell 55 Lindgren – 23 Foxrn79 Miller – 8 Troubarn25 Hajek - 42 Smith31 Shesterkinrn40 Georgiev[nextslide teaser="About%20the%20Sabres" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_106250" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) scores the game-winning goal at 5:47 of the third period on a powerplay Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]rn About the Sabres rn The Sabres must be feeling good about themselves after ending their 18 game losing streak. They could have folded when the Flyers pulled within a goal, but it was ex-Ranger Steven Fogarty who picked an opportune time to score his first NHL goal. For Don Granato, it was the first NHL win for the interim coach after seven straight losses. Granato has some Rangers connections as he is the brother of former Blueshirt Tony Granato and is the brother-in-law of former Ranger Ray Ferraro. Last night defenseman Brandon Montour set an NHL record by scoring two shorthanded goals in 37 seconds, the fastest ever by a defenseman. Oddly enough, the first one was into an empty net while the second was past the goalie. The Sabres injury list grew longer when forward Curtis Lazar suffered a lower body injury against the Flyers, but Rasmus Asplund will return to the lineup after missing four games. Lazar joins Jack Eichel, Jake McCabe, Carter Hutton, Zemgus Girgensons and Dylan Cozens on the injury list. The Sabres have the worst record in the NHL by far. They are dead last in goal scoring, averaging 2.14 goals per game and only Ottawa and Philadelphia allow more goals per game (3.46). For a while, the Sabres had one of the top power plays in the NHL, but they have slipped to12th overall. That effective power play is offset by the fact that they have had the third fewest man advantages in the league. Their penalty kill is in the middle of the pack at 795%. Linus Ullmark has been steadfast in goal for Buffalo with a 2.49 Goals Against Average (GAA) and a .920 Save Percentage (Sv%). He stood tall in goal against the Flyers to end the losing streak. That means the Rangers are fortunate to be facing backup Dustin Tokarski with a 4.11 GAA and .890 Sv%. Projected lineup 4 Taylor Hall - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 72 Tage Thompsonrn68 Victor Olofsson- 23 Sam Reinhart - 21 Kyle Okposorn53 Jeff Skinner - 74 Rasmus Asplund - 38 Riley Sheahanrn13 Tobias Rieder - 20 Cody Eakin - 17 Steven Fogarty7 8 Jacob Bryson- 55 Rasmus Ristolainenrn33 Colin Miller- 62 Brandon Montourrn26 Rasmus Dahlin - 10 Henri Jokiharju 31 Dustin Tokarskirn35 Linus Ullmarkrn This season rn January 26 - Sabres 3, Rangers 2 - The fourth loss in a row for the Rangers as Jack Eichel scored his first goal of the season.rnrn January 28 - Rangers 3, Sabres 2 (OT) - Forever to be known as the Alexis Lafrenière game as the rookie scored his first NHL goal to win the game in overtime.rnrn March 2 - Rangers 3, Sabres 2 - The Rangers jumped out a 3-1 lead and never looked back.rnrn March 22 - Rangers 5, Sabres 3 - A much closer game than it needed to be. The Blueshirts blew a two goal lead in the third period before rallying for a Kreider power play go ahead goal.rnrn[nextslide teaser="Keys%20to%20winning" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_106252" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] The New York Rangers celebrate after a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]rn 3 keys to winning rn rn t Don't take the Sabres lightly - This was a key to the game last week and the team almost made that mistake and allowed them climb back into a 3-3 tie in the third period. Luckily, the power play came through and the Rangers won,but it was a nail biter that didn't need to be. rn t Stay out of the box - Without Jack Eichel and Eric Staal, the Sabres' power play has suffered, but it is still effective, so no needless penalties. rn t Score first - The Sabres may have won a game, but they are still fragile and getting an early lead is important to burying any newfound confidence. So, score first and pile on. rn rn East Division rnWhen it comes to the playoffs, the Rangers have a mountain to climb. While they are only five points behind the Bruins, Boston has three games in hand and six games left with the Sabres. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has opened up a 12 points lead on the Rangers, same as the Islanders and two less than the Caps.rnrnThe Rangers' best hope is that the Bruins go into a tailspin. With only 21 games left for New York, catching any of the top three teams is practically impossible. Let's put it this way. If the Rangers win 16 of their last 21 games (76%) they will finish with 68 points . The Pens and Isles need 21 out of 40 remaining points (52.5%) to surpass that. Meanwhile, the Bruins would have to get 27 of their last 48 points (56%). Except for all of those games against Buffalo for Boston, the odds are better to catch them than anyone else.rnrn Tonight's games rnrnRangers @ SabresrnPenguins @ BruinsrnCapitals @ Islandersrnrn Standings rnrn1- Washington 35 23-8-4 50 pointsrn2- Islanders 36 22-10-4 48 pointsrn3- Pittsburgh 36 23-11-2 48 pointsrn4- Boston 32 18-9-5 41 pointsrn5- Philadelphia 35 17-14-4 38 pointsrn 6- Rangers 35 16-15-4 36 points rn7- New Jersey 34 13-16-5 31 pointsrn8- Buffalo 35 7-23-5 19 pointsrnrn rn About the game and join the live conversation rnThe game starts at 7pm EST and it will be It will be televised on the MSG Network with the radio call on ESPN 98.7 FM.rnrnBe sure and join the live conversation here on Blue Line Station. The live thread can be found in the conversations section (below). The thread is active now, but will heat up when the game starts. You an imagine the conversation during the big comeback win against the Capitals. Join in!

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Rangers’ mission: Get the Sabres back on a losing track

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