The New York Rangers have a chance to prove that their 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday was an aberration by a road win in Buffalo tonight. A resounding win will get the Blueshirts back on the winning track. A loss could drive Ranger fans to the edge of panic and despair.
The Sabres have been an NHL horror show for years and this season has been no different. They have the fifth fewest points in the league and have won only once in their last 10 games, beating only the hapless Canadiens. The Rangers were their second opponent on this latest tailspin and it was a devastating last loss on a memorable last second Ryan Lindgren goal.
You would think that removing the Jack Eichel cloud would have helped the team move forward, but the opposite is true. They were 5-3-1 at the time of the November 4 deal, and have gone 3-11-2 since. Things don’t look good as they face the Capitals, Jets, Wild and Penguins after the Rangers leave town.
Although the Rangers’ seven-game winning streak was halted this week, they are still riding a three-game road winning streak. It would serve the Blueshirts well to remember that they barely beat the Sabres the last time they met. Alexandar Georgiev started that game and gave up four goals in two periods and was replaced by Igor Shesterkin in the third period. That’s not an option tonight with Georgiev the expected starter.
Only three teams in the NHL have not lost two games in a row in regulation and the Rangers are one of them, along with the Capitals and Lightning.
On a positive note, Igor Shesterkin was back on the ice in practice, but there is still no word about when he will be expected to play. When asked, Coach Gerard Gallant said, “I don’t know, near future, we’ll see what the trainers say.”
Gallant was asked again about the poor showing on Wednesday and he attributed it to fatigue. He said “I hate making excuses but it was four games in six days and two back-to-backs. I think the tank was empty.”
Projected lineups
Adam Huska was returned to Hartford as Keith Kinkaid is off the COVID protocol list. There’s no doubt that Kinkaid would have been the Rangers’ first choice as a call up when Shesterkin was injured. So, yet another reason for the loss to Colorado. Morgan Barron also was returned to Hartford since Greg McKegg is off the COVID list.
Also going to Hartford on a conditioning assignment is defenseman Jarred Tinordi who hasn’t seen any action since November 21.
NEW YORK RANGERS
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 29 Hunt
13 Lafrenière– 72 Chytil– 15 Gauthier
17 Rooney – 21 Goodrow– 75 Reaves
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
12 Nemeth – 27 Lundkvist
40 Georgiev
71 Kinkaid
BUFFALO SABRES
53 Jeff Skinner -72 Tage Thompson -71 Victor Olofsson
74 Rasmus Asplund -24 Dylan Cozens -21 Kyle Okposo
28 Zemgus Girgensons -20 Cody Eakin -15 John Hayden
57 Brett Murray – 17 Mark Jankowski -29 Vinnie Hinostroza
26 Rasmus Dahlin – 10 Henry Jokiharju
4 Will Butcher -13 Mark Pysyk
78 Jacob Bryson -33 Colin Miller
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
80 Aaron Dell
The injury bug has hit the Sabres hard with Casey Mittelstadt the latest addition, injured Tuesday against Anaheim. He joins Craig Anderson, Drake Caggiula, Robert Hagg, Dustin Tokarski and Alex Tuch.
How to watch and the live conversation
Game time is 7pm and it will be telecast on MSG Plus. Nationally, the game will be available on ESPN+. The radio call will be on WEPN 1050AM.
As usual Blue Line Station will be hosting its live in-game conversation using the comments feature below. We’ve had some issues with the comments refreshing and are working on that, so please bear with us. One workaround is to change how the comments sort from “newest” to “oldest” and back to “newest” again.
Join your fellow Rangers fans as we hope the team gets back on a winning track.