Live conversation with Georgiev in net vs Carolina in battle for first place
By Steve Paulus
Alexandar Georgiev believes that he is as good as any number one goalie in the NHL. Tonight, he gets a chance to prove it as he will be in net as the New York Rangers take on the Carolina Hurricanes in a battle between the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division.
Coach Gerard Gallant wouldn’t give a reason for starting Georgiev in such a high profile match up, but it means that Igor Shesterkin will get the start on Saturday night against Arizona at the Garden. When asked, his reponse was “Don’t ask why.”
He didn’t mince words when asked about the Hurricanes. Gallant said “They play the fastest game in the league They roll out their four lines, they all play the same way, they bring a lot of forecheck pressure. When they play real well their on on top of their game, they’re real tough to beat…this team is if not the best team in the league, they’re right there.”
While Gallant conceded that it was an “exciting” game, he also downplayed the importance saying “Again, it’s another game, but you look at the standings and you see the two best teams in the division right now…There’s no pressure. You go play the game. It’s in the middle of the season and you want to play a good game and you want to do real well. ”
How good are the Hurricanes? They are one of the best teams in the NHL, but statistically, the Rangers compare pretty favorably. One area where they are ahead is the Canes average 3.50 goals per game, fourth best in the NHL while New York is 17th with 2.93 . Meanwhile, they allow on 2.25 goals per game, the fewest in the league. The Rangers are no slouch, second overall allowing 2.45 per game.
The special teams are truly special for both teams. The Hurricanes are fifth best on the power play (25.5%) while the Rangers are 10th (22.8%). On the penalty kill, Carolina leads the NHL killing off 90.1% of their penalties while the Rangers are third at 85.2%.
When Gallant said that they roll four lines, it’s true. The Canes have 15 players with 10 points or more while the Rangers have 10. The Rangers are top heavy in scoring with four players with 36 points or more while the Canes have only one, Sebastian Aho with 16 goals and 39 points.
The last time these two teams played was August 4, 2020 when the Hurricanes finished off their three-game sweep of the Stanley Cup Qualifier. Carolina won 4-1 in a series that they totally outplayed the Blueshirts.
How different are the teams? Only eight Hurricanes will play tonight who also played in that game. Only 10 Rangers are left from that game. Of course, Tony DeAngelo,Brendan Smith and Jesper Fast all played for the Rangers and are are now with the Hurricanes.
Projected starting lineups
NEW YORK RANGERS
This lineup is a guess. The NHL.com website preview has Alexis Lafreniere playing on the right side of Panarin and Strome with Dryden Hunt on the left wing on the fourth line. Gallant hinted that he may move Hunt back up to that line. It does look like Filip Chytil will be back at center. The Rangers made Greg McKegg available after the morning skate and players interviewed usually play, but he wasn’t listed in the preview.
On a roster note, Tim Gettinger, Jonny Brozinski and Zac Jones were all added to the Taxi Squad
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 29 Hunt
13 Lafrenière – 72 Chytil – 12 Gauthier
21 Goodrow– 17 Rooney – 75 Reaves
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
15 Nemeth – 45 Schneider
40 Georgiev
31 Shesterkin
CAROLINA HURRICANES
86 Teuvo Teravainen – 20 Sebastian Aho -24 Seth Jarvis
37 Andrei Svechnikov – 16 Vincent Trocheck – 21 Nino Niederreiter
78 Steven Lorentz – 11 Jordan Staal – 71 Jesper Fast
41 Josh Leivo – 82 Jesperi Kotkaniemi – 18 Derek Stepan
74 Jaccob Slavin – 77 Tony DeAngelo
76 Brady Skjei – 22 Brett Pesce
28 Ian Cole – 7 Brendan Smith
31 Frederik Andersen
80 Jack LaFontaine
The Hurricanes have two important players on the COVID protocol in Martin Necas and Jordan Martinook. Necas is fifth in scoring among Hurricanes forwards while Martinook is a great presence in the locker room and on the fourth line. Veteran Josh Leivo was promoted from the AHL and will replace Necas.
How to watch and the live conversation
The game will be televised on the MSG Network with the national telecast on ESPN+. The radiocast will be carried on ESPN 98.7 FM.
Blue Line Station’s live conversation should be pretty animated after a fantastic session during the Toronto game. This is one of the biggest games for New York in years, maybe going back to the playoff years (or the Stanley Cup Qualifier). Feel free to join in and share your thoughts in the comments section below.