The New York Rangers get right back to work with their second game in two nights. Thankfully, it’s a quick turnaround after their tough loss against Carolina It might have been more instructive for the Rangers to have some time to dwell on how the Hurricanes were able to dominate and where the Rangers fell short.
Nevertheless, the Rangers will get a chance to rebuild their self esteem with a game against one of the worst teams in the NHL. The Coyotes are at the bottom of the Central Division with a record of 10-25-4. Their 24 points are better only than the Montreal Canadiens with 22.
The Coyotes have score only 2.21 goals per game, second fewest in the NHL. They allow 3.62 goals per game, third most in the league. They have the worst power play in the league and the third worst penalty kill. The Rangers have scored 28 power play goals this season. Arizona has scored only 13.
That means that is a must win game for the Blueshirts. Not because of the standings or because they have anything to prove, but because there is no way the Arizona Coyotes should come into Madison Square Garden and win a game.
The Coyotes also played last night, dropping a 4-0 decision on Long Island. The Yotes have been playing well lately, boasting a 4-3-1 winning record over their last eight games. Those results can be deceiving. Their wins came over Chicago, Montreal and New Jersey with the only win over a contender a 2-1 decision at home over Toronto.
The Rangers eked out a 3-2 win in Arizona in December with Keith Kinkaid in net. It took two power play goals in the last six minutes as they came back from a 2-1 deficit. They lost Artemi Panarin to an injury at the start of the second period and Kaapo Kakko responded with two goals, including the game winner on the power play as he replaced Panarin with the man advantage.
The Rangers will not get away with that kind of effort again. By the way, in their last two trips to Madison Square Garden, the Coyotes won both games in overtime.
Projected lineups
The projected lineup is the same as last night with Julien Gauthier on the sidelines and Dryden Hunt on the right side of Strome and Panarin. Igor Shesterkin gets the start in goal, the first in his career against Arizona.
NEW YORK RANGERS
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 29 Hunt
13 Lafrenière – 21 Goodrow – 72 Chytil
14 McKegg – 17 Rooney – 75 Reaves
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
15 Nemeth – 45 Schneider
31 Shesterkin
40 Georgiev
ARIZONA COYOTES
9 Clayton Keller – 72 Travis Boyd – 8 Nick Schmaltz
67 Lawson Crouse – Johan Larsson – 81 Phil Kessel
16 Andrew Ladd – 20 Riley Nash – 36 Christian Fischer
38 Liam O’Brien– 17 Alex Galchenyuk – 21 Loui Eriksson
14 Shayne Gostisbehere –86 Anton Stralman
62 Janis Moser – 46 Ilya Lyubushkin
6 Jakob Chychrun – 75 Kyle Capobianco
70 Karel Vejmelka
31 Scott Wedgewood
Rookie Karel Vejmelka will be making his first start against the Rangers. He has a 6-14-1 record, but has been excellent on the road with a .947 save percentage and a 1.85 goals against average. His 21 starts are the second most among rookie goaltenders.
Defenseman Dysin Mayo was added to the COVID protocol this afternoon, the first NHL player to go on the list in two days. He’s a big loss as he has been on the top defense pairing. He joins Antoine Roussel on the list.
How to watch and the live conversation
The game is scheduled to start at 7pm and you can watch it on the MSG Network. The national telecast will be on ESPN+. The radiocast is on ESPN 98.7FM.
Blue Line Station’s live conversation is active and all Ranger fans are invited to share your thoughts about the game. After last night’s disappointment, the chat should be pretty interesting. Let’s hope the Blueshirts get off to a early lead.