The New York Rangers take on one of the bottom dwellers of the NHL as they welcome former coach David Quinn back to Madison Square Garden. It hasn’t gone well for Quinn as the Sharks have lost their first five games. They dropped their first two games in Czechia versus the Predators before returning to North America to continue their losing streak. The Sharks are aiming for the Met area trifecta having lost to the Islanders on Tuesday and they face the Devils on Saturday.
Quinn talked about his three years in New York and couldn’t resist using one of his favorite expressions telling reporters “I’ve been fortunate to be on teams where you have swagger and you know, if you show up and you do A, B and C, you’re going to be successful and that was one of those teams, we felt that when that pandemic hit we were one of the best teams in the NHL from Jan. 7 on.”
While many of the players from the Quinn era remain, 17 players who suited up for him in 2020-21 are not with the Rangers now.
San Jose has the worst offense in the NHL, averaging 1.6 goals per game, scoring only eight times in five games. Their goal differential of -11 is the worst in the league.
Despite their awful record, they cannot lose every game so the Rangers need to be careful and not take them too lightly. With Quinn’s return to New York, the Sharks have an extra incentive to play well.
Hunt claimed by Colorado
With Ryan Carpenter ready to return to the lineup and Sammy Blais back in action, the Rangers waived forward Dryden Hunt. It was strictly a salary cap move as the team needs to carry 22 players in order to accrue cap space for the trade deadline.
With the waiver order based on the finish of each team’s last season, Hunt also made it through as 30 teams passed on him. The Avalanche had the last shot and grabbed the physical forward.
Hunt played 79 games in New York, scoring seven goals and 18 points. He was a versatile forward who saw time on all four lines and he was second on the team in hits last season with 153, behind only Ryan Reaves. The Rangers, especially Gerard Gallant, will miss his physical play and his versatility.
One interesting option is that if Colorado eventually ends up wanting to send him to the AHL, they will have to put him on waivers and the Rangers could reclaim him.
Projected starting lineups
Vitali Kravtsov has been cleared to play but is a healthy scratch. Ryan Carpenter is back after missing one game after suffering a nasty head cut in Winnipeg. Igor Shesterkin is undefeated and is looking for his fourth win of the season.
New York Rangers
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
10 Panarin – 16 Trocheck– 13 Lafreniere
26 Vesey-72 Chytil – 91 Blais
21 Goodrow – 22 Carpenter – 75 Reaves
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
6 Jones – 4 Schneider
31 Shesterkin
41 Halak
San Jose Sharks
28 Timo Meier – 48 Tomas Hertl – 94 Alexander Barabanov
13 Nick Bonino – 39 Logan Couture – 11 Luke Kunin|
42 Jonah Gadjovich – 7 Nico Sturm – 10 Evgeny Svechnikov
23 Oskar Lindblom – 16 Steven Lorentz – 83 Matt Nieto
24 Jaycob Megna – 65 Erik Karlsson
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic – 5 Matt Benning
38 Mario Ferraro – 51 Radim Simek
47 James Reimer
36 Kaapo Kahkonen
There may be some changes in the Sharks lineup before game time as some of the Sharks are banged up.
How to watch & the live conversation
The game starts at 7 pm and it will be televised on the MSG Network. The live stream will be on ESPN+.
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There’s some local sports competition with the Yankees in action in Houston at the same time, but there is no doubt that Ranger fans will be tuning in to watch that patented look of exasperation on David Quinn’s face. The question is what kind of video tribute will he get?