Live conversation for a big Rangers-Islanders grudge match
By Steve Paulus
The New York Rangers go from the frying pan to the fire, heading to Elmont to play the Islanders. Despite the Fishsticks’ slow start, these games are always heated and tonight should be no different. It’s another national television game for the Rangers with the match on TNT.
The Rangers recalled Julien Gauthier from Hartford where he scored twice in four games. He will replace Vitali Kravtsov who got hurt in an awkward collision in the third period and didn’t see the ice for the last six minutes of regulation and the overtime. He is out with the proverbial “upper-body injury.”
Gauthier’s two goals are tied for the Wolf Pack team lead. The Rangers’ farm team is off to a mediocre start with a 0-2-2 record, sitting in last place in the Atlantic Division of the AHL.
Last night was the first game with the Rangers’ top six not denting the scoresheet. That’s mostly due to a power play that has scored only once in the last 14 times with the man advantage.
Jaroslav Halak will be in the net as he tries to rebound from an abysmal showing against the Blue Jackets on Sunday. He gave up three goals he should have stopped, after a solid debut against Winnipeg. Halak played four seasons for the Islanders and was a Ranger killer. He has a lifetime record of 7-3-3 against the Isles.
He should be opposed by Ilya Sorokin who is proving to be one of the top young netminders in the NHL. He got some votes in the Vezina Trophy balloting last season.
The Islanders have lost three in a row and are in last place with a record of 2-4-0 though they are 2-2-0 at home. The Rangers have not won in three games, going 0-1-2, so something has to give tonight.
Mathew Barzal, J.G. Pageau, and Brock Nelson have all failed to score so far this season. That’s dangerous for the Rangers.
It could be Libor Hajek or Zac Jones in the game tonight, no word until warmups.
Projected starting lineups
New York Rangers
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
10 Panarin – 16 Trocheck– 13 Lafreniere
26 Vesey-21 Goodrow – 12 Gauthier
91 Blais – 22 Carpenter – 75 Reaves
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
25 Hajek – 4 Schneider
41 Halak
31 Shesterkin
New York Islanders
12 Josh Bailey -13 Mathew Barzal – 26 Oliver Wahlstrom
27 Anders Lee – 29 Brock Nelson – 18 Anthony Beauvillier
11 Zach Parise – 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau – 21 Kyle Palmieri
17 Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck
3 Adam Pelech – 6 Ryan Pulock
28 Alexander Romanov – 8 Noah Dobson
25 Sebastian Aho – 24 Scott Mayfield
30 Ilya Sorokin
40 Semyon Varlamov
How to watch & the live conversation
The game starts at 730pm and for the second straight night, it will be on national television, though this time on TNT. It’s the first game of a doubleheader, so don’t look for any postgame analysis. The live stream will be on ESPN+.
Blue Line Station’s live conversation is active now. You can join the chat in the comments section below. We have had some issues with the auto-refresh feature and the workaround is to sort the messages by oldest, then back to newest in order to see the latest comments.
Stan Fischler, the legendary hockey writer, is getting the press area at the USB Arena named in his honor. It’s a well-deserved honor.