Live conversation as Rangers take on Coyotes in a college arena

The New York Rangers got back on track with a big road win in Dallas, dealing the Stars their first home loss.  There was a lot to be happy about in the game, but there was also a lot not to like. The good news is that they are taking on one of the NHL’s bottom dwellers, but they are doing it in a college-sized arena in front of what promises to be a raucous crowd.

It’s true that the Rangers came back with three third-period goals to seal the win and got them from infrequent offensive contributors in Zac Jones and Julien Gauthier.  The Zibanejad line was unstoppable and Vincent Trocheck had a big game.  But they were also a sieve on defense at times, allowing a goal a minute into the game. The Rangers also benefited from an overturned goal, ruled offside after an awful defensive miscue allowing Jason Robertson an unimpeded trip to the crease.

Igor Shesterkin was good, but not great again, but did enough to win and remain undefeated.  It looks like Jaroslav Halak will not get another shot at his first win of the season in the second of back-to-back games.  The Rangers play only three times in the next eight days and Shesterkin should get the nod in all of those games, but the word is he will be in the net tonight.

Despite breaking up the Jacob Trouba-K’Andre Miller tandem due to a challenging effort, Coach Gerard Gallant hinted that it was just a temporary move.  Zac Jones scored the game-winning goal paired with Trouba who was minus three after two periods but finished at minus one after the switch.

Vitali Kravtsov got crunched by Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa and is out with the proverbial “upper-body injury.”  It sure looked like a concussion based on his appearance after the collision.   Ryan Reaves is back in after sitting out one game.  With Chytil and Kravtsov both out with possible concussions, the Rangers have no spare forwards and will have to call someone up from Hartford, but to do that they would need to put one of the two on injured reserve to create cap space.

Kravtsov is either the most fragile or the unluckiest player in the NHL.  In his four games this season, he has been injured and couldn’t finish three of the games.

Finally, Julien Gauthier saw some results from what has been a solid effort in the two games since his recall from Hartford.  Ranger fans have to hope that somewhere, a lightbulb went on and Gauthier will continue to play this way AND finish by putting the puck in the net.

Dellandrea fined

Dallas Stars forward Ty Dellandrea didn’t get away with his “accidental” slew foot of Shesterkin yesterday.  Besides the interference penalty, he has been fined $2,333.33, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.   It was a dirty, careless play and he should just be glad that Ryan Reaves was a healthy scratch.

Projected starting lineups

New York Rangers

20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
10 Panarin – 16 Vincet Trocheck – 13 Lafreniere
26 Vesey – 21 Goodrow – 12 Gauthier
91 Blais – 22 Carpenter – 75 Reaves

55 Lindgren – 23 Adam Fox
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
6 Jones – 45 Schneider

31 Shesterkin
42 Halak

Arizona Coyotes

9 Clayton Keller – 72 Travis Boyd – 67 Lawson Crouse
38 Liam O’Brien – 22 Jack McBain – 36 Christian Fischer
63 Mattias Maccelli – 17 Nick Bjugstad – 11 Dylan Guenther
12 Nick Ritchie – 29 Barrett Hayton – 44 Zack Kassian

4 Juuso Valimaki – 90 Janis Moser
14 Shane Gostisbehere – 3 Josh Brown
2 Patrik Nemeth – 51 Troy Stecher

70 Karel Vejmelka
39 Connor Ingram

The Coyotes are 2-4-1 and in last place in the Central Division. They lost four of their first six on an extended road trip. They played their first game Friday in their new home, Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat arena in Tempe on the campus of Arizona State University.  They put up a good fight but lost 3-2 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets.

There should be a lot of ex-pat New Yorkers in Tempe so listen for the “Potvin Sucks” chant. And no, the arena is not named for Jaromir Jagr’s hair, it is named for a benefactor of the University’s hockey team.

The Coyotes are allowing 4.57 goals per game, most in the NHL while scoring 3.00 goals per game (23rd overall, just behind the Rangers).   Their two wins came against the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets on the road, so they cannot be taken lightly. In their last visit to Arizona, the Coyotes had a 2-1 lead with seven minutes left in the game before the Rangers rallied for a 3-2 win.

Patrik Nemeth will play his first game against his former team.

How to watch & the live conversation

The game starts at 8 pm EST and will be televised on MSG Sportsnet (formerly MSGPlus).  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.

This one promises to be very interesting, against an opponent that makes this pretty much a “must-win” for the Blueshirts.  It will be fascinating to watch an NHL game in a small college arena.