Rangers host Red Wings in oriignal six showdown: Preview and live thread

Coming off the back of a really telling defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers’ next opponent isn’t quite the same caliber as Boston but they are still very talented. The upstart Detroit Red Wings started the season well but have faltered as of late. This is a young roster with a lot of players that could threaten the New York Rangers.

After a brief stint in the Empire City, Andrew Copp will be revisiting Madison Square Garden for the first time since he signed in Detroit as a free agent. Copp helped the Rangers progress to the Eastern Conference Finals last year for the first time in almost a decade. With Copp’s play on the top line, the Rangers overcame Pittsburgh and Carolina en route to that Eastern Conference Finals berth.

Igor Shesterkin is expected to get the nod again tonight as the Rangers Russian has not been off to the hot start he had last season. He’s going to be expected to get better as time goes on and I do not doubt that the reigning Vezina winner will be a fantastic goalie this year, but his start falls short of the monumental expectations placed upon the beloved netminder.

New York will be without the services of Ryan Lindgren tonight who is day to day after a tangle with David Pastrnak in the Bruins game that drew an interference penalty. Lindgren would head down the tunnel and did not return to that game. He’s currently listed as day-to-day and will not play tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. This isn’t something that should keep him out long hopefully.

Vitali Kravtsov is also expected to miss this game. Kravtsov has had the absolute worst luck this season having played in 4 games and leaving 3 of them early due to an injury. Whether you like and appreciate this player or not, you never want to see this. His upper body injury has kept him out for a couple of games now after a big hit in the Dallas game from Jani Hakanpaa.

This will be the first game in a while for Filip Chytil. He’s returning from an upper-body injury he sustained a while ago. Despite starting the season well, the injury has kind of derailed his momentum at this moment. He’s been good at times, but there is still a long way to go before he can get back to being in the grove he was before he suffered his injury.

New York Rangers

Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafreniere
Jimmy Vesey – Filip Chytil – Barclay Goodrow
Sammy Blais – Ryan Carpenter – Julien Gauthier

K’Andre Miller – Adam Fox
Zac Jones – Jacob Trouba
Libor Hajek – Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak

Detroit Red Wings

Pius Suter – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Dominik Kubalik – Andrew Copp – David Perron
Austin Czarnik – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne
Elmer Soderblom — Joe Veleno – Matt Luff

Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider
Olli Maatta – Filip Hronek
Jordan Oesterle – Gustav Lindstrom

Alex Nedeljkovic
Ville Husso

What time does it start & where to watch

This one is a matinee for the Rangers as it’s one of two games scheduled for a 5 PM Eastern puck drop. This game will be available on Sportsnet 360 for any Blueshirts fans north of the border. Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti will have the game on MSG. Fans in Michigan can get the game on Bally Sports Detroit. It’s also available on ESPN+ and Sportsnet Now if it isn’t available locally.