Another battle of New York looms for the struggling New York Rangers

After losing six of their last nine, the New York Rangers go into a fight against the New York Islanders knowing that they need two points tonight. There are no excuses tonight for head coach Gerard Gallant and the Rangers as a Broadway showdown beckons between the Blueshirts and their Brooklyn-based bitter rivals. It’s only fitting that the most storied stage in the NHL plays host to this bitter rivalry.

This Rangers roster needs a victory. Defeat against Detroit destroyed the Rangers’ winning streak so if the Rangers want to restore their good run of results, what better way is there to do it than the New York grudge match? In the battle of the Empire city, this rivalry will be drawing the eyes of the hockey world. Both teams are looking to get back to the postseason and both teams need to put points on the board and avenge the defeat suffered at UBS Arena two weeks ago.

Chris Kreider’s dreadful start to the season sees a shift in the top six. Kreider has been moved to the third line and spent chunks of the game against Detroit on the fourth. Serious offensive struggles have stricken the success of the original six franchise. For the Rangers tonight, they need to show their dominance in the battle of New York. It isn’t like the Rangers to be this rough around the edges.

Ryan Lindgren and Julien Gauthier are both expected to be out. Both players are listed as day-to-day while dealing with upper-body injuries. Adam Fox was not at practice yesterday either, but the Rangers’ Norris-winning defenseman was just taking a maintenance day. Fox should still be good to go for the Blueshirts tonight as the two hockey clubs look for superiority in the City that Never Sleeps.

Vitali Kravtsov will return for the Rangers tonight. He’s played four games this season yet seen three shortened due to a series of unfortunate events. Kravtsov has really been a non-factor to this point in the year and that really isn’t through his own doing. Hopefully, he’ll get into a nice run of games starting tonight and we will not see the Russian winger absent anymore.

New York Islanders

Josh Bailey – Mathew Barzal – Oliver Wahlstrom
Anders Lee – Brock Nelson – Anthony Beauvillier
Zach Parise – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Kyle Palmieri
Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Ross Johnston

Alexander Romanov – Noah Dobson
Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho – Scott Mayfield

Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin

New York Rangers

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

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

Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak

Puck drop and where to watch

Tonight’s game is a New York exclusive. It’s only fitting that MSG and MSGSN2 broadcast this game. Both New York teams need a win. This game will be available on ESPN+ and Sportsnet 360 for Rangers fans north of the border. There’s a lot of pressure on the Rangers tonight. Anything less than a win will be viewed as a failure.