On the back of a back-breaking defeat to the New York Islanders, the Rangers will be seeking victory tonight against a Detroit Red Wings roster that beat the Blueshirts in overtime just four days ago. The only difference tonight is that the safety of Madison Square Garden isn’t going to help the Rangers as this game is at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. New York starts a two-game road trip in Motown.
In the last game these two teams clashed, Jaroslav Halak played incredibly well for the Rangers yet the Blueshirts couldn’t figure out a way to capitalize on the netminders’ efforts. While that game didn’t end with the Rangers walking away empty-handed seeing as the Rangers pushed the game to overtime, it was a game the Rangers very much could have done with winning. New York needs victories.
With New York seemingly in trouble losing 7 of their last 10, reinforcements are coming. Ryan Lindgren will return after missing the last couple of games with an upper body injury. His return means Braden Schneider will return to this third pairing role as K’Andre Miller slides back to partner Rangers captain Jacob Trouba. Libor Hajek is expected to be the defenseman coming out of the lineup.
Detroit will not get the Jaroslav Halak treatment this time as Igor Shesterkin is expected to go in Motown. With the Russian netminder returning, there’s a clear indication of how important this game is to Gerard Gallant and his hockey club. Shesterkin was the best goalie in the NHL last year winning the Vezina trophy and dominating the league. Although his start to this season has not lived up to last year, he’s getting better.
It looks like the Rangers have turned back to needing the kid line for line number three. After the top six, the Rangers depth has struggled this season. It seems like Gallant wants to spark the offense by putting the line back together that helped the Rangers majorly get to the Eastern Conference Finals last summer. Perhaps they can find the spart to free up the top six and help the team get back to winning.
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Jimmy Vesey
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Vitali Kravtsov
Alexis Lafreniere – Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko
Sammy Blais – Ryan Carpenter – Barclay Goodrow
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones – Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak
Detroit Red Wings
Lucas Raymond – Dylan Larkin – Pius Suter
Dominik Kubalik – David Perron – Andrew Copp
Adam Erne – Michael Rasmussen – Austin Czarnik
Jonatan Berggren – Joe Veleno – Givani Smith
Moritz Seider – Ben Chiarot
Filip Hronek – Olli Maatta
Jordan Oesterle – Gustav Lindstrom
Ville Husso
Alex Nedeljkovic
What time & where to watch
Puck drop for this one is at 7 PM Eastern. This game will be on MSG and on Bally Sports Detroit for those in Michigan. ESPN+ and Sportsnet 360 will both be carrying this game for those who cannot view it on traditional television. This game is going to be important for both teams but the Rangers need to take the two points and stablize themselves.