Rangers start a home and home series with the Ottawa Senators

For the New York Rangers, the rot needs to stop and soon. This rough patch has now lasted for long enough to cause widespread concern throughout the fanbase. It is time to start stringing wins together.  This is the perfect chance. With the Blueshirts in the capital of the Great White North, it is the Senators that will provide the opportunity for the Rangers to remedy their recent woes.

It seems the Rangers will start this back-to-back set with Jaroslav Halak. Gallant would refuse to name a starter but Halak was the first man off at the morning skate. This is the traditional sign of a starting goaltender, but this could just be Igor Shesterkin wanting to get some more work in after a game in which he was not at his best. Either way, the shot-stopper is going to need to be good tonight against a threatening Ottawa offense.

Vitali Kravtsov is going to draw back into the squad after an extended spell on the outside looking in. Gallant has put the lines in a blender and it has turned up a new and unfamiliar set of combinations that will be designed to get the best out of some of the young players. Gallant has spread the wealth so that the Rangers are not too top-heavy and can share the goods around the lineup effectively.

New York Rangers

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

Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Braden Schneider
Zac Jones – Jacob Trouba

Jaroslav Halak
Igor Shesterkin

Ottawa Senators

Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stutzle – Claude Giroux
Alex DeBrincat – Shane Pinto – Drake Batherson
Tyler Motte – Derick Brassard – Mathieu Joseph
Parker Kelly – Mark Kastelic – Austin Watson

Thomas Chabot – Artem Zub
Jake Sanderson – Travis Hamonic
Erik Brannstrom – Nick Holden

Cam Talbot
Anton Forsberg

What time is puck drop and where to watch

For the Rangers, this is a game they need to be winning. A team 4 games below NHL .500 will be the opponent for the Rangers at 7 PM Eastern at the Canadian Tyre Center in Canada. Sportsnet 1 and MSGSN will have this feed. Other streaming services are available depending on your location and what is locked out. This is game 1 of a home-and-home set with the Senators and it would be big for the Rangers to win.