Rangers look to build off big win in Sin City as they take on the Golden Knights

If the New York Rangers are going to continue their return to the top of the Metropolitan, they will not have a more difficult opponent in the West than the team they find themselves up against tonight. It is the Vegas Golden Knights who have already proven that they are rebounding from a difficult season last year to return to the top of the Pacific Division early in the new campaign.

After seeing some promise in a big win over the Blues, Gallant’s men will be looking to win back-to-back games after a recent run of results that has seen the wins dry up for the Rangers. In terms of tests and difficulty, this is the best statistically that the West can throw at the Blueshirts. There are no easy games in this league but this is certainly shaping up to be one that looks more difficult than a lot of others might.

Filip Chytil is expected to return to the Rangers lineup for the first time since his injury. He has missed the last two while listed as day-to-day with an upper-body issue. He seems to have found a way to cope with his ailments to ensure that he is back in the lineup for the Rangers tonight. New York is going to need all the help it can get against a team as daunting as the Golden Knights can be.

It’s expected that the Rangers will bring Vitali Kravtsov back into the pressbox after a good few games playing on the opposite wing to Artemi Panarin. Whether this is due to illness, injury, or just a coach’s decision, it is not expected that we will see the former 9th overall pick miss tonight’s game if there are no injuries sustained in the warmup.

New York Rangers

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

Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Libor Hajek – Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak

Vegas Golden Knights

Paul Cotter – Chandler Stephenson – Mark Stone
Reilly Smith – William Karlsson – Jonathan Marchessault
Jonas Rondbjerg – Nicolas Roy – Phil Kessel
William Carrier – Jake Leschyshyn – Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez – Shea Theodore
Brayden McNabb – Zach Whitecloud
Nicolas Hague – Daniil Miromanov

Logan Thompson
Adin Hill

Where to watch

For this important West Coast clash, the Rangers will be viewable on TNT. It’s been a while since the Rangers were on a National broadcast, but the Blueshirts are under the lights on the Vegas strip. The eyes of the hockey world will be on Sin City, Nevada. Two points tonight would be two free points for the Rangers now. There are no expectations of this team tonight.