It’s time to see if the Rangers can push their winning streak to five games as they take on the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs. Coming off the back of four straight wins over some really difficult opponents, the Rangers will be facing off against another one of the top teams in the NHL as they welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs into Madison Square Garden in a game that should be definitive for the season of both teams.
For the Rangers, it’ll be the same lineup as the last couple of games working with the logic that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Gallant seems to run with this whenever he thinks the team can get going and he’s started to leave this alone as the roster is producing the results that are expected of a team that was favored to win the division. This will be a strong litmus test for Gallant and his new line combinations.
This will also be a great test for the struggling Rangers’ backend. The Blueshirts have seen more than their fair share of defensive blunders from the blue line and the six-man unit back there seems to be costing the Rangers a ton. If they can hold steadfast against one of the hottest teams in hockey, it might be time to start reviving the planning of the Stanley Cup parade and how hard everyone is going to rub this in over the folks on Long Island.
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin – Mika Zibanejad – Barclay Goodrow
Alexis Lafreniere – Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko
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
Toronto Maple Leafs
Michael Bunting – Auston Matthews – William Nylander
Denis Malgin – John Tavares – Mitchell Marner
Alexander Kerfoot – David Kampf – Pierre Engvall
Zach Aston-Reese – Pontus Holmberg – Joey Anderson
Mark Giordano – Justin Holl
Rasmus Sandin – Timothy Liljegren
TJ Brodie – Conor Timmins
Matt Murray
Ilya Samsonov
Where to watch and puck drop
This is a 7 PM Eastern game that will have the Rangers taking on the Maple Leafs from the confines of Madison Square Garden. Two of the original six go to war in the most storied building in the sport seems only fitting. MSG and TSN will have the games for their respective teams with no national broadcast in the United States for the Rangers in this one. Just hope to make this another two points in the standings.