With the Rangers riding their seven-game win streak into this game, the next opponent will be a stern test. It’s the Pittsburgh Penguins who will host the Blueshirts with the winner of this game getting a firm hold on the third-place divisional playoff spot in the Metropolitan. Pittsburgh had been pretty hot themselves before a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes so this will be a very good test as to whether the Rangers are for real or not.
Filip Chytil should be good to go in this one which is good news for the Rangers. He left the Blackhawks game early with an upper-body injury. With the way Chytil has been performing for the Rangers recently, it’s going to be a positive thing to get him in the lineup. He’s missed a lot of time already this season dealing with issues so allowing him to get consistent game time to show how he has developed over the summer is going to be a major help.
In New York hockey right now, there’s a simple solution. When you need a win, you turn to Igor Shesterkin. Gerard Gallant will be doing that tonight as the Russian shot-stopper will be manning the crease ahead of this one. Last season’s Vezina Trophy winner will be looking to continue to build on a good season despite not being in the same echelon he was hailed in last season.
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 – Vitali Kravtsov
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Ben Harpur – Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak
Pittsburgh Penguins
Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn – Jeff Carter – Kasperi Kapanen
Ryan Poehling – Teddy Blueger – Drew O’Connor
Marcus Pettersson – Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin – Jan Rutta
Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Chad Ruhwedel
Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith
What time is puck drop and where to watch
This is a 7 PM Eastern Puck drop for the Rangers in the Steel City and New York will be looking to push their win streak to eight. MSG will cover the game for fans that want to watch from the Empire State, and AT&T Sportsnet will cover the game in Pittsburgh for those watching in Pennsylvania. A win tonight would truly solidify the Rangers as back and should allow them to start looking ahead to the postseason.