Have we all caught our breath after the desperate comeback against Dallas? For the first time since the Rangers were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, they will be back in action as they host the struggling Montreal Canadiens. As the Rangers try to keep pace with the Devils and Hurricanes ahead of them in the standings, defeating one of the NHLs rebuilders is going to be paramount. Anything less than 2 points is unacceptable.
There was some injury news before this one for the Blueshirts. Julien Gauthier is officially on the injured reserve dealing with a upper body. Ryan Carpenter has been recalled from the Hartford Wolfpack of the American Hockey League to help the Blueshirts cope with the extra losses to the roster. That combined with the illness that is currently circulating the Ranger dressing room has left the Rangers desperate for bodies that can play.
#NYR have recalled Ryan Carpenter from @WolfPackAHL. Julien Gauthier (upper body) was placed on IR.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 15, 2023
Ryan Lindgren, Artemi Panarin, and Vitali Kravtsov have all suffered with a flu-like illness that has been going around recently. None of this trio practiced yesterday. Chris Kreider is skating on his own again, but the Boxford, Massachussets native is still unexpected in this game tonight. This is set to be the third game in a row that the former 1st round pick has missed after getting hurt in a game last week.
Jake Leschyshyn is slated to make his New York Rangers debut after he was claimed on waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights. With the former 2nd round pick of the Golden Knights expected to join the fourth line of the Blueshirts, there should be some excitement as to what Leschyshyn does that made the Rangers think he was a good fit for the system. It’ll be interesting to see him in this set up.
New York Rangers
Alexis Lafreniere – Mika Zibanejad – Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Vitali Kravtsov
Barclay Goodrow – Filip Chytil – Jimmy Vesey
Sammy Blais – Jake Leschyshyn – Jonny Brodzinski
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Ben Harpur – Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak
Montreal Canadiens
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Jesse Ylonen
Evgenii Dadonov – Kirby Dach – Joel Armia
Juraj Slafkovsky – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson
Michael Pezzetta – Jonathan Drouin
Joel Edmundson – David Savard
Jordan Harris – Johnathan Kovacevic
Arber Xhekaj – Chris Wideman
Justin Barron
Cayden Primeau
Sam Montembeault
Where to watch and puck drop time
This game is a matinee on Broadway with puck drop scheduled for a 5 PM puck drop. With the Blueshirts needing the two points, you can join the Rangers broadcast on MSG. TSN will be covering the game for those in Canada. There will be a French broadcast for those that would prefer to listen to that.