After a Tarasenk-show last night, it’s time for showtime on Broadway. After the cap gymnastics and jumping through hoops the Rangers had to do in order to make this possible, it’s the long-awaited Blueshirts debut for Patrick Kane. Let me say that again, Patrick Kane will make his New York Rangers debut tonight at Madison Square Garden. You could not find a better place to start a career with a new team.
However, it’s not all great for the Rangers. They will be forced to play with 12 forwards and five defensemen tonight. With the injury to Ryan Lindgren and the suspension of K’Andre Miller, New York will need to find a way to cope with just the five back enders after the NHL declined the Rangers’ appeal to the league for an emergency recall was rejected on the basis that the Rangers had the space for a full roster when they made the Kane trade.
It should be Jaroslav Halak that gets the nod tonight as the Blueshirts complete this back-to-back. There will be some questions asked as it will be a tough game for the Rangers and Halak. Ottawa’s latest addition was defenseman Jakob Chychrun so this is a team that has gotten a lot stronger during the last couple of days, but that will not be outdone by Kane and Tarasenko in addition to Mikkola and Motte.
Former Ranger Julien Gauthier will make his return to the Garden in this one as the Rangers will look to show off their strength with Tyler Motte who the Blueshirts got in exchange for the Quebecois winger. New York will need to be aware of the strength of this Ottawa lineup because it can score and punish mistakes which is difficult to combat with an already tired roster.
Ottawa Senators
Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stutzle – Drake Batherson
Alex DeBrincat – Shane Pinto – Claude Giroux
Mathieu Joseph – Dylan Gambrell – Julien Gauthier
Derick Brassard – Mark Kastelic – Austin Watson
Thomas Chabot – Artem Zub
Jake Sanderson – Travis Hamonic
Erik Brannstrom – Nick Holden
Cam Talbot
Mads Sogaard
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Vladimir Tarasenko
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Patrick Kane
Alexis Lafreniere – Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey – Barclay Goodrow – Tyler Motte
Niko Mikkola — Adam Fox
Braden Schneider — Jacob Trouba
Ben Harpur
Jaroslav Halak
Igor Shesterkin
Puck drop time and where to watch
This game will start at 7 PM Eastern. TSN has the coverage of the game for those up in Canada, and MSG will have Sam and Joe on the call as always for the Blueshirts. New York will be looking to close in on the Devils and Hurricanes ahead of them in the race for the Metropolitan Division title. New York will not be