Rangers prepare for an early puck drop with the Sabres
By Conor Power
Northern New York meets the pride of New York City as the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers are set to go toe to toe in a slightly earlier puck drop than usual. Buffalo is desperately trying to keep their playoff hopes alive with two points while the Rangers are trying to pull themselves into the chaos of the Devils and Hurricanes divisional fight if either team takes a step backwards. It’s going to be a fun night.
In their last game, the Sabres gave up 10 to Dallas. No, that is not a typo. It finished 10-4. If this is an indication of anything for the Rangers, it is that they need to put that defence under pressure. They will give up good scoring chances and the Blueshirts will need to be able to capitalize on the chances they get when they do create them. There will be chances against this Sabres team, there will be times to score.
Tyler Motte could return to the lineup tonight after missing the last few games after taking a high hit. He’s listed as a game-time decision but could go against the Penguins tomorrow if he does not take part today. With Motte being so close to returning, it is only good news as the Rangers were bitten hard by the injury bug recently and there will be a chance to get the entire squad healthy in the coming days
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
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Niko Mikkola – Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak
Buffalo Sabres
Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Jordan Greenway
JJ Peterka – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn
Casey Mittelstadt – Tyson Jost – Victor Olofsson
Zemgus Girgensons – Peyton Krebs – Kyle Okposo
Rasmus Dahlin – Mattias Samuelsson
Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju
Riley Stillman – Ilya Lyubushkin
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Eric Comrie
Puck drop time and where to watch
This is a 5 PM Eastern puck drop between two teams desperate for points. MSG will have both the Sabres and Ranger feeds tonight as the two teams are both covered by the New York network. This should be a really interesting game for everyone with the Sabres needing the win, the Rangers trying to make everything fit post the trade deadline, and getting prepared for the playoffs, it should not disappoint.