Rangers look for revenge as they host the Pittsburgh Penguins

After a 5-3 win over the Washington Capitals, the Rangers return to action at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins as they seek revenge on the team that beat them in overtime a few days ago. It will also present the Blueshirts with a chance to continue to open the gap between themselves sitting third in the Metropolitan Division and the Pittsburgh Penguins themselves who sit in the first Wild Card.

Ryan Lindgren will miss his ninth consecutive game after taking a high hit from TJ Oshie a few weeks ago. This means Ben Harpur will retain his place on the third pairing for the time being and Adam Fox will continue to play with Niko Mikkola on the top pairing. This make-shift blueline has been getting better with time, but is still better with the former first-round pick of the Boston Bruins present and accounted for.

Between the pipes, it remains the reigning Vezina trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. In a game that is not inconsequential for the Rangers, it is their Russian shot-stopper getting the nod as they hope the high-end talent of their star netminder will provide the difference. While this does keep journeyman netminder Jaroslav Halak on the bench, this is more than likely the right decision from the Rangers coaching staff.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker – Evgeni Malkin – Alex Nylander
Drew O’Connor – Mikael Granlund – Rickard Rakell
Ryan Poehling – Jeff Carter – Josh Archibald

Marcus Pettersson – Kris Letang
Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Jan Rutta
Brian Dumoulin — Jeff Petry

Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith

New York Rangers

Artemi Panarin – Mika Zibanejad – Vladimir Tarasenko
Chris Kreider – Vincent Trocheck – Patrick Kane
Alexis Lafreniere – Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey – Barclay Goodrow – Tyler Motte

Niko Mikkola — Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller — Jacob Trouba
Ben Harpur — Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak

Puck  drop time and where to watch

This will be a 7 PM Eastern puck drop from Madison Square Garden. Sportsnet will make this game viewable across Canada. MSG will carry Sam and Joe for the Rangers feed and AT&T Sportsnet will have the Penguins regional feed. These two teams both will be looking for some big points en route to a playoff push late in the season and both teams will be looking to get in a final tune-up ahead of round 1.