Rangers Prepare to Take on the Minnesota Wild Without Key Parts
Without three members of the team and a banged-up star goaltender, the New York Rangers prepare to go to the State of Hockey as they take on the Minnesota Wild—a daunting task after the bloodbath of the game that was the Hurricanes at home. A Wild team that has serious weapons to hurt the Blueshirts, we get to see if the Rangers can overcome extreme adversity.
Louis Domingue was recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack after Igor Shesterkin was banged up in the Hurricanes game. Jonathan Quick was projected to get this game regardless of the Shesterkin status. Jonathan Quick has been excellent to start this season with a .982 save percentage and a 0.41 goals-against average. He is more than capable of holding his own, but it would be worlds better if the option of Shesterkin were still there.
Connor Mackey was recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack after Adam Fox was placed on LTIR. He likely will not see a lot of playing time since Zac Jones was still up with the Blueshirts, but it should be noted that the Blueshirts will have the option moving forward to try and accommodate the former Calgary Flame.
Finally, Jonny Brodzinski was recalled too. With Filip Chytil put on IR with a suspected head injury, Brodzinski was called up to be a forward replacement. Barclay Goodrow will also not be in this game tonight as he will be by his wife’s side, welcoming a child into the world. Congratulations to the Goodrow family, and we can all hope for the best of health for both mother and child in this situation.
Two former Rangers to watch in this one. Mats Zuccarello recently signed an extension in Minny. Vinni Letteri is also on their roster right now, and he was a Ranger for a few seconds. We will see what happens moving forward,
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle – Jonny Brodzinski – Blake Wheeler
Tyler Pitlick – Nick Bonino – Jimmy Vesey
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Erik Gustafsson – Ryan Lindgren
Zac Jones – Braden Schneider
Jonathan Quick
Louis Domingue
Minnesota Wild
Kirill Kaprizov – Marco Rossi – Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson – Ryan Hartman – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno – Joel Eriksson Ek – Pat Maroon
Brandon Duhaime – Connor Dewar – Vinni Lettieri
Jonas Brodin – Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton – Dakota Mermis
Daemon Hunt – Calen Addison
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
Puck Drop time
This will be an 8 p.m. Eastern puck drop from the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul. New York will be going for its seventh consecutive win against an opponent with a 3-5-2 record. If the Rangers can find a way to survive the Wild in the absence of their star defenseman and one of their top six centers, as well as an absence of their star netminder, the belief that this team can continue to win through the ongoing turmoil will grow.