Fansided

New York Rangers Will Host Upstate Rival Buffalo Sabres

By Conor Power |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers (C) celebrates his goal at 11:12 of the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers (C) celebrates his goal at 11:12 of the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 10: Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers (C) celebrates his goal at 11:12 of the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 10: Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers (C) celebrates his goal at 11:12 of the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Your New York Rangers are flying high right now. With a 13-1-1 record in their last 15 games, the Blueshirts are among the hottest teams in the NHL and currently sit atop the NHL standings with 31 points. However, they must slay their upstate rivals from Buffalo to keep that title. It’s a young Sabres team that beat the Rangers earlier in the season, seeking another win over the best team in the state.

For the Rangers, the Garden has become somewhat of a fortress. With a 6-1-0 record under the bright Broadway lights, the Rangers have lost fewer games at home than any team in the NHL. Maintaining this against a Sabres team that is 9-10-2 entering this game will be a requirement for the Blueshirts. This is a team the Rangers should be beating. Dropping points against the league’s best is understandable, but this is not a game of that ilk.

Jimmy Vesey will be going up against his old team. As far as I can see, he will be the only player on both sides going up against his former team tonight. It’s unusual to see the Rangers only have one player on both teams going up against his old squad. There have been a lot of players recently that have either played for the Blueshirts’ opponents or on the opponents that were once members of this organization.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Jeff Skinner – Casey Mittelstadt – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Dylan Cozens – JJ Peterka
Jiri Kulich – Peyton Krebs – Kyle Okposo
Tyson Jost – Victor Olofsson

Rasmus Dahlin – Mattias Samuelsson
Owen Power – Ryan Johnson
Connor Clifton – Erik Johnson
Henri Jokiharju

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Eric Comrie

New York Rangers

Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Blake Wheeler
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle – Nick Bonino – Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey – Barclay Goodrow – Tyler Pitlick

K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Ryan Lindgren – Erik Gustafsson
Zac Jones – Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick

Puck Drop

This is a 7 p.m. Eastern puck drop from Madison Square Garden as the Rangers will host the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo will be coming into this game needing the two points to stay in the hunt for the playoffs. The New York Rangers will be looking for the win to cement themselves atop the league standings and continue their fiery start to the 2023-24 NHL season. It’ll be a fun game from the best arena in the world tonight.

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