After the disappointment of the matinee in Boston last night, the New York Rangers will return home to Madison Square Garden, where the Vegas Golden Knights will be waiting for the Blueshirts. New York has fallen to defeat in the last three games, so two points tonight will be required if the Blueshirts wish to stay in the playoff hunt. New York has to find a way to get the points from this game today.
In the matinee against Boston, forward Adam Edstrom left with an injury, so the Rangers will be looking for someone to come into the lineup in the fourth-line capacity. Whether it is Arthur Kaliyev or Jimmy Vesey, the Rangers will require the next man up to fill the boots of the big Swede if he can't play tonight. Vegas will be strong and physical, so we'll see how the Rangers lineup after this injury to Edstrom.
Tonight will mark J.T. Miller's first game back at the Garden with the New York Rangers. His seven years with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks have seen him become one of the best forwards in the league, and the Rangers need him to be the player he can be. He scored twice on debut and has had a three-game point streak with the Rangers for over seven years. He's got goals in two consecutive games with the Blueshirts, more than 2,000 days apart.
Projected Lineups
Vegas Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone
Victor Olofsson - Tomas Hertl - Pavel Dorofeyev
Raphael Lavoie - Nicolas Roy - Keegan Kolesar
Tanner Pearson - Brett Howden - Cal Burke
Noah Hanifin - Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague - Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Ilya Samsonov
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - J.T. Miller - Mika Zibanejad
Reilly Smith - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Chris Kreider - Jonny Brodzinski - Will Cuylle
Arthur Kaliyev - Sam Carrick - Matt Rempe
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen - Braden Schneider
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin
Puck Drop
It's a strange 6 p.m. puck drop from MSG as the Rangers look for a win in the second half of this back-to-back. They need the points to stay in the fight for the final wild-card spot. Three straight defeats and the red-hot teams around them have damaged the Ranger's playoff hopes. Miller and the new look lines will help, but they need results in the standings.