Following the overtime defeat in Montreal, the New York Rangers want to bounce back with a win tonight. It's another monumental game for the Blueshirts against teams fighting with the Rangers for those coveted playoff places. A regulation win tonight would get the Rangers two points behind the final wild-card spot, but their opponents currently sit three points above them in the top wild-card spot as the Rangers host the Ottawa Senators.
New York won the two teams' previous meeting on November 1 by a 2-1 scoreline, but the landscape around the Blueshirts has changed drastically in that time frame. New York's captain is gone, Kaapo Kakko is gone, and the defense now has Will Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen. Still, the Rangers have pulled themselves out of the tailspin that followed and are looking to restore themselves to the status of Stanley Cup contender. To contend for the cup, you must make the playoffs, and the Rangers are looking to help that cause tonight.
After Jonathan Quick was superb in Montreal, New York will pivot back to the reliable Igor Shesterkin as the league's highest-paid goaltender will face this Ottawa Senators offense. It'll be a challenging game if Shesterkin isn't at his usual best because of this Sens team's weapons. New York needs to help their Russian shot-stopper out tonight if they are to take the two points from the Garden.
Projected Lineups
Ottawa Senators
Brady Tkachuk - Josh Norris - Drake Batherson
Claude Giroux - Tim Stutzle - Adam Gaudette
Nick Cousins - Shane Pinto - Ridly Greig
Matthew Highmore - Zach Ostapchuk - Michael Amadio
Jake Sanderson - Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot - Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven - Nikolas Matinpalo
Anton Forsberg
Leevi Merilainen
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Mika Zibanejad - Reilly Smith
Chris Kreider - Filip Chytil - Arthur Kaliyev
Adam Edstrom - Sam Carrick - Matt Rempe
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Puck Drop
It's a 7 p.m. puck drop from Madison Square Garden as the Rangers look to continue their good start to 2025. They need to continue scoring goals tonight. The Blueshirts will be looking to progress from their 6-1-3 record in 2025 and continue their point streak. They've been firm defensively in this run, but they need the points to return to the postseason this year.