The New York Rangers prepare to face the New York Islanders for the third time this season. With comprehensive wins in the other two meetings with their city rivals, the Rangers will look to grab two more points tonight and continue to close the gap to the playoff places as the Islanders come into the Garden tonight. Winning in the second half of a back-to-back is never easy, but the Rangers must if they are to remain in the postseason hunt.
Jonathan Quick turned the clock back last night against the Nashville Predators. A sensational performance from the Rangers' backup netminder paves the way for Igor Shesterkin to stare down the Isles. Igor's season has been up and down all year, but he can start to fix that tonight if he can keep the Isles at bay. Igor has a good record against them this year, and it'll be needed again if the Rangers are going to keep the fight alive.
The Rangers' offense exploded last night for four goals, and the Rangers blueline helped with K'Andre Miller scoring the third, and Calvin de Haan got his first point as a Ranger on the game's opening goal. In the absence of Adam Fox, the Rangers must continue to get production from their back end. That can come from Miller or anyone else who desires to fill the boots of the injured Jericho, New York native, but the Rangers cannot lose production from their backend.
Projected Lineups
New York Islanders
Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Anthony Duclair
Simon Holmstrom - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Casey Cizikas - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Hudson Fashing
Pierre Engvall - Kyle McLean - Marc Gatcomb
Alexander Romanov - Tony DeAngelo
Adam Pelech - Noah Dobson
Adam Boqvist - Ryan Pulock
Ilya Sorokin
Jakub Skarek
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - J.T. Miller - Mika Zibanejad
Brennan Othmann - Juuso Parssinen - Jonny Brodzinski
Brett Berard - Sam Carrick - Matt Rempe
K'Andre Miller - Will Borgen
Zac Jones - Calvin de Haan
Braden Schneider - Urho Vaakanainen
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Puck Drop
Tonight's game starts at 7 p.m. as the Rangers look for the two points. After soundly defeating the Predators, the Rangers must keep up their momentum. Sweeping this back-to-back would be a great way to show they are still in the postseason hunt. If Peter Laviolette's team wishes to make the playoffs, they must ensure they win tonight and close the gap on the Detroit Red Wings.