Your New York Rangers return to action tonight when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes. It'll be a long night from Raleigh if the Rangers do not play much better than they have been. Getting blasted by Calgary only for Igor Shesterkin to try his best to survive the onslaught, followed by humiliation in Edmonton and a 5-2 loss at home to the Blues, has the Rangers in the midst of a poor run of results.
New York has to clean up its transitional errors. New York's defense is shaky; we've established that recently, but Carolina will test that enough. New York cannot pour salt into the wounds the Hurricanes afflict because they will afflict wounds. Don't make it easier for this team; they're one of the best in the league. New York has to be more responsible with the puck and play an honest defensive first game if they want to win.
On the flip side, Carolina also boasts the top point producer in the league, Martin Necas. He's electrifyingly quick and strong, has good size, and scores for fun. Managing the puck in the offensive zone is going to be essential. With his speed, letting him on a breakaway will be catastrophic. However, that's a tertiary weapon for this team. New York has to contend with the Canes' relentless forecheck for 60 minutes. They'll create chances off that, so puck management is essential.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cylle - Mika Zibanejad - Brett Berard
Adam Edstrom - Kaapo Kakko - Reilly Smith
Jimmy Vesey - Sam Carrick - Matt Rempe
K'Andre Miller - Adam Fox
Ryan Lindgren - Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Carolina Hurricanes
Seth Jarvis - Sebastian Aho - Jack Roslovic
Andrei Svechnikov - Jack Drury - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - William Carrier
Eric Robinson - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Jackson Blake
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere - Sean Walker
Spencer Martin
Yaniv Perets
Puck Drop
It's a 7 p.m. puck drop from the newly named Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. New York has to be better to win tonight. The Blueshirts have a long history of goaltenders going into Raleigh and stealing the show. Henrik Lundqvist did it, Alexandar Georgiev did it, and Shesterkin has done it before. Now, he'll probably need to do it again for the Blueshirts if they will grab the win tonight.