New York Rangers Prepare to Take On the San Jose Sharks From Madison Square Garden
Your New York Rangers look to respond to a disappointing defeat at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets tonight when they take on the San Jose Sharks. Do not let their record fool you; this Sharks roster is 5-2-1 in their last eight games and is red hot right now. They shut out the Devils, fought back from three down to get a point against Philadelphia, and now come to MSG to try and continue that.
New York has to take advantage of their shoddy defensive system. On the other side, that is a young team, and they are still learning how to defend at the NHL speed and intensity levels. San Jose can be very dangerous in the offensive zone, but the Rangers will be able to get at their defense. New York has to be cleaner in transition than they were against Winnipeg because this Sharks roster will also make them pay.
After Igor Shesterkin's recent two performances saw him give up four goals on twelve shots to Buffalo and six goals to Winnipeg, we're probably going to see Jonathan Quick given the nod by Peter Laviolette and his staff. We know this roster requires its goaltenders to play at an elite level to be competitive, but Quick will have to contend with this young Sharks forward core that can be very dangerous.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
Barclay Goodrow - Macklin Celebrini - Tyler Toffoli
William Eklund - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Will Smith - Alex Wennberg - Ty Dellandrea
Carl Grundstrom - Nico Sturm - Luke Kunin
Jake Walman - Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro - Timothy Liljegren
Henry Thrun - Jan Rutta
Mackenzie Blackwood
Vitek Vanecek
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Mika Zibanejad - Alexis Lafreniere
Chris Kreider - Vincent Trocheck - Reilly Smith
Will Cuylle - Filip Chytil - Kaapo Kakko
Adam Edstrom - Sam Carrick - Jimmy Vesey
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones - Braden Schneider
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin
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Puck Drop
It's a 7 p.m. puck drop from Madison Square Garden as the Rangers look to get back in the win column against a rebuilder. They cannot look past the San Jose Sharks, but it is a game the Blueshirts should be winning. San Jose will not beat themselves, so the Rangers must remain competitive and focused. We saw this team trip over itself against Winnipeg, hopefully this isn't the same.