The New York Rangers are back in action tonight as the Blueshirts continue their run of Original Six battles. Tonight's opponents are the Toronto Maple Leafs. New York is one of the significant hockey markets. Still, Toronto is the center of the hockey universe, so all eyes will be on this game tonight as the most important American and Canadian markets see their teams go head-to-head from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Last time out, Jonathan Quick stole the show as he backstopped the Blueshirts to a win against the Detroit Red Wings. While it was an outstanding performance, and we all want to see him continue that going forward, all expectations are that Igor Shesterkin will take his place back in the starting crease. With the firepower that Toronto possesses, he has to. Igor is going to be heavily relied on for the Rangers roster to get the two points out of Ontario.
In the last two games, the Rangers have benefited from individual talent outbursts. Mika Zibanejad in the first game, followed by an Artemi Panarin hat trick in the second. They need to see the depth of the roster producing if the Blueshirts will cement themselves as a true contender in the 2024-25 season. This is a great test to see if the Rangers have what it takes to be among the league's elite.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Reilly Smith
Will Cuylle - Filip Chytil - Kaapo Kakko
Adam Edstrom - Sam Carrick - Jonny Brodzinski
K'Andre Miller - Adam Fox
Braden Schneider - Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones - Victor Mancini
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Toronto Maple Leafs
Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann - Max Domi - William Nylander
Pontus Holmberg - John Tavares - Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz - David Kampf - Ryan Reaves
Morgan Rielly - Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Jake McCabe
Simon Benoit - Conor Timmins
Anthony Stolarz
Dennis Hildeby
Puck Drop
When the New York Rangers drop the puck tonight at 7 p.m., they will be looking to continue their four-game point streak to start the year. New York has to be strong defensively to get the two points tonight because Toronto will yield scoring chances. With a shaky netminder, a makeshift defense, and some defensive issues, this game is there for the taking.