It's game day for the New York Rangers. That back-to-back that saw them lose to Columbus and Ottawa shot a bullet into the Rangers playoff aspirations, but they can fix that tonight with two points. It's a chance to avenge that onslaught the Rangers endured when they faced the Jackets back at the Garden. Revenge is available tonight, and it would get the Rangers back into the playoff places ahead of the run-in for the remainder of the year.
Tonight, the Rangers will once again stare down Daniil Tarasov. Tarasov has given the Rangers a few problems this season, and the Russian will look to do it again. He was the netminder Columbus opted for in the dueling shutouts game, which was won 1-0 in the shootout by the Rangers. He kept the Rangers to just 3 when they played at the Garden a week ago, and now they'll be looking to respond with two points tonight.
As for the rest of the lineup, Adam Fox is getting closer to being ready, but we're unsure if he will play tonight. He's been out since late February with an upper-body ailment, but he was taking reps at the morning skate today on the powerplay, which is a sign he'll come back into the lineup. Carson Soucy was the one to make way, joining Juuso Parssinen and Calvin de Haan as the trade deadline acquisitions make up the healthy scratches.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Will Cuylle
Alexis Lafreniere - J.T. Miller - Mika Zibanejad
Chris Kreider - Sam Carrick - Brett Berard
Brennan Othmann - Jonny Brodzinski - Matt Rempe
K'Andre Miller - Adam Fox
Urho Vaakanainen - Braden Schneider
Zac Jones - Will Borgen
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dmitri Voronkov - Adam Fantilli - Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson - Boone Jenner - Yegor Chinakhov
Zach Aston-Reese - Justin Danforth - Mathieu Olivier
James van Riemsdyk - Sean Kuraly - Luke Kunin
Zach Werenski - Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk - Ivan Provorov
Jack Johnson - Damon Severson
Daniil Tarasov
Jet Greaves
Puck Drop
It'll be a 7 p.m. puck drop from Nationwide Arena as the Rangers look to get back into the wild card fight. We know that the New York Rangers need the two points tonight in their chase for the wild card spots and a playoff berth. The reintroduction of Fox tonight could help that. New York will be throwing him in at the deep end, but they need their star defenseman to thrive if they're going to make it into the playoffs.