Tonight begins a critical back-to-back in the New York Rangers' season. Playing against an Anaheim Ducks team on the verge of elimination from postseason contention, the Rangers will be looking to take advantage of losses by the teams around them in the standings. To do this, the Blueshirts must win tonight in Orange County. The Honda Center is a difficult place to take points from, but this Ducks team is not the same caliber as some of those from the past.
That loss to the Los Angeles Kings is forgivable. They are the best home team in the NHL, and the Rangers were right there for the whole 60 minutes. However, it is only excusable if the Rangers now beat the teams they are supposed to. Anaheim is first up, and this Ducks team can cause problems. The Rangers just need the result tonight; the performance does not matter. New York just needs the points.
Anaheim's five-on-five play has been strong all season; they will come at the Rangers hard and fast. However, the play of their special teams has been an issue. It is one of the significant reasons the Ducks are on the outside looking in and not in the hunt, but it can provide an opportunity for the Rangers' dismal powerplay. They can pull themselves out of this funk tonight against this Ducks team and start to build confidence.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Brennan Othmann
Alexis Lafreniere - J.T. Miller - Jonny Brodzinski
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Will Cuylle
Brett Berard - Sam Carrick - Juuso Parssinen
K'Andre Miller - Will Borgen
Carson Soucy - Adam Fox
Zac Jones - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Anaheim Ducks
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Trevor Zegras - Mason McTavish - Sam Colangelo
Jansen Harkins - Isac Lundestrom - Nikita Nesterenko
Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Olen Zellweger - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - Drew Helleson
John Gibson
Lukas Dostal
Puck Drop
It'll be a 10 p.m. puck drop from Anaheim tonight as the Rangers look to pick up a win in Orange County. The games are dwindling for the Blueshirts, so they need to pick up points tonight. They cannot lose against a team out of contention when their playoff lives are on the line. Everything they've worked towards this season requires the Rangers to win tonight.