It's gameday for the New York Rangers. After a bitter overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche in their last game of this long Western Conference road trip, the Blueshirts are in the Delta Center for the first time as they visit Salt Lake City and the Utah Hockey Club. The former Arizona Coyotes players (but not franchises in one of the most confusing transitions in the NHL's history) will face off against the Rangers, who look to build on their five-game point streak tonight.
Filip Chytil and Chris Kreider both returned to the New York Rangers lineup in Denver. After Bo Groulx was sent down to make room, many fans wondered how the Rangers would lineup at their best, given the success we saw Brett Berard have at the NHL level when he was on the roster. The Rangers will need to find a way to open up a roster spot for him to return in the future.
On the other side, Utah is struggling and dealing with injuries. Sean Durzi and Dylan Guenther are still out, and while John Marino has recently returned to the Utah Hockey Club lineup, this team is still struggling to make its way against the best teams in the NHL. If the Rangers want to get back to that, they must overcome the team that beat them in overtime earlier in the season.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Mika Zibanejad - Reilly Smith
Chris Kreider - Filip Chytil - Arthur Kaliyev
Adam Edstrom - Sam Carrick - Matt Rempe
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Utah Hockey Club
Clayton Keller - Logan Cooley - Nick Schmaltz
Matias Maccelli - Barrett Hayton - Josh Doan
Jack McBain - Nick Bjugstad - Lawson Crouse
Alex Kerfoot - Kevin Stenlund - Michael Carcone
Mikhail Sergachev - Olli Maatta
Ian Cole - Michael Kesselring
Jusso Valimaki - John Marino
Karel Vejmelka
Connor Ingram
Puck Drop
It's a 9 p.m. puck drop from the Delta Center as the New York Rangers make their maiden voyage to the NHL's newest arena. Sam Rosen's final season will be the first visit to Utah, and the Rangers will look to visit the final arena of Rosen's career, which will be a memorable one as the Blueshirts take two more points in the standings. They're building momentum ahead of the four nations. If they can get there and continue to make it after that, they'll be back in contention for the postseason.