New York Rangers come home to host the Los Angeles Kings
Two disappointing performances spell trouble for the Blueshirts. Tonight, they come home to take on the Los Angeles Kings. When you have not been playing well, the one thing you do not want to see is a team that has not lost in regulation on the road this season. That will be the task awaiting the New York Rangers when they return to the Garden for a rematch of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.
Jonathan Quick will get the start after Igor Shesterkin endured the 4-0 defeat in the nations capitol last night. This will mark the first time that the all time leader in almost every goaltender statistic for the Los Angeles Kings will go up against his former team. Will Quick be the goaltender to defeat the Los Angeles Kings at home this season, and will he do it in the building he dreamed of playing in for his favorite team as a young boy? Sports tend to prove turth is stranger than fiction, so time will tell.
As New York starts to try and stop the rot against one of the best teams in the NHL, they are going to need their star players to show up tonight. Getting blown out in Washington and OTtawa is one thing, but Madison Square Garden needs to be a save haven for this roster. If they are unable to do that, there may be a turning point for some of these players right now with the way the team is playing. However, there's probably a bit of leeway given the Rangers hot start to the year.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider- Mika Zibanejad - Jonny Brodzinski
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Nick Bonino - Blake Wheeler
Jimmy Vesey - Riley Nash - Tyler Pitlick
K'Andre Miller - Jacob Troyba
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
Erik Gustafsson - Braden Schneider
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin
Los Angeles Kings
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore - Philip Danault - Kevin Fiala
Carl Grundstrom - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Alex Laferriere
Trevor Lewis - Blake Lizotte - Arthur Kaliyev
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy
Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence
Pheonix Copley
Cam Talbot
Puck Drop
Puck drop tonight will be at 7 p.m Eastern from Madison Square Garden. New York will be looking to get back into the win column following some tough losses. This is going to be a very difficult game and with both teams on the second half of a back-to-back, this could be a very sloppy and basic game by the time we get to the third period. Complications may only lead to failures in a game like this one tonight.