New York Rangers take on the lowly San Jose Sharks to end this West Coast Road Trip

For the New York Rangers, the recent rot has been stopped with a win against the Anaheim Ducks. Now, the San Jose Sharks will be the opponent for the Blueshirts as they try to make sure that there are no more problems before departing back for the Big Apple. It'll be a more difficult game than some expect as this Sharks team have won two in a row against those Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings that beat the Rangers.

We should see Matthew Robertson go for the Blueshirts tonight as Erik Gustafsson remains out with an injury. As the Rangers look to get some more points on this trip, this is an opponent you may not have to be at your best to overcome. While still capable of posing problems, the Sharks are at the bottom of the NHL with an extremely long injury list. Despite some returning recently, there have been additions too.

New York need to take control of the game early and force the Sharks to chase the game. If they can find a way to get a multiple goal lead, the Sharks offense struggles to keep them in games, and multiple goal deficits may force the heads of the Rangers opponents to drop. When a team has no confidence, it is extremely difficut to recover. It's going to be a difficult game, but that is how to make it easier.

Projected Lineups

New York Rangers

Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Jonny Brodzinski - Blake Wheeler
Barclay Goodrow - Nick Bonino - Jimmy Vesey
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Jacob Trouba
Matthew Robertson - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick

San Jose Sharks

Filip Zadina - Tomas Hertl - Fabian Zetterlund
Alexander Barbanov - Logan Couture - Anthony Duclair
Luke Kunin - Nico Sturm - William Eklund
Justin Bailey - Ryan Carpenter - Mike Hoffman
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Calen Addison
Henry Thrun - Jan Rutta
Nikita Okhotiuk - Kyle Burroughs
Mackenzie Blackwood
Kaapo Kahkonen

Puck Drop

This is a 10:30 puck drop from the SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks are on the second half of a back to back as the Sharks played in Los Angeles yesterday and picked up a shootout win. It's going to be a difficult game, and the Rangers need the two points if they are going to extend their lead at the top of the division again.