New York Rangers move up to Canada's Capitol to face the Ottawa Senators
By Conor Power
Last night's destruction against the Golden Knights was not good enough. A 5-2 defeat as Igor Shesterkin moved under .900 on the season is not okay. But that was yesterday, and the best cure for problems in sports is winning. This actually applies outside of the sporting world. If you are having trouble, start with some minor progress with things you can do easily, and it'll start to snowball. I bet you didn't think you'd be getting philosophical advice on here, huh?
Anyway, the Rangers could be without captain Jacob Trouba tonight as he has a hearing for an elbow on Vegas Golden Knights' forward Pavel Dorofeyev. Dorofeyev didn't return to the game and is currently being evaluated by the Department of Player Safety. Whether or not you agree with any potential outcome, the Rangers may have to cope with the fact their captain could be absent.
That combined with the likely absence of Ryan Lindgren as he suffered an upper-body injury last night and was ruled out of the game at the conclusion of the first period means that the blueline is going to be understaffed in this game. If the Rangers are going to find a way to win tonight, it's likely going to have to be with the remaining four defensemen as they are joined by Matthew Robertson and Zachary Jones.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Blake Wheeler
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Jonny Brodzinski - Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey - Barclay Goodrow - Tyler Pitlick
Zachary Jones - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Braden Schneider
Matthew Robertson - Erik Gustafsson
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin
Ottawa Senators
Brady Tkachuk - Tim Stutzle - Claude Giroux
Mathieu Joseph - Josh Norris - Vladimir Tarasenko
Ridley Grieg - Shane Pinto - Drake Batherson
Parker Kelly - Rourke Chartier - Mark Kastelic
Jake Sanderson - Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot - Jaob Chychrun
Erik Brannstrom - Jacob Bernard-Docker
Joonas Kprpisalo
Mads Sogaard
Puck Drop
This will be a 7 p.m puck drop from the Canadian Tyre Center outside of Ottawa, Ontario. As the Rangers need the two points to make sure that they stay ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes going into the all-star break, the Blueshirts cannot afford to give the Canes anymore ground. Two points on the second half of this back to back is essential for the team to keep the division lead and reset during the time off.