New York Rangers Return from Christmas break to face the Washington Capitals
Happy holidays Rangers family. Hope you had a merry Christmas. With bellies full of Christmas food and new presents from the North Pole in the city that never sleeps, the New York Rangers will return to NHL action as they take on the Washington Capitals. It's a great time to be a fan of hockey. Entertainment during the cold months of the year when it feels right to be around the ice.
As for the Rangers on the ice, there will be a feeling of hunger. December so far as seen the blueshirts hit a few rough skids. This isn't to complain about the season to this point, but spells of alternating wins and losses will not please the coaching staff or the front office. You won't win every game, but some of these games were bad performances and efforts from the club and that is not acceptable.
For tonight, Igor Shesterkin will get the chance to lead the Rangers out once again under the lights of Madison Square Garden. He's had his demons to fight this season, struggling with injuries, confidence, and some poor defensive performances from the team in front of him. He's ot been the dominant Igor we've come to know and love over the last few seasons. We will see if the break has done him any good for those problems.
Projected Lineups
Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin - Dylan Strome - Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas - Connor McMichael - Anthony Mantha
Ivan Miroshnichenko - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Hendrix Lapierre
Beck Malenstyn - Nic Dowd - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary - John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson - Nick Jensen
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Blake Wheeler
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Nick Bonino - Jonny Brodzinski
Jimmy Vesey - Barclay Goodrow - Tyler Pitlick
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Jacob Trouba
Erik Gustafsson - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Puck Drop
This is a 7 p.m puck drop from Madison Square Garden. As the Rangers look for win 24 on the season, the Capitals will be looking to try and continue to cut the lead the Rangers have at the top of the division. The last time these two teams met, Washington pulled the Rangers apart at CapitalOne Arena. A different location, perhaps a different story. That's what Blueshirts fans around the nation will be hoping for.