New York Rangers Return to host the Anaheim Ducks

Last game was a nightmare for the Blueshirts, so the New York Rangers will be looking to wash off the stink of that Toronto Maple Leafs defeat at the Garden when they host the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim are among the bottom feeders of the NHL at this point, so beating them is not optional for the Rangers. With three very difficult performances in the last four games, the Blueshirts are enduring their roughest spell of the season. Trying to make sure that it doesn't get worse by taking the Ducks seriously is going to be important tonight.

This game needs to start better than the last one. Giving up four goals in the first period is not acceptable against anyone, but when one of the NHL's rebuilders is coming into your building, the pressure is on the team that has aspirations of winning the Stanley Cup to knock them to Mars. New York's big players will need to step forward and help the team more tonight than they did against the Leafs.

Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano will be back in the building as members of the Ducks. Strome was a Ranger for a long time after being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for Ryan Spooner. Frank Vatrano was just a deadline pickup from the Florida Panthers, but his cleansing of the number 77 and his postseason performance lives long in the memories of certain members of the Blueshirts faithful.

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 - Barclay Goodrow - Tyler Pitlick
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
Erik Gusatfsson - Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones - Braden Schneider
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin

Anaheim Ducks

Alex Killorn - Leo Carlsson - Troy Terry
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Brett Leason
Max Jones - Adam Henrique 0 Jakov Silfverberg
Ross Johnston - Sam Carrick - Brock McGinn
Cam Fowler - Jackson Lacombe
Pavel Mityukov - Ilya Lybushkin
Urho Vaakanainen - Radko Gudas
Lukas Dostal
John Gibson

Puck Drop

This is a 7 p.m puck drop from Madison Square Garden. With the Rangers looking to get back in the win column, and the Ducks are probably starting to plan ahead for the 2024 NHL draft. They have been in a major rut as of late, and the Rangers will need to extend that to keep their hopes alive of winning the Presidents Trophy, as well as extending the lead at the top of the NHL standings.