New York Rangers visit the Tampa Bay Lightning to complete Florida road trip
Last nights game was less than ideal for the blueshirts, as the organization suffered another defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers. However, the New York Rangers will get a chance to redeem themselves as they completed a Florida State back-to-back as they move across the state to Tampa Bay and take on the Lightning. While Tampa have been the class of the league for the last decade, they are not the same roster that won back to back Stanley Cups, so this is a very winnable game for the Rangers.
After Jonathan Quick went against the Cats last night, it'll be Igor Shesterkin tonight. Igor has not been his usual self, struggling to find confidence. Going against Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner will need to shake off his jitters and bring his best tonight to a roster that has embarassed several mediocre netminders this season already. It could be a long night for the Rangers if Igor cannot keep the Tampa attackers at bay.
Barclay Goodrow will be returning to the team where he won back-to-back Stanley Cups. Former Blueshirt Tyler Motte will be trying to prove the Rangers made a mistake not bringing him back to New York. For two teams that have a long history of trading with each other, to see so few former members of each organization on the others roster feels a little weird. There was a time when the Tampa roster had two former Ranger captains on it after all.
Projected Lineups
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 i Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Tampa Bay Lightning
Nicholas Paul - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Steven Stamkos
Tanner Jeannot - Luke Glendening - Michael Eyssimont
Conor Sheary - Tyler Motte - Alex Barre-Boulet
Victor Hedman - Nick Perbix
Hayden Fleury - Erik Cernak
Calvin de Haan - Darren Raddysh
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Puck Drop
This will be a 7 p.m puck drop from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. New York will be looking to avoid their tenth regulation loss of the season, while Tampa are fighting to avoid their fifteenth. MSG 2 will have this game, as will Bally Sports sun if you want the wrong coverage for whatever reason. This is the Rangers final game of 2023, so lets hope they can go out on a win.