The New York Rangers move onto California for their road trip and face the Los Angeles Kings
Getting battered in Sin City was not a good look for the Blueshirts, but that is in the past now. For the New York Rangers, they have to find a way to move on from the 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. It will not get easier tonight, as the Rangers visit Crypto.com Arena and take on the Los Angeles Kings. These are two of the best teams in the NHL, and the Rangers need to find the two points tonight.
Remember when the Rangers lead at the top of the division was comfortable? We all miss those days. Now, four losses seperate the organization from the spots outside the playoff places, and the red hot Carolina Hurricanes are looking for first place in the Metropolitan. It's been a difficult spell for the original six franchise, and now, they will need to find a way to get an important win against a team that has been smacking teams around for fun.
The Rangers were the team that inflicted the first road defeat of the season onto the LA Kings in their last matchup, and the way they did that was by taking a lead and slamming the door shut in front of the offensive output of the former Stanley Cup opponents. This is a difficult trip, and the two opponents that open it are among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup for a reason. It will not be a walk over tonight.
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Jonny Brodzinski - Blake Wheeler
Jimmy Vesey - Nick Bonino - Barclay Goodrow
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Jacob Trouba
Erik Gustafsson - Braden Schneider
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin
Los Angeles Kings
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Philip Danault - Trevor Moore
Alex Laferriere - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Carl Grundstrom - Trevor Lewis - Arthur Kaliyev
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy
Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence
Cam Talbot
David Rittich
Puck Drop
This is a 10 p.m puck drop from tinsel town, and the City of Angels will look to try and crush the hopes of the franchise from New York once more. Can the Rangers get retribution for inflicting the mental scars that still haunt the Rangers faithful, or will the Kings once again prove in their own barn that they are supreme?