After the New York Rangers' sensational 5-1 win over the back to back defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at the Miami Marlin's LoanDepot Park on Friday night, the Blueshirts return to Madison Square Garden to face the Utah Mammoth, with puck drop scheduled for 7 pm tonight.
Mika Zibanejad looks to stay hot, coming off the first ever hat trick in Winter Classic history and must also prepare to head to Milan for this year's Winter Olympics, starting in just about one month from today. The 32-year-old forward made Team Sweden's Olympic roster and will be one of several NHL players participating in the Olympic Games for the first time since the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck also made Olympic rosters, with both suiting up for Team USA when the men's hockey tournament gets underway on February 11.
For now, there are 14 remaining games before the Olympic break everyone has to focus on, and it starts with Utah. The two teams' last meeting in Salt Lake City resulted in a 3-2 defeat for the Rangers, and they'll look to split the season series at 1 game apiece.
Keys for Rangers success
The Rangers' keys to victory here will be if the offense, spearheaded by Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière, can propel the Blueshirts to another hard fought win, since New York is still at least a couple games and a few points out of a playoff spot, sitting at seventh in the Metro Division with 45 points. The defensive side of the Rangers is also looking stronger than before, with leads being better protected and of course, star netminder Igor Shesterkin being a steady last line of defense.
What Utah is doing right
On the Utah side, the Mammoth have got to find some sort of consistency, particularly on offense, as they've been quite the opposite in the last few games. With a record of 19-20-3 and 6th in the toughest division in the Central, they, like the Rangers, don't have much room for error either. Both teams would ideally like to be riding high into the Olympic break, and while the Rangers have certainly done more of that than Utah, it's overall a matter of can they keep it that way. Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther lead the offense for the Mammoth, and while their goaltending is strong, if it's not this time around, look for the Rangers to quickly take advantage due to their depth. Speaking of depth, that's related to another advantage the Rangers have- puck movement. If Utah has trouble keeping up with the amount of speed the Rangers can pack, it could go south for them very quickly.
Predicting tonight's result, and what's ahead
The Rangers will likely pull away either in the late mid or 3rd periods, keeping their positive momentum going as they head towards the next few games; a home tilt with Buffalo on the 8th, a visit to Boston on the 10th, back home against Seattle and Ottawa on the 12th and 14th, and then it really gets crazy with a four-game road trip across Philadelphia (Jan 17), Anaheim (Jan 19), Los Angeles (Jan 20) and San Jose (Jan 23).
The Rangers' final game before the Olympic break is a home clash with Carolina on February 5. And for the record, that kicks off a four-game homestand against the Canes, then the Flyers, Penguins, Jackets and Leafs. Pretty busy Eastern Conference gauntlet after the break!