The New York Rangers have had a rough past two months — after starting the season 12-4-1, New York has lost 14 out of 17 and has dropped to 16-17-1. Going into Christmas beak, they were tied with the Islanders for last place in the Metropolitan Division.
New York's playoffs (and Stanley Cup, if you can call it that) hopes have been fading away, but after a few days off, the Blueshirts are looking to flip the switch in a major way. Next up is two games in Florida against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, who have won three out of the last five Stanley Cups.
The Rangers resume play in Tampa Bay, and while this is not the same team that won two-straight Stanley Cups, it has a similar makeup - it might have lost Steven Stamkos, but still has Nikita Kucherov, Braden Point and Victor Hedman, along with other instrumental pieces to their championship runs. Behind the bench is Jon Cooper, one of the best coaches in hockey.
The Lightning currently lead the league in goals for a game at 3.94, and behind some of this surge is newly acquired Jake Guentzel. Rangers fans know plenty about him, and he's been dominant this season, racking up 35 points (19G, 16A) in 32 games.
New York faces tough competition coming up startin tonight. Here's three players to watch as they look for a major rebound.
1. Igor Shesterkin
Assuming Igor Shesterkin gets the nod, he will be tested against the NHL's leading offense. The Lightning have firepower up-and-down the lineup who will get shots on net; along with being first in the NHL in goals per game, Tampa Bay has the third-ranked power play in the NHL.
All this goes to say that Shesterkin needs to come up big. The common theme for the Rangers - and a lot of the success they have had in the past four years - has been behind Shesterkin being the best player on the ice.
2. Artemi Panarin
Shesterkin will not be the only superstar goalie on the ice tonight, as in the crease for the Lightning will presumably be Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy is 15-10 with a 2.41 GAA and .911 save percentage this season; it has not been the best season for the 30-year-old, but he's still elite.
The Russian is no easy bout for the Rangers, who have been shut out twice - and had one game where they scored only once - in four games. To jumpstart the offense, it starts with their best offensive player in Artemi Panarin.
Last season, the Breadman had a hat-trick in New York's first game in Tampa Bay. Hopefully, he can provide offensive firepower that the Blueshirts need.
3. K'Andre Miller
All signs point towards K'Andre Miller returning to the lineup tonight, and he had a polarizing start to the season. Miller has 2 goals and 4 assists and a -5 rating in 28 games.
But, before going on the injured reserve with an upper-body injury, showed signs of improvement defensively. In his last four games, he did not have a rating under zero and in the three games before exiting early against Buffalo, he had over 20 minutes of ice time.
This is a much better Rangers defense if Miller is clicking; he can still be a major piece to the New York's future, but a lot of it comes down to the second half of the season.