The Rangers are back at it with their first of three back to back games in the month of December tonight as they take on the San Jose Sharks tonight and Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow. The Rangers are riding hot at home, winning their last six games at Madison Square Garden and winning all of their last four games. A pair of wins this weekend is certainly doable and would be huge for the Rangers in the standings race for the Metro Division.
As it typically comes with back to backs, expect the Rangers use both of their goalies this weekend, giving Alexandar Georgiev a chance at redemption, likely against Chicago Saturday night. Shesterkin was the first goalie off the ice yesterday likely indicating he will play tonight against the Sharks. Saturday has the potential to be a make or break game for Georgiev, who frankly has struggled to get going ever since Shesterkin has emerged as this teams true number one. Georgiev is still a good goaltender, he just needs to play consistently and unfortunately that's just not a possibility for him in New York. If he looks shaky in net this weekend, the Rangers might decide to give Adam Huska a look moving forward or likely recall Keith Kinkaid who is better suited for a back up goalie role.
Speaking of call ups, the Rangers elected to recall Morgan Barron for the second time this season. Greg McKegg is currently in COVID-19 Protocol, leaving the Rangers without an extra forward. Barclay Goodrow appears to be okay despite leaving Wednesday night's game to get stitches for a puck to the face, however the scare of that play probably convinced Drury to bring Barron back to the team. That and the fact that the Wolf Pack are currently on a COVID break themselves. It's uncertain if Barron will play at all this weekend, however with back to back games I wouldn't be surprised if they try to get him in for a game. to give someone else a break.
The Sharks go into tonight's battle with a record of 14-9-1 and are currently 6-4 in their last 10, riding a three game win streak. The Sharks are going into the second half of a back to back themselves as they beat the Islanders 2-1 last night. The Rangers are going to want to bring the momentum early and hope to gain an advantage against a tired Sharks team. Both New York and San Jose don't let up a lot of goals and are stellar on the penalty kill so I wouldn't expect this one to be a blow out one way or the other.
As for Chicago, they are 8-12-2 at this point in the season, 7-3 in their last ten. They're coming off a huge upset win against the Capitals from last night and have plenty of time to prepare for battle with the Rangers. The Rangers need Georgiev to come up big for him Saturday night just as badly as he needs to for himself. The Rangers will also have to be up to the challenge of coming out strong in back to back games and not taking the Blackhawks lightly. As for players to watch, the Rangers should keep an eye on Brandon Hagel, a Dryden Hunt type player who has three goals in his last five, establishing himself a good depth piece with upside in Chicago.
For the Rangers, barring Barclay Goodrow missing any time or any other changes to the line up, expect Gallant to roll with what's been working:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Strome - Hunt
Lafreniere - Chytil - Gauthier
Rooney - Goodrow - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Nemeth - Lundkvist
Morgan Barron will be an extra forward option and Tinordi and Hajek as the extra defenders. Again, with the back to back in mind, could be a change for Gallant to get TInordi back in the mix or better yet give Hajek a chance and some actually purpose to this team but if things go well tonight, I wouldn't expect any change. These are four crucial points for the Rangers and if they can walk out of the weekend with a pair of wins, they'll be in real good shape moving forward.
Chris Feldman
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