The New York Rangers even up the season series against the New Jersey Devils collecting their second win in two days. Not only did they beat New Jersey in both games, they put up six goals in each of them. The Rangers are officially one of the hottest teams in the NHL, currently on a three game win streak and have won six of their last eight. They look to keep it up against Pittsburgh tonight but first, let's recap Saturday's matinee victory.
The Rangers again, got off to the start they needed when just two minutes into the game, Adam Fox would take the puck coast to coast on the power play to find himself all alone with Mackenzie Blackwood, tucking it away five hole, 1-0 NYR. Not too long after that Kaapo Kakko and Chris Kreider would make great offensive zone plays leading to Ryan Strome being alone in front, putting away a beautiful back hand shot. For most of the period and eventually the game the Rangers would control the play, however if you looked away for literally a minute, you came back to a completely different game. P.K. Subban let a rocket of a slap shot go from the point that found the back of the net and just 17 seconds later, Mikhail Maltsev put a backhander past Georgiev to tie it up. However, the Rangers stayed poised and kept the game under control with just about three minutes to go in the first, Filip Chytil found Kevin Rooney on a 2 on 1 to take the lead again 3-2.
Keeping their foot on the gas, the Rangers made it 4-2 with a Libor Hajek shot from the point, his first of the season and second of his career. Seven minutes later, Filip Chytil wound get his first since returning from injury off a Julien Gauthier attempt, 5-2. Not much would happen until the final minutes of the game when Nathan Bastian scored off a shot I'm sure Alexandar Georgiev wishes he could have back, 5-3. Ryan Strome would get his second of the night to put this one away and the Rangers left Newark with a pair of 6 goal game wins.
This team is truly coming together despite missing their best player, a key defenseman and now their number one goalie. With a pair of games against Pittsburgh and Boston each remaining on this road trip, if the Rangers could walk away with at least 3 wins, they're in tremendous shape. The Rangers are back at it tonight in Pittsburgh against a Penguins team who is also coming off a big win against a rival yesterday. Pittsburgh who are 5-5 in their last ten are going to be just as hungry as New York, but also just as tired entering the second half of their respective back to backs. David Quinn hasn't made a decision with the goaltenders yet but expect Alexandar Georgiev to get right back to it. As for the lines expect the same despite Jacob Trouba making the road trip:
Lafreniere - Zibanejad - Buchnevich
Kreider - Strome - Kakko
Rooney - Chytil - Gauthier
Lemieux - Howden - Blackwell
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Smith
Johnson - Hajek
Tonight will be the fifth time these two teams face off against each other this season, New York has a 1-1-2 record against the Penguins thus far this season, their most recent resulting in a 3-1 win. Expect a close, low scoring game for two teams playing in back to back games who have had close match ups against each other all season. The Rangers are going to want to keep things simple all while continuing to play the way they've been playing for the most part. Their capitalizing on power plays, their penalty kill has been stellar, they've stayed out of the box. This team is starting to pick up on the little things it takes to win hockey games which is huge, especially for their younger guys.
Chris Feldman
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