For the first time since the 2020 Bubble Playoffs, the New York Rangers will take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, NC. The Hurricanes, along with the Capitals are the Rangers biggest competition for that first in the Metro position. This will be a big test for both teams who are looking to stay put atop the standings and will look to get familiar with each other as this will be the first of four meetings this season. For many of the Rangers, there is already quite a sense of familiarity with this team. Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei, Tony DeAngelo, Derek Stepan, Brendan Smith and Antti Raanta, all former Blueshirts now playing for the Carolina Hurricanes.
The former Blueshirts turned red are 5-1-1 since returning to play after the pause in the schedule, most recently coming off a defining 7-1 win in Boston. The Rangers are also coming off a high scoring game in their 6-3 win against Toronto, it'll be interesting to see how this one plays out as both teams typically don't give up a lot of goals. The Rangers, second in the league in goals against while the Hurricanes rank first. It'll also be interesting to see how Head Coach Gerard Gallant handles the goaltending situation as the Rangers are back to back this weekend. Does he play it safe and ride Shesterkin or does he get gutsy and start Georgiev against Tony DeAngelo and the Hurricanes, who was essentially kicked off the Rangers for using his last strike, getting in an altercation with Georgiev following a loss at the beginning of last season.
For the Rangers, there may be some line up chances as Dryden Hunt will likely return to the line up. Vince Mercogliano tweeted that it was sounding like Gallant was leaning toward putting Hunt back on that second line with Panarin and Strome which would bump Chytil back to that third line. Frankly, I think Chytil is best used on that second line right wing spot however the Rangers did have success with Hunt in that role before his injury. Nevertheless, the lines for tonight's game are pretty up in the air. If Hunt does indeed return to that second line we could be looking at:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Strome - Hunt
Lafreniere - Goodrow - Chytil
McKegg - Rooney - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Nemeth - Schneider
This would leave Julien Gauthier as the odd man out as I don't see Gallant taking McKegg out of the mix after the game he and his line mates had on Wednesday Night against Toronto. With tonight being the first half of a back to back, it might make more sense to keep the same line up as Wednesday and then make changes at home tomorrow against the Coyotes who are a far cry from the sort of team Carolina is. Regardless, this is a big game for the Blueshirts and will be a great opportunity for them to put their money where their mouths are regarding them "being one of the big boys" in the standings.
I would say expect Shesterkin to get the nod tonight but it's truly a coin flip as it's incredibly hard to guess what Gallant is going to do. As I said before, the easy answer is to start Igor against the better team tonight and give Georgiev the Coyotes but I can absolutely see Gallant going with Georgiev tonight. Regardless of who's in net, they will be a key part of this game responsible for shutting down Carolina's powerhouse of an offense, who are fourth in the league in goals for. The Rangers need to carry the momentum from their win against Toronto while getting off to a much better start than they did in that game as there's no time to waste against the storm surge of Raleigh.
Chris Feldman
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