It’s Rangers game day and boy is it gut check time, as the New York Rangers are coming off a detrimental collapse to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, to host one of the hottest teams in the league. The New Jersey Devils, who nobody expected to be this good, are 18-4 so far this season, having most recently gone 9-1 in their last ten. This game will be a huge test for the Rangers who are now two losses out from being a .500 team and have looked nothing short of defeated after Saturday afternoons loss. We are now a quarter of the way into the season, coming off an embarrassing loss going into a rival matchup. If this team doesn’t find a way to play with some heart and win, things could really hit the fan by the end of today.
Some things to make note of going into tonight’s outing; The Rangers will likely be without Ryan Lindgren who is listed as day-to-day after getting banged up late in Saturday’s game. Vincent Trocheck had a maintenance day as did Adam Fox who was under the weather however, the consensus seems to be that both of them will be good to go tonight. It looks like there will be some line changes, however Vitaly Kravtsov rejoining the lineup is not expected to be one of them. Gallant is adamantly a fan of this current group and does not seem to be in a rush to get him back in the mix. The longer that goes on, the more you have to really question 74’s future with the organization as it makes no sense having him sit in the press box. On the flipside however, he hasn’t shown any signs of being of help to this team right now, especially with the increasing pressure of success being mandated out of this group.
Assuming Trocheck’s maintenance day was just that, he should be back in the mix but could see himself centering the third line as Chytil and Kakko were promoted to the line with Artemi Panarin. Filip Chytil has been off to a great start this season and absolutely deserves a look on the second line. It will be interesting to see if the kids can help jolt Panarin who has struggled to find the back of the net this season, especially as of late. Aside from that and with the assumption Ryan Lindgren is a no go for tonight, expect the following line up:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Vesey
Panarin - Chytil - Kakko
Lafreniere - Trocheck - Goodrow
Blais - Carpenter - Gauthier
Miller - Fox
Jones - Trouba
Hajek - Schneider
With Lindgren out of the mix, the Rangers are definitely going to be challenged defensively as they have what’s become quite a powerhouse of an offense going up against them. Led by Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, the Devils are third in the league in goals for. Not only are they great at putting the puck at the net, they also keep it out very well as they’re the best in the league at goals against. Vitek Vanecek has a record of 10-2 on the season with a save percentage of .923, only allowing on average two goals a game. This will certainly come as bad news to this Rangers team who has struggled to score goals, especially on a consistent basis throughout the season thus far. If the Rangers are going to find success tonight, they need to get a ton of shots on goal and need to do anything they can to shut down the one-two-punch of Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier who lead the team in goals and assists through their last five.
While there have been many games that have felt like must wins for the Rangers, you’d be hard pressed to come up with a reason for tonight not being their most important game of the season. All throughout this first quarter of the season, we’ve talked about their shortcomings and failure to live up to this year’s high expectations. However, after Saturday’s embarrassing third period collapse, the pressure is truly on for this team to take a long hard look in the mirror and show some life. Leon Draisaitl punching the stick out of Trouba’s hand after what became the game winning goal has not only been a hot topic through the last 48 hours, but is a clip quite indicative of the morale associated with the team’s current results. While they have a winning record for now, the excuse of “it’s early” is completely out the window and if they’re not careful, they could fall into quite the hole. I’m planning on diving deeper into the Draisaitl/Trouba situation in a separate post but after what happened, or lack thereof in the incident, this team should go into tonight’s game angry, fired up and desperate.
Expect Igor Shesterkin, who despite the loss, had a great game Saturday to get the nod again tonight. There really isn’t much you can talk about with Igor as he is one of the lone pieces of this team that have been consistently good. Gallant had mentioned that he needs more from everyone on this team aside from Igor as he has been giving everything he has, keeping this team in positions to win night in and night out. It’s the rest of the team that needs to pick up the slack and show up for their goalie because if they don’t, the Devils are going to steamroll right on through and continue on with their success. This is a monumental game for a borderline defeated Rangers team. Look for them to really be put to the test tonight as urgency will undoubtedly be the storyline for what happens on the ice.
Chris Feldman
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