It's Wednesday Night Hockey at the World's Most Famous Arena as the Toronto Maple Leafs pay the Rangers a visit for their third meeting of the season. Both games between these two original six teams resulted in a score of 2-1, the first in the Rangers favor in overtime and the later in the Leafs favor in regulation. The Leafs are 4-1-1 since returning to play after a brief pause in their schedule, with a very similar record to the Rangers. Both teams last played on Saturday, both coming off wins, giving this one the potential to be a great hockey game.
It's no secret the Leafs are a highly skilled team, they rank top ten in the league for power plays, penalty kill, goals for and against per games played, and are the best team in the league in face-offs. The Rangers, who are notorious for not being strong at draws, will definitely have to buckle down and frankly try to limit the amount of face-offs needed throughout tonights outing. As these two teams have gotten to know each other already this season, tonight could have the potential to be more explosive offensively. The goaltending on both sides is very strong which could determine how this one plays out but it's only a matter of time with these teams and we're due for a more offensive showing with this matchup.
The Rangers are almost back to full capacity in their locker room with Barclay Goodrow coming off COVID protocol and Dryden Hunt coming off IR. Alexis Lafreniere remains the only player in COVID protocol and could come off today. Lafreniere likely won't be an option for tonight even if he is available considering he hasn't been a full participant in a practice. Ryan Strome on the other hand, who has had two maintenance days in a row, is expected to play tonight.
Based off of yesterday's practice, tonight's lines will likely look something like this:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Strome - Chytil
Hunt - Goodrow - Gauthier
McKegg- Rooney - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Nemeth - Schneider
I'm not as anti Greg McKegg being in the line up as some are but in a game against the best face-off team in the league, it doesn't make much sense not to play Morgan Barron. You can certainly argue Barron has proven to belong in the everyday line up and I would agree with you. However for tonight specifically, you have to think he needs to be in the line up considering he has the best face-off percentage out of anyone on the team.
Tonight and Friday will be the toughest opponents on the Rangers itinerary in this final stretch before February break. If the Rangers want to maintain that top spot in the Metro, they're going to have to really buckle down and get two wins here seeing as they play Carolina, who is tied with them in points on Friday. This will be a good test for the Rangers who are constantly proving to be up against any challenges thrown their way this season. Look for Shesterkin to take the net tonight and expect an exciting hockey game for a national audience on TNT.
Chris Feldman
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