The Rangers are back at it for some Sunday Night hockey as they kick off a four game road trip starting with the Winnipeg Jets. Another new opponent for the Rangers, who haven't played the Jets since prior to the COVID season. The Rangers will look to make tonight their third win in a row, a solid base to build off of as they embark on the road for the upcoming week. The Jets are 24-21-10 this season, falling more and more out of the playoff race as we approach the trade deadline. They are coming off an OT loss to the Stars on Friday night and are 4-4-2 in their last ten.
It's pretty evident that the Rangers have the advantage going into this one, however the Jets have some real talented pieces in their lineup as well as one of the top goalies in the league. Kyle Connor will certainly be a name to keep an eye on as he has eight points in his last five games, 62 on the season in 55 games played. Winnipeg tends to give up a fair amount of goals, averaging 3.02 but also score a fair amount at an even 3.00 per game. If the Rangers can lock in defensively and generate strong offense, getting lots of pucks to the net, they shouldn't have any issue taking care of business.
Expect the Rangers to run the same group tonight as they did Friday against the Devils as it appears Greg McKegg is out for "personal reasons" and along with Kevin Rooney who was placed on IR, are not traveling with the team:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Lafreniere
Panarin - Strome - Hunt
Goodrow - Chytil - Gauthier
Barron - Brodzinski - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Nemeth - Schneider
Igor Shesterkin, who is coming off an incredible performance against the Devils on Friday night, will get the nod once again in Winnipeg. You have to think at some point on this road trip, Gerard Gallant will look to get Alexandar Georgiev in the mix. At this point, it's no secret that Georgiev doesn't play well when he goes long stretches without starts. Between the Rangers having a tough schedule during the month of March and the trade deadline quietly approaching, it's safe to assume they will want to give Georgiev a couple chances to get into a rhythm, potentially showcasing him before the day of the deadline. If I had to guess, expect to see him get the start against Dallas on the last game of the road trip.
The Rangers will face a couple of tough opponents this week, all of which they are familiar with aside from Winnipeg. This team has done a great job of finding ways to win all season and has had many "good tests" in the process. It will be interesting to see if they can bounce back against the Wild and redeem themselves from the too little too late comeback attempt on Lundqvist night as well as how the Blues bounce back after the Rangers came back and beat them last week. The tests will only get harder as the Rangers certainly have their hands full in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline.
Chris Feldman
Comments