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NYR look to notch fourth straight win and avenge Nov. 28 loss to NJ |
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The Rangers look to notch their fourth straight win and exact a bit of revenge for their Nov. 28 loss to the Devils tonight at MSG. New York swept their two game road trip in Vegas and Colorado following their 6-4 comeback win over St. Louis last Monday. Beyond the two road wins, the good news was that Igor Shesterkin seemed to find his Vezina form on the trip.
Lines for the #NYR:
Forwards:
Lafreniere - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Chytil - Goodrow
Kreider - Trocheck - Vesey
Blais - Brodzinski - Gauthier
Defense:
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Hajek - Schneider
As seen above, the lines tonight are the same from the last few games. Vitali Kravtsov will be the healthy scratch. Ben Harpur, sent down Sunday to accrue additional cap savings, likely will be promoted today to be the extra blue liner. But if not needed, the Rangers could opt to keep him down and accrue additional room. The team next plays Thursday against Toronto, so look for Harpur to likely be up for practice. I expect this will be the path forward until the trade deadline as each $ accrued could be a difference maker down the road.
New York wasn’t great in either road game. Good in the first period versus Vegas, but lousy in the second before rebounding in the third. Versus Colorado, Igor carried the bacon, driving the team to the win. But compared to what we saw previously, the attention to details, especially within their own zone, was far better. A long way still to go to put together a full effort - offensively and defensively - but signs of improvement are there.
Tonight is a big demarcation game. New Jersey, who leads the Metro, exposed New York in their last game. Their speed through the neutral zone and forecheck put the Blueshirts on edge after they trailed 2-0 in the first period. If the Rangers build on the success and continue their small gains we have seen lately, they have a decent chance of notching the win. If they allow the Devils to dictate the pace as well as time and speed to make a decision, we could see the same end result.
New York sits one game played behind Washington and even with Philadelphia and the Islanders for most games played within the division. What this means is that every contest starts to take on even more importance because the squads either ahead or slightly behind - other than the ones just mentioned - will have the chance to expand their lead or make up ground. Garnering wins and forcing the other teams to do the same to catch or keep up with the Blueshirts starts to become an even more primary focus. While 64% of the season remains, before we know it, we will be at the midpoint when each contest results in scoreboard watching.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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