New York Rangers Put Six-Game Win Streak on the Line in Minnesota

               The Blueshirts have won six-straight games, but it came with a price in their previous game. New York suffered three key injuries as they will be shorthanded on the road once more (8:00PM on MSG).

Rangers vs Wild

The Rangers are coming off a gutsy 2-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Rangers got goals from Chris Kreider and Will Cuylle for his first career game winning goal. The Blueshirts had their first true test of the season in what felt like a game that would be played in May. Unfortunately for the Blueshirts, they left the game with three key injuries. First Adam Fox suffered a knee-on-knee collision with Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho. Fox eventually left the game in the first period and did not return. Fox was placed on long-term injured reserved and will miss at least the next ten games. The earliest he can return is November 29^th.

Filip Chytil left the game with an upper-body injury and did not return. Chytil was placed on the injured reserved list and will miss at least the next seven days.

Barclay Goodrow will also miss the game in Minnesota as he will be with his wife for the birth of his son. That leaves New York three skaters short as they head back on the road. Expect Tyler Pitlick and Zac Jones to rejoin the lineup on Saturday.

And to top it all off, Igor Shesterkin is “a bit banged up” and will miss the game against the Wild. Jonathan Quick will get the nod for the Blueshirts. The 37-year-old is 2-0-0 on the season with a .983 save percentage and one shutout. Louis Domingue was recalled from the Hartford Wolfpack and will serve as the backup in Minnesota.

In addition to Domingue, Connor Mackey and Jonny Brodzinski were also recalled from Hartford. Head coach Peter Laviolette will have some tough lineup decisions with his bottom-six going to look completely different. Nick Bonino has been excellent to start the season and could see a promotion to the third line as Vincent Trocheck will take Chytil’s spot on the second line.

Minnesota has not had an ideal start to their season as they currently hold a 3-5-1 record. The biggest problem for the Wild has been keeping the puck out of the net. They have the 31^st ranked goals-against average and the last place penalty kill. The Rangers power play enters the game third in the league at 32.4%.

The Wild goaltending has not been good to start the season. Both Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury each have goals-against averages above 3.00 and save percentages sub .890. No matter who the Blueshirts see on Saturday night, they will face a goaltender who has not had an ideal start to the season.

While the Wild have struggled keeping the puck out of the net, they have had plenty of success putting the puck in the oppositions net. Minnesota has three players who have hit double digits in points for the season as well as Matthew Boldy who is a point-per-game player. Boldy missed seven games with an upper-body injury, but the winger has four points in three games played. He will open on a line with Kirill Kaprizov – one of three players the Wild has with ten points.

Another player with ten points on the season is former Rangers’ forward Mats Zuccarello. Zuccarello has been a key contributor of the Wild the past two seasons. The Norwegian winger put up 79 points in the 2021-2022 season and 67 points in the 2022-2023 season. The 36-year-old played parts of nine seasons in New York with 61 points being his highest total as a member of the Blueshirts.

Artemi Panarin has been one of the hottest players to open the new campaign. Panarin has a point in every game to start the season and is tied for fourth in scoring throughout the league. In 19 career games against the Wild, the Russian winger has recorded 22 points.

Quick and the reinforcements from Hartford will be asked to help keep turn the Rangers six-game win streak into seven as they put it on the line against the Wild. New York swept a five-game road trip for the first time in franchise history and followed it up with a victory against a very good Hurricanes side to extend it to six. This run appeared unlikely after the first four games, but it has put the Rangers to atop the Metropolitan Division. With no Fox, Chytil, and Shesterkin, the Blueshirts will be relying on their depth to help slow down the Wild.

Bet of the Night

The bet of the night is for Erik Gustafsson to record a power-play point. The Rangers power-play has been hot to start the season and as mentioned above – they will play the league’s worst penalty kill at 63.6%. Gustafsson will replace Fox on the top unit putting him in a smash spot to record a power-play point. This bet comes with +240 odds and a $5 bet will pay $17.00 on Draftkings. The value for this bet is fantastic for bettors.

Last bet: The last pick was a hit as Panarin recorded a point against the Flames. The Breadman’s over/under line is at 1.5 points against the Wild.

Current record: 5-1

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $39.30 on the season