New York Rangers Host the Injured Sabres 

After scoring seven goals against the then league leading Bruins, the Rangers must stay focused when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night (7:00PM on MSG). 

Previous Game

The Blueshirts are coming off a shocking 7-4 victory over the Bruins. Entering the game, the two teams were the two best in the league points wise and with the win the Rangers have surpassed them based on point percentage. However, what was surprising about the game is that no one was expecting eleven goals between the two teams. Entering the game, many were expecting to be a defensive affair between what were the top two defensive teams in the league, but that proved to go out the window after the first period. Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin each had three points in the afternoon. The Rangers depth was vital as Tyler Pitlick, Nick Bonino, Jimmy Vesey, and K’Andre Miller each chipped in with a goal. 13 of the 18 Blueshirts skaters recorded a point. 

Jonathan Quick recorded 27 saves for his sixth win of the season. Despite giving up four goals including one from David Pastrnak which he would wish he had back, Quick was solid and made some timely saves which could have completely flipped momentum. 

Rangers vs Sabres

Now the Rangers must stay focused in what will be a different type of game against Buffalo. This is the type of game where they just need to take care of business and cannot afford to have a game where they feel they have won before the opening puck drop. Saturday’s game felt like a playoff atmosphere as both teams were fighting for first place in the league. Now they play Buffalo who is 2-4-1 in their last seven games including a 7-2 defeat on Saturday to the New Jersey Devils. 

The Sabres are currently struggling through some injury woes as their leading scorer last season, Tage Thompson, is currently out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. Jordan Greenway is out of the lineup for personal reasons, whereas Zemgus Girgensons is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. 22-year-old Jack Quinn has yet to play a game for Buffalo this season. With four forwards out of the lineup, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson is a game-time decision on Monday night for Buffalo. 

While Buffalo is currently struggling with injuries and in a recent stretch of poor play, they will work hard and cannot be taken lightly by New York. Jeff Skinner has ten goals on the season and is tied with two other Sabres for the team lead in points at 17. The veteran winger has 19 career goals against the Rangers and is always a threat to score. Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt are tied with Skinner at 17 points. 

One player starting to make a name for himself is JJ Peterka on the Sabres wing. The young winger has 14 points in as many games and he has only been held scoreless in three of those games. 

On the Rangers side of the injury list, Adam Fox is skating with the team and he has had no restrictions or setbacks. Fox is currently missing his tenth straight game after being put on the long-term injured reserve list. The former Norris Trophy winner is eligible to make his return to the lineup on Wednesday if he is deemed ready to go by the Rangers medical staff. 

On the other hand, Filip Chytil is still out of the lineup with a concussion and he has been skating on his own. The Czech center still appears to be at least a few games away before he can even think about making a return to the lineup. The next step is being able to join the team in a non-contact jersey. 

This season, Mika Zibanejad has struggled for his standards to meet his offensive expectations, but he is currently on a three-game point streak and he has four points in those games. He’ll look to continue his recent success on Monday night and continue to bounce back from his lack of even strength points to start the season.

The Rangers won the first meeting 5-1 in pretty convincing fashion to open the season. Zibanejad had three points on the night as did his linemate Chris Kreider.

Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves on that night, and he will be back in the net on Monday. Shesterkin is coming off a 36 save performance against the Flyers on Friday afternoon. He’ll face off against Ukko-Pekka Luukonen who is 5-3-1 on the season with a .914 save percentage. 

The bet of the night is for Jacob Trouba to record over 2.5 blocked shots. Trouba has 67 blocked shots on the season which is tied for the most in the NHL. Trouba averages 3.9 block shots per game and he had eight blocked shots against Buffalo in the opening game of the season. Trouba has been over this line in each of the past five games. A $5 bet at -110 odds will be $9.54 for a profit of $4.54.

Last bet: The last pick was for Alexis Lafreniere to record the over on 1.5 shots which he did for a $3.01 win. 

Current record: 8-3

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $40.16 on the season

Projected Lineup

Kreider-Zibanejad-Wheeler

Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere

Cuylle-Bonino-Kakko

Vesey-Goodrow-Pitlick

Trouba-Miller

Lindgren-Gustafsson

Jones-Schneider

Shesterkin