Share:

After coming off a 1-0 shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Rangers travel North of the Border for a meeting in Quebec with the Montreal Canadiens (7:00PM on MSG). 

RangersRankingsCanadiens
22-20-3Record22-19-4
22nd League Rank19th
20th  Goals For15th  
18th Goals Against26th 
23rd Power play18th 
5th  Penalty Kill10th 

Previous Game

New York is coming off a big 1-0 shootout win against Columbus. It wasn’t the exact result as they were looking for as a regulation win would have been huge, but given where they were at – any win is a big win at this stage as they look to fight back into a playoff spot. Igor Shesterkin was perfect in the game as he stopped all 27 shots in regulation and overtime. In the shootout, he stopped all three Columbus shooters and he helped extend the Rangers point streak to seven games. Vincent Trocheck was the lone scorer in the entire game which came in the second round of the shootout. 

Rangers vs Canadiens

The Blueshirts will now take that point streak and head to Montreal where they hope to build off recent performances. New York’s defense has been much tighter as of late and they have been much more responsible in their own zone. A month ago, the Rangers would not have been able to win a 1-0 game. 

The Rangers offense will now look to find their game and that starts with the line consisting of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafreniere. When all other lines were not going, the Blueshirts would be able to rely on this trio to lead the way and put up points. But now, this line has gone dry and the even strength offense is proving tough to come by. The trio has only put up an even strength goal in three of the previous ten games. 

With this being the second of a back-to-back, expect the Rangers to turn to Jonathan Quick. Quick is 6-5-1 with a .900 save percentage on the season. With a win, Quick would record his 400th career win and become the first U.S. born player to reach this milestone. A win would also move the Blueshirts past Montreal in the standings and up to 18th in the league.

Montreal will likely start Jakub Dobes in goal. Dobes is a former fifth-round selection in the 2020 NHL draft. The 6’4 Czech Republican netminder has had a dream start to life in the NHL with a 4-0-0 record and a .963 save percentage. The 23-year-old has allowed just four goals and he has recorded a shutout. This would be Dobes first start on home ice in Montreal. 

That is not the only big story happening in Montreal as Patrik Laine is on a goal scoring tear. Since making his season debut in early December after being activated off the IR, Laine has 11 goals in 17 games on the season. In addition, he has three goals in the last four games as his stick is hot. 

Leading Montreal in points is Nick Suzuki with 46 points in 45 games. Cole Caufield has 43 points in 45 games including a team leading 24 goals on the season. But the player to keep an eye on is defender Lane Hutson – the former second round selection. The rookie has 37 points on the season. In addition, Hutson has an active seven-game point streak including eleven points in those games.

On Saturday evening, NHL insiders were reporting that Vancouver was close to trading J.T. Miller to a team believed to be the Rangers. Ultimately, the trade fell through for an unknown reason, and nothing is believed to be imminent. The first clue something was happening was the fact that the Rangers made three regular starters in Hartford healthy scratches which raised eyebrows. It is a story to pay attention to as the season progresses. One thing is certain, up until the trade deadline – expect the Rangers to be extremely active in the trade market including buying and selling.

Projected Lineup 

Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere

Cuylle-Zibanejad-Smith

Kreider-Chytil-Kaliyev

Edstrom-Carrick-Rempe

Lindgren-Fox

Miller-Borgen

Vaakanainen-Schneider


Quick

Share:

Leave a Reply

BlueshirtsNation

FREE
VIEW