Rangers Travel to Ottawa for First Meeting of Season

After back-to-back wins on the weekend, the Blueshirts travel to Ottawa where they will face off against the Ottawa Senators (7:00PM on MSG)

Rangers	Rankings	Senators
17-4-1	Record	9-10-0
1st	League Rank	30th
6th	Goals For	13th
6th	Goals Against	20th
3rd	Power play	22nd
10th	Penalty Kill	27th

Previewing The Senators

The Blueshirts are coming off a 6-5 victory over the San Jose Sharks, With the Rangers now on a three game winning streak, they’ll look to extend it to four in Ottawa.

The Senators entered the season with expectations of challenging for a wild card spot or perhaps even sneaking the playoffs. So far, Ottawa is not living up to those expectations as they sit 30th in the NHL and are nine points outside the last wild card. However, the one thing in Ottawa’s favor is they have only played 19 games – the fewest in the NHL. Los Angeles has played the second fewest games at 21 games. New York will see Los Angeles on Sunday.

Former Ranger Vladimir Tarasenko, will play against the Rangers for the first time since leaving them this past offseason. Tarasenko was a rental acquired by New York just weeks prior to the trade deadline. Ultimately, the Rangers were bounced from the first round of the playoffs despite Tarasenko’s strong play. The Russian winger currently has 14 points on the season.

Tim Stutzle leads the Senators with 23 points in 19 games played. His winger, Brady Tkachuk, leads Ottawa in goals with eleven. But perhaps, having a surprisingly good season is forward Mathieu Joseph. The former fourth-round draft pick of the Lightning has 16 points on the season and he also has a plus/minus of plus eleven. Joseph’s highest point total came in his rookie season back in 2018-2019 where the Quebec native recorded 26 points. Joseph is well on track to smash his career high.

Anton Forsberg is likely to get the start for the Senators. Forsberg has an .882 save percentage on the season to go with a 4-4-0 record. Forsberg has a career save percentage of .907.

The Senators will be without Thomas Chabot. Chabot, who is arguably the best defenseman on the Senators, is awaiting results of an MRI for an undisclosed injury. Chabot missed ten games due to a hand injury, and he got reinjured his second game back as he couldn’t finish the game.

Previewing The Rangers

Perhaps a player going under the radar for the Rangers is Jonny Brodzinski. Brodzinski was leading the AHL in points prior to being called up to replace the injured Kaapo Kakko, and the 30-year-old has done a tremendous job for New York. Brodzinski has four points in the three games he has played. In addition, he has been a key figure on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider and Brodzinski has played a huge part in some of the goals – even if he isn’t getting a point on them.

Since being acquired from Ottawa by New York, Zibanejad has been a menace against his former team. The Swedish center has 16 points in 13 career games against Ottawa, and he has had a point in eleven of those games. Not only is Zibanejad currently on a seven-game point streak against his former team, but he is also quietly on an active seven-game point streak – his highest so far this season.

Igor Shesterkin is 2-0-1 lifetime against the Senators and he is slated to get the start. Shesterkin has won each of his last two starts with save percentages above .920.

The Blueshirts won’t play again after Tuesday night until the weekend where they will play another back-to-back. With three days off, expect to see an energized Rangers team before getting a break.

A good bet is for Zibanejad to extend both his point streaks to eight games. At -166, a $5.00 bet will pay 8.01 for a $3.01 profit. But if you are feeling more daring, then how about the bet of the night as a two-leg parlay with the Rangers moneyline and an anytime goalscorer for Zibanejad. This parlay is our bet of the night at +300. With those odds a $5.00 bet will pay $20.

Current record: 10-3

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $47.16 on the season