Patrick Kane Makes New York Rangers Debut Against Ottawa

After sitting out on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, Patrick Kane is set to make his Rangers debut against the Ottawa Senators (7:00 P.M. on MSG).

Rangers	NHL Rankings	Senators
35-17-9	Record	30-26-4
5^th	NHL Standing Rank	21^st
12^th	GF/PG	18^th
10^th	GA/PG	16^th
9^th	PP%	4^th
17^th	PK%	6^th

Rangers vs Senators

The Rangers are set to host the Ottawa Senators on the second half of a back-to-back. The Blueshirts played shorthanded on Wednesday night, and came out victorious in overtime over the Philadelphia Flyers. Now, the Rangers will get reinforcements as Patrick Kane will make his Rangers debut at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. Kane was acquired by the Rangers from the Blackhawks on Tuesday. This will be the first time Kane will play for a team that isn’t Chicago.

“Probably more nervous than I’ve been for a regular season in a long time,” said Kane. “But that’s a good thing.”

Kane is expected to open on a line with former teammate Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. Kane and Panarin were linemates in Chicago when Panarin was a rookie and the duo instantly clicked. The two often created magic and Panarin won the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the year) by playing on a line with Kane.

“Today, we [Kane and Panarin] just picked up right where we left off,” said Kane. “Hopefully it’ll go that way on the ice.”

They’ll be another miniature reunion as former Blackhawk Alex DeBrincat will be on the second line for the Senators. DeBrincat and Kane were linemates for a while in Chicago before DeBrincat was traded to Ottawa this past offseason. The 25-year-old currently has 52 points on the season.

Kane isn’t the only big name debuting with his new team. Ottawa acquired Jakob Chychrun on Wednesday and he will make his debut with Ottawa on Thursday night. Chychrun was acquired from Arizona in exchange for three draft picks – much lower than the original asking price. Chychrun hasn’t played in multiple weeks due to the Coyotes holding him out of the lineup for trade related reasons. The 24-year-old has 28 points in 36 games and is a plus eight on the season.

Leading the Senators in points is Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk. Each have 63 points on the season on the top line. Former Flyer Claude Giroux rounds out the top line with 60 points.

Derrick Brassard will play in his 1000^th career NHL game. Brassard has played for ten teams in his NHL career including four seasons with the Rangers. The best hockey of Brassard’s career came as a member of the Rangers including his two highest point producing seasons of his career. It’s only fitting that the 35-year-old plays his 1000^th career NHL game in Madison Square Garden.

Former Ranger Julien Gauthier will also be in the lineup for the Senators. Gauthier was traded by the Rangers to Ottawa in the deal that brought Tyler Motte to New York. Gauthier currently has one goal in five games with his new team.

The Blueshirts will continue to play with five defensemen as the NHL denied the Rangers an emergency recall. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) an emergency recall can occur when, “In the event that a club played the previous game without 18 forwards and 2 goalies (roster emergency), then such club may, beginning with the second game and continuing will all subsequent games without any charge to the club’s averaged club salary for the duration of such roster emergency.” The Blueshirts played their last game with two player’s and therefore qualify for an emergency due to not having the cap space to recall anyone. However, commissioner Gary Bettman who makes decisions on emergency recalls, ruled that the Rangers had the cap space to make a recall to address the emergency, but then decided to trade for Kane and thus did this to themselves. The CBA also mentions that a suspension could also qualify a team for an emergency recall – which K’Andre Miller is serving his second of three games. Bettman’s reasoning for not allowing the emergency recall isn’t listed anywhere in the CBA as not being able to use the rule.

Jaroslav Halak will be in goal for the Rangers. Shesterkin won his second straight game last night and will get a rest after starting in both games of the previous back-to-back. Halak is 0-1-1 in his previous two starts.