The Rangers look to forget Friday night’s defeat in an immediate rematch against the Washington Capitals who have won seven-in-a-row (7:00 P.M. ET, MSG).
| Rangers | East Division Ranks /8 | Capitals |
| 12-13-4 | Record | 20-6-4 |
| 6th | East Ranking | 1st |
| 4th | GF/PG | 1st |
| 3rd | GA/PG | 5th |
| 7th | PP% | 1st |
| 2nd | PK% | 4th |
For most of Friday night, the Capitals winning streak looked like it was coming to an end until Alex Ovechkin scored two similar goals in front of Alex Georgiev to steal two points for the caps. Sometimes in sports, the better team doesn’t win – and that is what happened on Friday. The Blueshirts were the better team for over 50 minutes and flat out dominated the Washington Capitals. The only thing they didn’t do was capitalize on their chances and let Washington hang in the game. For the few minutes the Capitals were better they managed to snatch two goals and win the game 2-1.
“It’s tough to stomach because we felt like we played pretty well,” said Chris Kreider. “We played a really good road game.”
The good news for the Rangers is they get an immediate rematch on Saturday night with a chance to prove that Friday was an undeserved result. The rematch won’t be as easy as Tom Wilson is eligible to return from his seven-game suspension and will likely rejoin the Capitals top-six. Wilson was suspended for boarding Brandon Carlo.
Washington will likely turn to Ilya Samsonov who would make just his eighth start of the season. Samsonov is 6-0-1 with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.
The Rangers goaltending decision will be less clear. If Igor Shesterkin is available, he will get the start. If he isn’t, the Blueshirts will likely turn to Keith Kinkaid who has given the Rangers some good performances when they needed it. The other option if Shesterkin isn’t available is to turn right back to Georgiev who played on Friday night.
The Blueshirts defense will be looking for a repeat performance. They kept Washington at bay and Ovechkin was nonexistent until the final few minutes. Saturday they will be looking to complete the job they left undone Friday.
Kris Knoblauch and his makeshift coaching staff will be in charge of Saturday’s game and then the team will reassess the COVID situation with David Quinn and his staff. The Rangers haven’t lost a beat under Knoblauch and continue to try to improve and win games at all costs. Knoblauch and his staff will be looking to end the Capitals seven-game winning streak.
Projected Lineup
Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Panarin-Strome-Blackwell
Lafreniere-Chytil-Kakko
Lemieux-Rooney-Howden
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Hajek-Smith
Shesterkin/Kinkaid/Georgiev
