New York Rangers Conclude Season Series with Blackhawks

After defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning by the score of 3-1, the Blueshirts will look to keep their momentum rolling against the Blackhawks in Chicago (8:30PM on MSG).

Rangers	Rankings	Blackhawks
32-17-2	Record	14-35-2
7th	League Rank	32nd
12th	Goals For	32nd
9th	Goals Against	28th
4th	Power play	32nd
6th	Penalty Kill	26th

Previous Game

New York is coming off an impressive 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Blueshirts got great goaltending from Jonathan Quick who won his third straight start. New York got goals from their depth on Wednesday night including Jimmy Vesey twice, and Jonny Brodzinski.

Tampa Bay entered the game red-hot as they had won eight of their previous nine games and were on a three-game winning streak. The overall team defense was excellent at they limited Tampa Bay to just a handful of dangerous scoring chances throughout the game.

Igor Shesterkin will make his first start for the Rangers post all-star break. According to head coach Peter Laviolette, the plan was always for Quick to play the first two games after the all-star break. The Russian goaltender participated in the all-star game as part of Team Matthews as he and teammate Vincent Trocheck were a part of the winning team. Shesterkin told the media he was feeling confident as he looks to raise his play to a level he knows he can be at. The 28-year-old is currently having the worst season of his professional career with a record of 17-12-1 with an .899 save percentage on the season.

Shesterkin will be looking for something to build on when he and the Rangers take on the last place Blackhawks. Chicago has the fewest points in the league by three as they continue their long rebuild. The Blackhawks have scored just 105 goals this season – fewest in the league by one to San Jose. Despite being at the bottom of the standings, Chicago played the Rangers tough in New York during the first meeting. The Rangers won the game 4-1, but the contest was a one goal game as they entered the final frame.

Things are currently even tougher then they need to be for Chicago as they are currently dealing with a lot of injuries including their young phenom – Connor Bedard. Despite playing in just 39 games this season, Bedard leads the Blackhawks by eight with 33. Jason Dickinson, their second highest point scorer, has played in all 51 games and he has just 25 points on the season. Bedard is currently out of the lineup with a fractured jaw. Other key injuries include Connor Murphy, Anthony Beauvillier, Taylor Hall, Nikita Zaitsev, and Andreas Athanasiou.

Petr Mrazek will get the start in goal for Chicago. Besides Bedard, Mrazek has been a bright spot for Chicago and his play has been stellar given the situation he finds himself in. Mrazek sports a .910 save percentage on the season and a 2.89 goals-against average.

Artemi Panarin will look to continue his strong play against his former team. Panarin has 19 points in ten career games against the Blackhawks. Panarin was held pointless against the Lightning.

The bet of the night – The bet of the night is a two-leg parlay. The first leg is for Artemi Panarin to record over 1.5 points. The second leg is for the Rangers puck line at -1.5. Apply that with a 33% boost and the odds jump to +247. You have to think the Rangers will be able to take care of business and continue their strong play as of late against the worst team in the league. In addition, Panarin has recorded a multi-point game in each of the past five-games against the Blackhawks. A $5 bet will pay $17.36 for a profit of $12.36.

Current record: 17-15

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $18.90 on the season