The Blueshirts are in Montreal for the conclusion of a three-game road trip on a night where every team in the NHL plays (7:15PM on MSG).
Rangers | Rankings | Canadiens |
4-0-1 | Record | 2-3-1 |
4th | League Rank | 22nd |
1st | Goals For | 25th |
3rd | Goals Against | 18th |
4th | Power play | 13th |
4th | Penalty Kill | 2nd |
Previous Game
The Blueshirts are coming off a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. New York got goals from Alexis Lafreniere and Chris Kreider before Kreider added an empty net followed by an Artemi Panarin empty net goal. The lone Leafs goal was Auston Matthews.
Igor Shesterkin was the Rangers best player as he was awarded the first start of the game. Shesterkin made 34 saves on 35 shots including stopping many A+ chances that could have tied the game in the third period.
Rangers vs Canadiens
New York will finish off their first three-game road trip of the season in Montreal. On Tuesday night, every team in the NHL will play, hence the odd 7:15 start time. The first game begins at 6:00PM while the next one starts at 6:30PM. From there, a new game will start every 15 minute interval.
The big question heading into Tuesday night’s game is if Alexis Lafreniere will be available for the Blueshirts. The Quebec native is currently day-to-day following the conclusion of the Leafs game. Head coach Peter Laviolette told the media that there are some things to figure out up front after the morning skate.
Ryan Lindgren will make his season debut after missing the first five games of the season. Lindgren was hurt in the preseason and had been out of action the past couple of weeks. Lindgren won’t immediately be reunited with his normal partner Adam Fox. Instead he will play with rookie defender Victor Mancini with Chad Ruhwedel and Zac Jones as healthy scratches.
He gives everything he [Lindgren] has,” said Laviolette. “You remove a guy like that from the lineup and you feel it. It’ll be nice to get him back in there.”
Shesterkin will be back in goal for the Blueshirts following an outstanding performance in Toronto. He will play across from Montreal netminder Sam Montembeault who has had a tremendous start to the season. Despite having a 2-2-0 record, Montrembeault has a .932 save percentage and a 2.29 goals against average including a shutout against Toronto.
Cole Caufield leads Montreal in scoring with seven points including six goals. His six goals are tied with Panarin and Ross Colton of Colorado for second in the NHL behind Nikita Kucherov. Meanwhile Caufield’s linemates Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach have yet to record a goal on the season. Suzuki has recorded five assists.
One player to keep an eye on is 20-year-old Lane Hutson. With four points in six games on defense, Hutson has had an outstanding start to his rookie season and he has been impressive for Montreal. The former second-round pick in 2022 is a smaller defender at 5’9 162 pounds.
Montreal is already dealing with a handful of injuries including Patrik Laine, Juraj Slafkovsky, David Reinbacher, and Kaiden Guhle. Laine is currently out for a couple of months with a knee injury, while Slafkovsky will be reevaluated in a week. Reinbacher, the former 5th overall pick in 2023 suffered a knee injury and isn’t expected back until March. Guhle is currently day-to-day.
Bet of the Night
The bet of the night is an Artemi Panarin to record four shots on goal (if Lafreniere plays.) Panarin has recorded at least four shots in three of the previous four games and Montreal allows the 4th highest shot total per game to start the season at 33.3. If ‘The Breadman’ is with his normal linemate expect his line to get a lot of ice time as they have been one of the best lines to open the season. At -135 odds, a $5 bet would pay $8.70 for a profit of $3.70.
Another bet I do like is an anytime Chris Kreider goal. Kreider scored in the last game and has four goals in the past two games against Montreal. You can get this line at +140
Current record: 2-0
Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $9.07 on the season
Projected Lineup
Kreider-Zibanejad-Smith
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere
Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko
Edstrom-Carrick-Brodzinski
Miller-Fox
Schneider-Trouba
Lindgren-Mancini
Shesterkin
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