Rangers Debut New lines in ‘The Battle of New York’

For the first time this season, the Rangers will meet their crosstown rivals in ‘The Battle of New York’ (1:00PM on MSG).

Previous Game

The Blueshirts are coming off a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Despite allowing one goal, the Rangers had another poor effort on team defense as they leaked scoring chances left and right. If not for the brilliant play of Igor Shesterkin and his 40 saves, the Senators would have won the game very convincingly. While the team defense has been concerning in recent games, Alexis Lafreniere has continued to be a bright spot. The former-first overall pick signed a seven-year contract worth 7.45 million per season and is now just one of two players on the team that are averaging a point-per-game. Lafreniere recorded two points including the game-winning goal on Thursday night. Artemi Panarin is the only other Rangers to be averaging over a point-per-game. 

Rangers vs Islanders

Head coach Peter Laviolette has seen enough despite a 7-2-1 record. The Blueshirts need a “get right game.” The team defense has a prime opportunity to show what they can do. The top power-play unit has not been as in sync as it could be – especially with zone entries. But perhaps most of all – that top line was not clicking and now Laviolette will make changes across the lineup. 

Laviolette will be hoping that the combination of Panarin and Lafreniere will be enough to jumpstart Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad has seven points in ten games, but he has not looked like himself. Will Cuylle plays the left wing with Vincent Trocheck and Reilly Smith. Cuylle has had a terrific start to the season with eight points in ten games. Filip Chytil who also has eight points will center Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko. Jimmy Vesey will make his season debut after missing the first ten games with Sam Carrick and Adam Edstrom. Expect similar ice time totals for the second and third lines. The power-play units will remain the same. 

The Blueshirts will get to debut these lines against the Islanders at a favorable time as they are dealing with injuries to many key players. Mathew Barzal, arguably their most dynamic forward, is currently out of the lineup with an upper-body injury. They are also without one of their best defenders in Adam Pelech who also has an upper-body injury. Both players are considered to be out for four-to-six weeks. 

The Islanders also will be without former Rangers Anthony Duclair. The former third-round selection has three points in five games in his first season with the Islanders. They also have Mike Reilly and Alexander Romanov who are each day-to-day and their status for Sunday afternoon’s game is unclear. Grant Hutton and Samuel Bolduc were recalled from the Islanders AHL affiliate in case neither Reilly or Romanov can’t play. 

While on paper this may look like a mismatch, you can never predict who will win a rivalry match and the Islanders are a team that have given the Rangers some trouble in the last decade. The Islanders have had the slight edge over the past five seasons with a record of 12-8-3 against the Blueshirts. They have always been stingy on defense and despite the poor start – they allow the eighth fewest amount of goals per game. 

One weakness this season for the Islanders has been their penalty kill. They rank 31st in the league and if they could get that improved, their goals against per game would be far superior to eighth. The top power-play unit for the Rangers has a chance to show what they can do.

The age-old problem for the Islanders has been their ability to score goals. Since the 2018-2019 season, the Islanders rank 27th in goals per game (not including Utah as this is their first season). Currently, Kyle Palmieri leads the Islanders in points with eight in eleven games. 

The Blueshirts defense will look familiar as Laviolette has opted to go back to the defensive pairs Rangers fans have been accustomed to for the past few seasons. Ryan Lindgren will pair with long-time partner Adam Fox, while K’Andre Miller will pair with Jacob Trouba. Zac Jones will return to the lineup to play in place of Victor Mancini to play with Braden Schneider.

Bet of the Night

My bet of the night is a two-leg parlay with Alexis Lafreniere to record a point and Adam Fox to record an assist. Lafreniere is expected to be on the top unit with arguably their two best forwards which should generate many scoring chances. Meanwhile the idea is Fox to record an assist on the power-play due to the Islanders poor penalty kill. The Blueshirts top unit has been under scrutiny as of late and they will get a golden opportunity on Sunday. These two props put together give you odds +204. A $5 bet would pay $15.20 for a profit of $10.20. 

Current record: 4-2

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $6.10 on the season 

Projected Lineup

Panarin-Zibanejad-Lafreniere

Cuylle-Trocheck-Smith

Kreider-Chytil-Kakko

Edstrom-Carrick-Vesey

Shesterkin/Quick