New York Rangers Host New-Looked Canucks

Rangers Host New-Looked Canucks – Pregame checklist

After winning one of the most entertaining games of the season, the Rangers are back in action to take on the Vancouver Canucks (8:00 P.M. on MSG)

Rangers	NHL Rankings	Canucks
28-14-8	Record	20-26-4
9^th	NHL Standing Rank	26^th
13^th	GF/PG	11^th
3^rd	GA/PG	31^st
17^th	PP%	14^th
11^th	PK%	32^nd

Previous Game

The Blueshirts are coming off a 5-4 victory over the Calgary Flames. New York had three leads, but ultimately Calgary fought back and eventually took a 4-3 lead. The Rangers had an answer and tied it on a Mika Zibanejad goal. In overtime, Alexis Lafreniere would score the game-winning goal after Zibanejad’s one timer was stopped by Jacob Markstrom. Zibanejad had two goals along with Filip Chytil. Jaroslav Halak made his second straight start – stopping 24 shots. Halak has now won his past six starts.

Rangers vs Canucks

Igor Shesterkin is expected to make his first start since the all-star break
The Rangers will stick with the same lineup that won against Calgary
The Canucks have started to change their look as they look forward toward their future
Rick Tocchet is the new head coach of the Canucks after they parted ways with Bruce Boudreau. Tocchet was considered one of the finalists before the Rangers ultimately settled on Gerard Gallant
Vancouver also traded away their captain Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders in-exchange for Anthony Beauvillier and a first-round pick. Horvat was slated to become an unrestricted free agent as he wasn’t expected to come to an agreement with the Canucks. Horvat signed an eight-year contract worth 8.5 million dollars per season
The Kid line has been a revelation for the Rangers since being reunited. The trio has created many scoring chances and have offered the Rangers some secondary scoring
Chytil has ten goals in the past 13 games
One weakness for the Canucks is their ability to kill penalties as they rank dead last in the NHL. The Rangers power-play has struggled more than expected and will get a chance against the worst penalty killing unit in the league
New York’s power-play scored once on three attempts against the Flames
Spencer Martin is slated to get the start against the Rangers. Martin has an .875 save percentage and a 3.94 goals-against average and he has lost his last eight starts
Thatcher Demko, the Canucks starting goalie, has played in just 15-games as he is recovering from a lower-body injury
Leading the Canucks in points is Elias Pettersson with 59 points. Rangers leading point scorer is Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad with 52.