New York Rangers Host the Young Detroit Red Wings

Rangers	NHL Rankings	Red Wings
31-13-4	Record	22-22-6
6^th	NHL Standing Rank	19^th
15^th	GF/PG	21^st
4^th	GA/PG	27^th
4^th	PP%	25^th
9^th	PK%	23^rd

Previous Game

The Blueshirts were victorious 2-1 over the Boston Bruins in a nine-round shootout. The lone Rangers goal came from Filip Chytil in his return to the lineup after missing the previous six games. The Rangers got shootout goals from Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and K’Andre Miller who had the game-winning shootout goal.

The biggest talking point of the game came in overtime with Rangers’ goaltender Igor Shesterkin. Roughly halfway through the extra frame, Bruins forward Craig Smith collided with the Russian goaltender. After playing for about two minutes, the NHL’s concussion spotters gave the call down to the Rangers bench that Shesterkin had to go into concussion protocol with 40 seconds left in overtime. Livid, Shesterkin slammed his stick against the glass as he skated off the ice. Before the beginning of the shootout, the 26-year-old reemerged and made seven straight saves in the shootout.

“Honestly, I did lose control of it when I got sent off,” Shesterkin said. “You saw me hitting the boards with my stick. That won’t happen again. I promise. But when I came out, the stands just gave me so much energy that I couldn’t do anything else but save the game.”

Rangers

The Blueshirts will be looking to take care of business when the Detroit Red Wings enter ‘The City That Never Sleeps’. With a win against the Red Wings, the Rangers would take their win streak to four-in-a-row.

Adam Fox is celebrating his 24^th birthday on Thursday. Look for the Rangers’ top defenseman to play a key factor offensively against the 27^th best defensive team among goals conceded per game.

With the trade deadline inching nearer, the rumors are starting to swirl just that much more. The latest rumor involving the Rangers is with the Montreal Canadians. Former Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton is now a high official in the Montreal organization and he has his eyes set on some players he formally drafted. The Blueshirts are believed to be interested in a veteran defenseman such as Ben Chiarot. Chiarot was a vital member of the Montreal backend on their road to the Stanley Cup Final last season. The 30-year-old defenseman can play either side and is in the final year of his deal. But more notably, the Rangers have a big need for a right-winger and Artturi Lehkonen would be the likely target for the Blueshirts. Lehkonen is in the final year of his contract but the 26-year-old will be an RFA following the season. Lehkonen would likely fill in the void in the middle-six but more so the third line.

Red Wings

Detroit enters Thursday night as a young team who are in the midst of a rebuild. The Red Wings are nearing the end of their rebuild and they have a lot of young talent who can make a difference. The Blueshirts were in this stage not too long ago and know that a team like Detroit has nothing to lose. On pace for the best season in his career is Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. Larkin has 51 points in 46 games and is going under the radar around the league. The 25-year-old is currently on a team not in the playoff hunt and is not getting the recognition he deserves.

Tyler Bertuzzi is having a career season as he has 44 points in 42 games. Like Larkin, the 26-year-old is having his best-ever season in the league. Bertuzzi’s best point total in a single season is 48 points.

While these two players are in their mid-20s, Detroit has two dangerous rookie skaters who are contributing in a big way. First, Lucas Raymond has 39 points in 50 games and is a real contender for the Calder Trophy. Raymond was drafted just three spots after Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere in the 2020 draft. Another Candidate for the Calder Trophy is defenseman Moritz Seider. Seider was drafted just four spots after Kaapo Kakko in the 2019 draft. At the time, this pick was seen as taking a real risk and going off the board at the number six spot. But the 20-year-old is already rewarding Detroit for taking a chance on him. Seider has 34 points to this point of his rookie season and he leads his team in assists with 29.

Key to the Game

The key to the game for the Rangers is shutting down the Red Wings top line. A lot of Detroit’s goals come from Larkin, Bertuzzi, and Raymond and if they can shut these guys down, they’ll give themselves an extremely good shot at extending their win streak to four. Bertuzzi is listed on the Red Wings second line to give them more depth. The top four defensemen of the Rangers could be the key to victory.