Rangers Return Home to Conclude Back-to-Back

After a crucial win in Columbus on Saturday night to go into sole possession of the last wild card position, the Blueshirts return to home ice to take on Leon Draisaitl and the struggling Edmonton Oilers (7:00PM on MSG).

Rangers	Rankings	Oilers
33-28-6	Record	38-24-4
16th	League Rank	11th
13th	Goals For	10th
19th	Goals Against	14th
24th	Power play	5th
4th	Penalty Kill	24th

Pregame Notes

Rangers are coming off a very convincing 4-0 shutout over the Columbus Blue Jackets as they concluded a three-game road trip
- Igor Shesterkin recorded 21 saves for his fifth shutout of the season
- Alexis Lafreniere, Vincent Trocheck, and Artemi Panarin all recorded two points
- Adam Fox made his return to the lineup and recorded an assist and a plus two
- With the win, New York moved into the final wild card spot by two points, but they have played one more game then their three nearest challengers
Recording a win on Sunday will be crucial as they look to build a small gap and start to put pressure on the teams on the outside. Montreal and Columbus are both inactive on Sunday and a win would put them three and four points outside the final wild card spot with two games in hand. This would force both of them to have to win those games in hand to keep up in pace. However, a lost by the Rangers means they would only need to win one of those two games to keep up in pace
Expect the Rangers to stick with the same lineup as they had in Columbus with the only change potentially being Jonathan Quick getting the start in goal
The Oilers enter the game struggling since the four nations break. Edmonton has won just four of their eleven games since the break and they have allowed at least three goals in eight of those games
- Both Edmonton netminders have a sub .900 save percentage. Stuart Skinner is 22-17-4 with an .896 save percentage and he is slated to start in New York
When you think of the Edmonton Oilers, the first name that comes to mind is Connor McDavid. This season – it is Leon Draisaitl who is stealing the spotlight. Draisaitl has 100 points which is just two behind Nathan MacKinnon for the most in the league. Draisaitl is on a 17-game point streak and has a point in 25 of the last 26 games.
- McDavid is still producing at an outstanding rate with 85 points in 60 games – 15 less points than his teammate in six less games played
The rest of Edmonton’s supporting cast on offense have had disappointing point producing seasons thus far. Former number one overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has just 39 points while Zach Hyman has just 37 points. Hyman last season recorded 54 goals.
- Hyman is currently listed as a game-time decision against the Rangers with an undisclosed injury
Other injuries include Evander Kane who is out for the season and Trent Frederic who was acquired from Boston, but is week-to-week.
- Defensemen Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg are day-to-day with minor injuries and illnesses. Ekholm is in Edmont and won’t play while Klingberg joined the team earlier in the week, but has not played on the road trip.