New York Rangers Seek Three-Game Win Streak

               The Rangers are on a two-game win streak and they’ll host the New York Islanders where they’ll look to extend it to three (7:00 P.M. ET, MSG).

               After a 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals, the Rangers were scheduled to play the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, but that was postponed due to an outbreak of COVID-19. With that game now scheduled to take place later in the season, the Rangers will turn their attention to the New York Islanders before hosting the Bruins for two tough games.

               This will be the third matchup between the two sides with each team taking a turn to decimate the other. In the first meeting, the Islanders defeated the Rangers 4-0 in an ugly game. A couple of days later, the Rangers returned the favor and defeated the Islanders 5-0. Monday’s night game will be the third meeting and be the “rubber match” with each team looking to assert their dominance.

               The Islanders have played just one game in eight days due to scheduled matchups being postponed due to COVID-19. While they are still looking to get back into the groove of things, they should be well-rested. And with the Rangers also getting a couple of extra days to rest – Monday’s night game has the potential to be played at a fast pace.

               With no one returning from injury, the Rangers are expected to roll out the same lineup that was victorious against the Capitals. The only question for the Rangers is who will get the start in goal: Igor Shesterkin or Alex Georgiev. Head coach David Quinn has decided to keep his cards close to his chest and not announce a starting goalie.

               The case to start Shesterkin is simple. He is the current hot hand and was won his past three starts. In those three games, he has allowed just five goals.

               The case to start Georgiev is a bit more complicated. Georgiev lost his last start in overtime 5-4 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Following the game, Tony DeAngelo and Georgiev allegedly got into a fight and he has not started since. Giving Georgiev the start would show the team still backs him especially against a team he has had a lot of success against including shutting them out this year.

                Semyon Varlamov will get the start for the Islanders. Varlamov shutout the Rangers on opening night and was supposed to start the second game but was injured in warmups. Varlamov is 4-2-1 with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.

               While the Rangers hope Mika Zibanejad can start to get out of this slump, the Blueshirts have been relying on Artemi Panarin who has really raised his game from the start of the season. Panarin now has nine points in the past four games including back-to-back three-point games. Panarin has now recorded five multiple-point games this season.

               On the injury report, Brendan Smith is getting closer but remains unavailable. Colin Blackwell resumed skating, whereas Jack Johnson hasn’t resumed skating. And Filip Chytil remains weeks away.

Projected Lineup

Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich

Panarin-Strome-Kakko

Lafreniere-Howden-Di Giuseppe

Lemieux-Rooney-Gauthier

Miller-Trouba

Lindgren-Fox

Hajek-Bitetto

Shesterkin