New York Rangers Travel to Toronto with Holiday Break on Horizon

The Blueshirts are in Toronto as the festive season nears as they look to overcome the Toronto Maple Leafs (7:00PM on MSG).

Rangers	Rankings	Leafs
21-7-1	Record	16-6-6
3rd	League Rank	10th
13th	Goals For	2nd
8th	Goals Against	15th
3rd	Power play	5th
6th	Penalty Kill	18th

New York is coming off a gutsy 2-1 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins. Igor Shesterkin returned to winning ways as he recorded his eleventh win of the season. Vincent Trocheck recorded both Rangers goals on the night.

Rangers vs Leafs

Just a week ago, the Blueshirts suffered a 7-3 defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs on home ice. Toronto all but sealed the game after the first period as they took a 4-1 lead heading into the second period. New York would make it a 4-3 game heading into the third period, but ultimately they couldn’t find a way back into the game.

At 11:59PM on Tuesday night, the NHL will enter a roster freeze until 12:01AM on December 28th as the league heads towards the holiday break. No waivers or trades will be permitted during this period of time. Upon conclusion of Tuesday night’s game, the Rangers will play a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday and then head on break for the holidays.

Now the Rangers will look to return the favor as they head into Toronto for a rematch. Former Ranger Ryan Reaves did not play in New York and he won’t feature on Tuesday night as Reaves landed on the long-term injured-reserve list.

Martin Jones made his first start of the season in New York and he is likely to get the start in Toronto on Tuesday. Jones recorded 28 saves on 31 shots in that contest. Since that game, Jones played against Pittsburgh and he recorded a 38 save shutout for the Leafs. Starting netminder Joseph Woll is currently out of the lineup for Toronto.

William Nylander is seventh in the league with 40 points while his center Auston Matthews leads the league with 23 goals. Matthews struck twice in New York in the Leafs winning effort.

Will Cuylle will play in Toronto for the first time in his hometown. Cuylle will have about 30 friends/family in attendance when he was asked by the local media on Tuesday morning. The 21-year-old has been pointless in each of the past three games.

Ryan Lindgren is expected to be in the lineup for the Rangers. Lindgren took a hard hit which resulted in David Pastrnak getting a five-minute major for boarding and a game-misconduct. Pastrnak wasn’t fined or given a hearing for a possible suspension following the game. Zac Jones skated for the extra defenseman for New York.

Lindgren’s defensive partner Adam Fox is quietly having another good point scoring season for the Rangers. Fox has 21 points in 19 games with 18 of his points being assists. The former Norris Trophy winner has ten points in the past eight games including an active four-game point streak.

The bet of the night – Vincent Trocheck to record over 2.5 shots on goal. Trocheck has been over this number in three of the past four games including six against Toronto last week. In addition, Trocheck’s confidence should be high, as he is coming off a two-goal game against one of the best teams in the NHL. A $5 bet will pay 8.57 for a profit of $3.57

Current record: 11-5

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $41 on the season