There are many storylines entering this game but none bigger than the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division battling for first place.
With an equal number of games played – Carolina leads the Rangers by two points. A win for the Rangers will put them tied for first place in the Metropolitan Division
The two teams will play one more time this season at Madison Square Garden
The winner of the Metropolitan Division will play the wild card team from the Atlantic Division. As of right now – that is the Boston Bruins.
Another big storyline entering this game is the return of Tony DeAngelo to the Garden
DeAngelo was waived by the Rangers last season after getting into a physical confrontation with goaltender Alex Georgiev.
DeAngelo has been a very controversial figure throughout his career as he has had multiple documented incidents mostly off the ice. It has since been heavily noted that DeAngelo was a problem in the locker room in New York and that the altercation with Georgiev was the final straw in his Rangers career
What kind of reception will DeAngelo get from the crowd? On a scale of Henrik Lundqvist to Tom Wilson, I would be willing to bet it is closer to the Wilson side
The likely goaltending matchup is Igor Shesterkin vs Frederik Andersen. Both goaltenders will likely be finalists for the Vezina Trophy at the end of the year.
This is the first time the Hurricanes will face Shesterkin this season. In both games against the Rangers, the Hurricanes played Georgiev each time
I think it is very important for the Rangers to at least make Tuesday night’s game extremely competitive. Despite splitting the first two meetings, Carolina was flat-out the dominant team. Luckily for the Rangers, they got Georgiev’s best game of the season stopping all 44 shots on March 20th
This is the first time the two teams will place since the trade deadline. It will be interesting to see just how much better the Rangers play the Hurricanes at 5 v 5 with their acquisitions
Carolina is 5-3-2 in their last ten including defeats to the Wild, Sabres, and Islanders
Filip Chytil remains out of the lineup but he is close. It sounds like the Rangers are playing it safe with Chytil and rightfully so
Tyler Motte is described to have a “significant” upper-body injury. Don’t expect Motte back for the rest of the regular season. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was longer than that.
