Standings: Jets (22-21-6), Rangers (30-12-4)

NYR Leading Scorer: Marian Gaborik (25-14-39)
Jets Leading Scorer: Blake Wheeler (9-24-33)

NYR Goaltender: Martin Biron (11 GS, 1.87 GAA, .930 SV%)
Jets Goaltender: Ondrej Pavelec (39 GS, 2.83 GAA, .910 SV%)

Rangers Lines (probable):

Carl Hagelin-Derek Stepan-Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky-Brian Boyle-Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko-Brad Richards-Brandon Prust
Mike Rupp-Artem Anisimov-John Mitchell

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto-Anton Stralman
Marc Staal-Stu Bickel

Martin Biron gets the start today.

Scratches/Injuries: Mike Sauer (concussion), Jeff Woywitka (foot), Wojtek Wolski (healthy)

Preview: This will be the Rangers last game before the break for the All Star Game, which appears to be a much needed break. The Rangers are finding ways to win despite certain aspects of their game (offense) taking nights (weeks) off. The Jets are a team that are in the bottom third in the conference in scoring and defense. They have a good young core in place, but are obviously missing some key pieces that can put it all together.

Blake Wheeler may be their leading scorer, but Evander Kane is the guy that most look to as their elite player. After all, anyone that knocks out Matt Cooke with one punch is A-OK in my book. The Jets are without Dustin Byfuglien tonight, but the highly touted Zach Bogosian has been playing very well in his stead.

I don’t watch much of the Winnipeg Jets of the Southeast Eastern Conference, so I don’t know much about how exactly they play. What is very obvious is that they get a lot of offense from their defense, so that is something for the Rangers to look out for.  The Rangers will need to watch out for those point men creeping in for opportunities. Bogosian and Tobias Enstrom are pretty good at that.

*Side note, as Suit noted for the Bruins game, don’t look too much into line combos, these are likely to change a lot throughout the game as Torts tries to find something to get the top six going.

Crazy Thought: The Rangers score more than two goals.

Opponent’s Blog: Jets Nation

Game time is 7:00pm on MSG2 (listings), AM970, and XM92.

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