mika zibanejad

The Rangers may have beaten the Penguins the other night, but it was not a good game by the Blueshirts. They were outskated and outplayed in every facet of the game, with specific focus in the neutral zone. The Rangers got lucky, and if they want to win tonight, they need to shore up their play in the neutral zone. Better angling, better coverage, and less backing up to the top of the circle.

This is another big game for the Rangers, as they all are from now through the end of the season. By my math, the Rangers can only afford four more losses before they are out of the playoff race. With 17 games left, that means a few big winning streaks are needed. The .500 hockey has to stop.

Penguins Lines

Jake Guentzel-Sidney CrosbyBryan Rust
Jason Zucker-Jared McCann-Evan Rodrigues
Zach Aston-Reese-Frederick Gaudreau-Sam Lafferty
Radim Zohorna-Mark Jankowski-Colton Sceviour

Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci

PP1: Crosby-McCann-Rust-Guentzel-Letang
PP2: Zucker-Rodrigues-Zohorna-Marino-Matheson

Tristan Jarry gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin–Ryan Strome–Colin Blackwell
Alexis Lafreniere–Filip ChytilKaapo Kakko
Brett Howden-Kevin Rooney–Vitali Kravtsov

Ryan LindgrenAdam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Libor HajekBrendan Smith

PP1: Strome-Zibanejad-Panarin-Kreider-Fox
PP2: Kakko-Buchnevich-Chytil-Lafreniere-Miller

Igor Shesterkin gets the start.

Scratches/InjuriesJack Johnson (sports hernia), Phil Di Giuseppe (healthy), Julien Gauthier (healthy)

Crazy Prediction: A defensive struggle, instead of the track meet we saw the other day.

Game time is 7pm.

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