The NY Rangers are surging, and are now within striking distance of the New Jersey Devils. They sit just one point back –the Devils have a game in hand– while the Devils have come crashing back down to Earth. Turns out riding ridiculous shooting percentage and unsustainable goaltending isn’t a recipe for success when your goalie is Vitek Vanacek. Who knew?
That said, the Devils still have good process and a good lineup. They are a team that can put up goals in bunches if the Rangers let off the gas. If they play the way they did in Montreal, New Jersey will steam roll them. The Rangers tend to play down to opponents, but they also tend to sleep walk through first periods. They can’t do either against the Devils.
This is an opportunity for the Rangers to take 2nd place in the Metro Division, even if it is just until the Devils play that game in hand. For all the missed points in November, the Blueshirts are making up ground now against a much tougher schedule.
Devils Lines
Ondrej Palat-Nico Hischier-Jesper Bratt
Erik Haula-Jack Hughes-Tomas Tatar
Yegor Sharangovich-Jesper Boqvist-Dawson Mercer
Miles Wood-Michael McLeod-Alexander Holtz
Jonas Siegenthaler-Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves-John Marino
Brendan Smith-Damon Severson
Vitek Vanacek gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Vitali Kravtsov
Alexis Lafreniere-Filip Chytil-Jimmy Vesey
Sammy Blais-Barclay Goodrow-Julien Gauthier
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Braden Schneider
Ben Harpur-Jacob Trouba
Igor Shesterkin gets the start.
Injuries: None
Crazy Prediction: A complete dominating performance by the Rangers
Game time is 1pm.
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