The shorthanded Rangers kick off their back to back tonight against Montreal, a team that is interestingly enough on the tail end of their back to back. The Canadiens are very bad, but have a good enough top six to make teams pay for taking them lightly. This is a game the Rangers should win rather easily, but we’ve said that before to frustrating results.
The Blueshirts are without both Chris Kreider and Julien Gauthier, so newcomer Jake Leschyshyn will get his first game as a New York Ranger tonight. The injuries leave the Rangers light on scoring, which is expected when you lose a top line forward. The offense didn’t look overly bad against Dallas the other night, but needed 59:59.8 to get their first goal. They had some good controlled play, but lacked a bit of finish.
Today will be a good barometer for scoring struggles while managing injuries, as Sam Montembeault isn’t overly good and is starting his second in a row of the back to back. Again, this should be a game the Rangers win, but it is a trap game.
Habs Lines
Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Kirby Dach
Juraj Slafkovsky-Christian Dvorak-Josh Anderson
Evgenii Dadonov-Jake Evans-Joel Armia
Justin Barron-Jonathan Drouin-Jesse Ylonen
Joel Edmundson-David Savard
Jordan Harris-Johnathan Kovacevic
Arber Xhekaj-Chris Wideman
Sam Montembeault gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Alexis Lafreniere-Mika Zibanejad-Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Vitali Kravtsov
Barclay Goodrow-Filip Chytil-Jimmy Vesey
Sammy Blais-Johnny Brodzinski-Jake Leschyshyn
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Braden Schneider
Ben Harpur-Jacob Trouba
Igor Shesterkin gets the start.
Injuries: Chris Kreider (shoulder), Julien Gauthier (upper body)
Crazy Prediction: Leschyshyn scores
Game time is 5pm.
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