The holiday break has come and gone, and the Rangers are back at it tonight at MSG. The Washington Capitals come to town, and they are in a surprising position, in fourth in the Metro Division. The Caps were not expected to be relevant this year, but they are currently ahead of both Carolina and New Jersey, two bonafide playoff teams.
Now it’s unlikely the Caps stay in the playoff hunt, they have just 77 goals this season and a -9 goal differential. Their 4 goals against the Rangers before the holidays was considered an outburst, which is surprising for a team with Alex Ovechkin. I don’t think Ovechkin is cooked, but it’s clear he misses Nik Backstrom.
The Caps are without both TJ Oshie and Sonny Milano, which should boost the Rangers success against their depth. Let’s see how the Rangers respond to their embarrassing loss to the Caps earlier this month.
Capitals Lines
Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas-Connor McMichael-Anthony Mantha
Hendrix Lapierre-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Ivan Miroshnichenko
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Joel Edmundson-Nick Jensen
Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Darcy Kuemper gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Blake Wheeler
Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle-Nick Bonino-Jonny Brodzinski
Jimmy Vesey-Barclay Goodrow-Tyler Pitlick
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Erik Gustafsson-Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin gets the start.
Injuries: Filip Chytil (concussion), Kaapo Kakko (leg)
Crazy Prediction: Someone fights Tom Wilson.
Game time is 7pm.
Share:
More About:Game Thread