The New York Rangers (3-2-2) inconsistent play continues during the first month of the season as they lost another contest at home versus the Colorado Avalanche – a 3-2 loss in a shootout on Oct. 25. Their former backup goalie, Alexandar Georgiev was the star as he saved 44 of the 46 shots he faced in his return to Madison Square Garden. Igor Shesterkin performed better in the shootout loss in comparison to his previous two starts based on his save percentages (SV%) – he had a .818 SV% on Oct. 17 versus the Anaheim Ducks, a .889 SV% on Oct. 20 against the San Jose Sharks, and a .955 SV% in the contest versus the Avalanche.
However, the club has been mediocre following a solid opening night game versus the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 11 and will aim to get back on the right track against their crosstown rival, the New York Islanders (2-4-0). Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak may get the start in goal against his former club as they are playing back-to-back games.
Related: Rangers Season Could Sour Quickly if Halak Keeps Struggling
The Islanders are in the midst of their own struggles as they have lost three consecutive games and will look to snap their losing streak versus the Rangers tonight. In order to avoid a slow start similar to last year, they need to begin winning contests as they are in last place in the Metropolitan Division and are five points behind the two teams tied for first place – the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Here’s our gameday preview.
New York Rangers Projected Lineup
Forwards
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafreniere
Jimmy Vesey – Barclay Goodrow – Vitali Kravtsov
Sammy Blais – Ryan Carpenter – Ryan Reaves
Defense
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Libor Hajek – Braden Schneider
Goaltenders
Halak – Shesterkin
Goodrow Filling In for Chytil at Center
Goodrow has moved to the center position on the third line in the absence of Chytil. The 29-year-old forward finished the game versus the Avalanche with a goal and an assist and is looking to improve the Rangers’ defense with his two-way play, saying, “Whenever you’re going through something like this, you can always resort to going back to simple hockey. When you do that the other stuff starts to open up. We’re a little frustrated but we have what it takes in here to fix that.”
The Rangers do have…
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