The New York Rangers will finally play a hockey game on Wednesday night when they visit the Atlantic Division Florida Panthers.
New York Rangers: 19-7-4, 42 Pts.
Florida Panthers: 18-7-4 40 Pts.
Venue: FLA Live Arena
Television: MSG 2 / Radio: ESPN 1050 AM
The New York Rangers will play their first game since a 3-2 OT loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, Dec. 17 and currently are in third place in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind both the Washington Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes.
In their last 13 games against Florida, the Rangers are 7-2-4 for 18 points while averaging 3.92 goals per game.
When we last saw the Blueshirts play;
–Chris Kreider was leading the team in goals (18) and was second in the NHL in power-play goals (11).
– Artemi Panarin was about to return from a lower-body injury that occurred in the team’s 3-2 win in Arizona on Dec. 15.
-G Igor Shesterkin was scheduled to return to action before the NHL postponed their game on Dec. 22 against Montreal. Shessterkin was injured on Dec. 4 and missed seven games (excluding the two postponed games against Montreal and Detroit).
-Mika Zibabnejad has entered Wednesday’s contest with a two-game scoring streak.
Lineup
Prior to leaving for Florida on Tuesday, the club made some roster announcements.
Kevin Rooney was added to Covid Protocol. He joins Ryan Lindgren, Alexandar Georgiev and Jared Tinordi.
The club will be using a Taxi Squad during these uncertain times. Morgan Barron, Jonny Brodzinski, Tim Gettinger, Zac Jones, Matthew Robertson, and Adam Huska will be practicing with the team, but need to be officially recalled in order to be in the lineup.
Keith Kinkaid was recalled on Monday and will be backing up Shesterkin on Wednesday.
The team officially recalled Zac Jones and Tim Gettinger on Tuesday but they are not expected to play Wednesday night.
Projected Lineup
Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Strome-Hunt
Lafreniere-Chytil-Gauthier
Reaves-McKegg-Goodrow
Miller-Trouba
Hajek-Fox
Nemeth-Lundkvist
Shesterkin
News/Notes
In this calendar year, the Rangers have a 46-30-10 record for 102 points.
This season the Rangers are:
• 12-0-2 when scoring first
• 9-1-0 when leading after the first period
• 11-0-3 when leading after the second period
• 8-1-1 when outshooting an opponent
• 11-0-2 when outscoring an opponent on special teams
• 16-1-1 when scoring three or more goals
SPECIAL TEAMS
New York and Anaheim are the only two teams that have a power play and penalty kill ranked in the top-six in the NHL.
POWER PLAY
• The Rangers are 22-for-86 (25.6%) on the power play this season, sixth-best (tied) in the NHL.
• The Rangers have power-play goals in three of their last five games, eight of their last 10 games, and 10 of their last 13 games. • The Rangers are 13-2-3 in games in which they have scored a power-play goal.
PENALTY KILL
• New York is 75-for-89 (84.3%) on the penalty kill this season, the fifth-best in the NHL.
• The Blueshirts have been perfect on the PK in four of their last five games and 10 of their last 12 games.
• The Rangers are 16-1-2 in games this season where they have not allowed a power-play goal.
Wednesday will be the second and last game against the Panthers. The Rangers defeated the Panthers 4-3 on Nov. 8. (NYR Stats)
The team’s roster is subject to change as the NHL is continuing to do daily COVID-19 testing.