New York Rangers face tough challenge in Dallas Stars
The New York Rangers are in Dallas for their second of a three game road tip that will conclude in Arizona tomorrow night.
Losing to the rival New York Islanders on Wednesday 3-0, they’re in the midst of a four-game losing streak (0-2-2). The Blueshirts are now taking on a very good Stars team as they look to pick up their first win in almost two weeks, a 6-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
“We’re in a little bit of a rut right now,” center Vincent Trocheck explained. “We have to forget about the last few games, go into Dallas and focus on ourselves.”
Here’s today’s game and broadcast info:
New York Rangers (3-3-2) vs. Dallas Stars (5-2-1)
Date/Time: October 29, 2022 at 2:00 PM ET
Arena: American Airlines Center
TV: MSG, NHLN
Radio: ESPN 98.7
New York Rangers look to get a road W
The Rangers have thrown everything and the kitchen sink in their last two games. Sadly, they’ve only come away with 2 goals on 87 shots against Alexandar Georgiev (COL) and Ilya Sorokin (NYI).
“You just keep working and doing the things you’re doing,” Gerard Gallant said on Friday. “You can’t get frustrated when it’s only 8 games into the season. You want to score, but some nights they don’t get in. You just keep at it and they’ll stay going in.”
Overall, the Rangers have been playing well since a complete dud against the Columbus Blue Jackets last Sunday. In that 5-1 loss, Jaroslav Halak was only able to make 16 saves. While he certainly let in a few bad ones, the team was giving up far too many quality chances.
They’ve been able to tighten things up defensively and captain Jacob Trouba spoke assuredly about his team.
“We’re confident in the group we have here,” said Trouba. “We know we can score goals. We’re getting opportunities, they’re just not going in. It is what it is. All we can do is keep working and eventually things are going to turn for us.”
The dreaded back-to-back
If the Rangers want to get out of this current slide, they’ll need to do so playing their third back-to-back set in just the first month of the season.
“It’s going to be hard back-to-back games,” Kakko admitted. “It’s never easy and we’re going to be tired. Still we have to be able to do it.”
Currently, they are 1-2-1 to date with both losses coming in the second game.
After a torrid start to the season, Rangers center Mika Zibanejad has now gone without a point in four straight games despite putting 18 shots on goal in that time. Artemi Panarin has also cooled off with no points in his last two games after scoring 12 in his first six.
Scoring slumps aside, Gallant likes the direction the team is heading in.
“I was more concerned about the three games prior to last night,” Gallant said. “I thought we played hard last night — got a point against a real good hockey team — and tonight I thought we played a good, solid game for three periods. I like the way we’re playing. If we continue to play (like that), we’ll win.
Rangers forward Julien Gauthier made his season debut in place of Vitali Kravtsov who is was announced clear to play on Friday. He will make the trip but is unlikely to suit up against the Stars.
Filip Chytil was a surprise participant in practice after taking an elbow to the head last week and being ruled out.
“It was good news he had an almost full practice,” Gerard Gallant said regarding Chytil. “But he didn’t feel good at the end, so we’ll be safe and not take him on the trip.”
Stars a tough challenge
The Stars have enjoyed a strong start to their season and are coming off a 2-0 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals on Thursday. Young goalie Jake Oettinger turned aside all 27 shots he faced against the Capitals and head coach Peter DeBoer had high praise for the former first-round draft pick.
“I think we knew that we had a starting goalie, but until you come out and do it every night, you always wonder if it’s real,” Deboer said. “But it’s real. He’s the real deal. It’s such a luxury to have a guy like that because he makes hard saves look easy.”
After starting the season with three consecutive wins, the Stars dropped three games over a four-game stretch prior to knocking off the Capitals.
Standout Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen missed his second straight game due to an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day.
Following Friday’s clash with the Rangers, the Stars will play six of their next eight games on the road while the Rangers will finish their three-game road trip Saturday when they take on the Arizona Coyotes.
Friday marks the lone contest between the Stars and Rangers at Dallas this season.
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–Field Level Media contributed to this article
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