Rangers vs. Avalanche: Lineups, storylines for must-see matinee
Your head may tell you not to build up the importance of this early December matinee for the New York Rangers against the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon. But your heart tells you otherwise.
Admit it. This is a must-see matinee at MSG.
It just feels like the Rangers (15-12-2) are primed to measure up against the best team in the League. That doesn’t guarantee the final outcome. But it sure does mean the Rangers are heading into this game confident and believing they’re on a level playing field with the Avalanche.
Coming off two straight solid wins, the Rangers are 5-1-0 in their past six games. Yes, the one loss was an ugly no-show at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning one week ago. But they knocked off two of the best teams in the NHL during this stretch — the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars — and come off a strong showing Thursday, when they never trailed in a 4-2 road win over the Ottawa Senators.
Igor Shesterkin is at the heart of this mini revival. The highest paid goalie in the NHL is earning every penny lately, and the Rangers likely will ride him for a seventh straight start Saturday. With his backup Jonathan Quick nearly at full health after sustaining a lower-body injury two weeks ago, Shesterkin probably will empty the tank Saturday and watch from the bench Sunday, when the Rangers host the back end of this difficult weekend stretch against the Vegas Golden Knights.
First things first, though. There is no looking past the Avalanche (19-2-6), whose 44 points are tops in the NHL. They’re coming off only their second regulation defeat of the season, 6-3 losers to the Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday.
So, the Rangers should expect the best from the Avalanche, who are not accustomed to the sloppy play — nor the early 4-0 deficit — that pockmarked their loss on Long Island. Colorado is the highest-scoring team in the League, averaging 4.04 goals per game, and the stingiest defensively. Even after the loss Thursday, the Avalanche goal differential is plus-47, head and shoulders better than any other team.
They’re led by Nathan MacKinnon, who’s the early frontrunner for the Hart Trophy as League MVP. MacKinnon leads the NHL with 22 goals and 46 points, and is plus-32 (!) in 29 games. The reigning NHL player of the month for November, scored two goals, including the game-winner in a 6-3 Avalanche victory over the Rangers on Nov. 20 at Ball Arena.
The Rangers battled in that one, but just weren’t quite good enough. Let’s see what Saturday brings in a true measuring-stick game for the Rangers.
3 storylines when Rangers host Avalanche
1. Score first and win, usually
It’s not a stretch to say that probably all NHL teams wish to score the first goal of any game they play. But it might just be more so with the Rangers and Avalanche. Each has 13 wins this season when scoring the game-opening goal, tied for second most in the League. The Rangers are 13-2-0 when doing so; the Avalanche are 13-1-3.
That stat leans into how good each team is defensively. The Avalanche have the lowest goals-against average in the NHL (2.19) and the Rangers are tied for fourth (2.59). Each team is exceptionally difficult to come back against, even from a 1-0 deficit.
The difference, though, between the teams is that the Avalanche have much more success in games they surrender the first goal than the Rangers do. Even though they lost to the Islanders after giving up the first goal, the Avalanche are 6-1-3 when scored upon first this season. The Rangers are a woeful 2-10-2 in such games.
2. New York’s hidden key to success
It also wouldn’t hurt the Rangers to get a goal or any kind of point from Alexis Lafreniere to greatly enhance their chances to win Saturday. The Rangers won all six games this season when Lafreniere scored a goal and are 9-0-1 when he records a point. The only issue with that is the 24-year-old forward only has points in 10 of 29 games, so far. He’s pointless in his past three games and has two points (two goals) in his past 11 contests.
Similarly, the Rangers typically fare well when Will Cuylle lands on the score sheet. They are a perfect 7-0-0 when the 23-year-old forward scores a goal and 11-3-0 when he records a point. For the record, Cuylle is fifth on the Rangers with 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) this season, one spot and two points ahead of Lafreniere (six goals, eight assists).
3. Blue line production
Rangers defensemen scored 16 goals in the first 29 games this season, fifth most in the NHL. Four of those goals came in the past two games, and that’s with Adam Fix sidelined by an upper-body injury.
Vladislav Gavrikov leads the blueliners with six goals, tying his career high already; and he’s scored in consecutive games and netted three goals in the past four contests. Carson Soucy has three goals this season, tied with Fox for second among Rangers defensemen. And Will Borgen scored what turned out to be the game-winner against the Senators.
None of this is a small deal to Rangers coach Mike Sullivan.
“Any time you can get production from your blue line, it certainly helps your team offense,” he explained postgame Thursday. “So much in today’s game, the way the game’s being played, you need to have your defenseman involved, be it off the rush or in the offensive zone.”
Of course, facing the top scoring team in the League on Saturday, the Rangers d-men must focus on doing their main job — and that’s to play defense — though point production is a nice bonus.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
J.T. Miller — Vincent Trocheck — Conor Sheary
Will Cuylle — Noah Laba — Brett Berard
Jonny Brodzinski — Sam Carrick — Taylor Raddysh
Vladislav Gavrikov — Braden Schneider
Carson Soucy — Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson — Scott Morrow
Igor Shesterkin
Spencer Martin
Rangers vs. Avalanche: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Colorado Avalanche
When: Saturday Dec. 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
