Rangers vs. Ducks: Lineups, storylines starting 3-game trip in California
The New York Rangers will see some familiar faces when they take the ice against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Monday night, in the opener of a three-game California road trip.
The Ducks, who’ve won three in a row after losing nine straight games, are a second home for ex-Rangers. Center Ryan Strome and defenseman Jacob Trouba face their former teammates, but forward Frank Vatrano is out with a broken shoulder.
Forward Chris Kreider, traded by the Rangers to the Ducks in June, missed the Anaheim’s two-game weekend sweep of the archrival Los Angeles Kings with an illness, but said before the morning skate that he’s good to go. That means he’ll go up against his best buddy on the Rangers, center Mika Zibanejad, for the first time since No. 93 was a member of the Ottawa Senators.
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” was Kreider’s answer when asked what it would feel like.
The Ducks are trying to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. They enter the week with 51 points (24-21-3), even with the Kings and San Jose Sharks in the race for the second wild-card position in the Western Conference, though the Sharks have a game in hand on their Southern California rivals.
The Rangers, who lost 4-1 to the Ducks at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 15, won’t have to worry about shutting down Anaheim’s leading scorer, forward Leo Carlsson — he’s out with a thigh injury. New York enters the game last in the Eastern Conference at 21-22-6, nine points behind the Buffalo Sabres for the second wild card.
3 storylines when Rangers visit Ducks
Can the offense keep rolling?
Facing the Ducks could be just what the Rangers need to build on their 6-3 road win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Anaheim is next-to-last in the NHL defensively, allowing an average of 3.58 goals per game. New York is 27th in scoring at 2.65 goals per game.
Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad are riding lengthy point streaks as the Rangers begin their trip. Panarin has points in nine straight games, including two goals and an assist against the Flyers. Zibanejad’s point streak reached eight games when he scored three times Saturday. It was his second hat trick this month and ninth with the Rangers, tying him with Bill Cook for the franchise record.
The Ducks’ penalty-killing struggles could also help Zibanejad extend the team record for power-play goals he set on Saturday, when he passed Camille Henry and Kreider with his 117th. The Ducks are 20th on the PK at 78.3 percent. Zibanejad leads the Rangers with nine power-play goals this season.
Spencer Martin gets call again
Spencer Martin, a journeyman goaltender, was good enough (three goals allowed on 28 shots) to earn the win against the struggling Flyers in his first start for the Rangers. He’ll be in goal against the Ducks, with Jonathan Quick likely to play against his old team, the Kings, on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old has a 4.16 goals-against average and .852 save percentage in his three appearances with the Rangers. He won his only career start against the Ducks, an 8-5 victory on Nov. 2, 2022, when he was with the Vancouver Canucks.
Goaltending has not been a Rangers strength since Igor Shesterkin went down with a lower-body injury two weeks ago. The Rangers gave up 30 goals in the five full games since Shesterkin’s injury.
Fallout from “Letter 2.0” continues
Needless to say, Friday’s “Letter 2.0” from general manager Chris Drury saying that changes are coming and veterans could be on the way out is still a hot topic of conversation — though Kreider did not have much to say, commenting before the morning skate that “my focus is on this room, this team.”
Coach Mike Sullivan is pleased with the way his players have responded since Drury’s letter.
“I think the guys are doing their very best to take a professional approach through this process,” he said after the morning skate. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks here, most recently. I do think that these guys take a lot of pride in what they do, and they and they care a lot.
“it’s not just coach speak; it’s my honest assessment of this group of players… Does it change the mindset? It may, in some strange way. There’s clarity of direction and people understand where we’re all at right now.”
New York Rangers projected lineup
Gabe Perreault — J.T. Miller — Mika Zibanejad
Artemi Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Brennan Othmann — Noah Laba — Will Cuylle
Jonny Brodzinski — Sam Carrick –Taylor Raddysh
Vladislav Gavrikov — Braden Schneider
Matthew Robertson – Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen – Scott Morrow
Spencer Martin
Jonathan Quick
Rangers vs. Ducks: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Anaheim Ducks
When: Monday, Jan. 19 at 10 p.m. ET
Where: Honda Center
How to watch: MSG
