New York Rangers week ahead includes opportunities to break out of slump
The New York Rangers get right back to work Monday night, one day after a two-goal second-period lead turned into a 7-5 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, beginning a week that will see them play four games in seven days.
The Rangers appeared to be on their way to stringing together consecutive wins when they followed a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday by taking a 3-1 lead with less than six minutes left in the middle period against the Kraken. But Seattle scored three times before the end of the period and twice more to begin the third period. The Rangers never caught up, and instead of back-to-back wins, they enter the new week having lost seven of their past nine games.
The slump has dropped the Rangers (14-11-1) to the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference standings; they’re even in points with the New York Islanders but have played three fewer games.
Happily for the Rangers, this week’s schedule offers the opportunity to right the ship, with only one of the four games against a team that begins the week with a winning record. They host the League’s worst team, the Chicago Blackhawks (8-17-2), on Monday night, followed by a trip to Buffalo for a Wednesday night meeting with the struggling Sabres (11-13-3). The Los Angeles Kings (16-8-3), who are second in the Pacific Division, make their only Garden visit on Saturday afternoon, followed by a quick flight and a game at St. Louis against the Blues (13-13-2) on Sunday.
Who’s hot
Artemi Panarin has five points in his past two games after assisting on two goals Sunday. He leads the team in goals (15) and points (34), and he’s on pace to become the first player in franchise history to have back-to-back 100-point seasons. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) on a four-game point streak.
Vincent Trocheck scored again Sunday and has four goals in his past five games, matching his total for the first 21 games.
Who’s not
Sunday was a tough day for Jonathan Quick, who was shelled for six goals on 21 shots after being pressed into service when Igor Shesterkin was unavailable because his wife went into labor before the game. Quick started the season 4-0-0 but is 1-2-0 in his past three starts and has allowed 15 goals
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Rangers lookahead this week includes …
The completion of a stretch that has the Rangers playing five games in eight days and concludes with a nasty weekend back-to-back with the Los Angeles Kings at the Garden on Saturday followed by a flight to St. Louis for an early-evening game with the Blues on Sunday.
Chicago Blackhawks at Rangers (Dec. 9, 7 p.m. ET; MSGSN/NHL Network)
If there was a team the Rangers would want to face after a discouraging loss the day before, it’s the Blackhawks.
Not only is Chicago (8-17-2) last in the overall standings and mired in a five-game losing streak, they are without starting goaltender Petr Mrazek, who’s on injured reserve after leaving a 4-2 loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday with a left groin injury. That leaves backup Arvid Soderblom (1-6-1 despite a 2.60 goals-against average and .915 save percentage) and rookie Drew Comesso, who’s likely to make his NHL debut at some point during their three-game swing through the Metropolitan area this week.
The Rangers have won three in a row and seven of eight against the Blackhawks, who are 30th in the League in scoring with 66 goals in 27 games. It will be the second game for new coach Anders Sorensen, who was elevated from Rockford of the AHL when Luke Richardson was fired Thursday.
Read More: What to know about Urho Vaakanainen, the Rangers’ newest defenseman
Rangers at Buffalo Sabres (Dec. 11, 7 p.m. ET; MAX, TruTV, TNT)
Rest assured that coach Peter Laviolette will have his team primed for this one. Not only is the game on national TV, the Rangers undoubtedly have vivid memories of being embarrassed 6-1 by the Sabres in their own building on Nov. 7.
Buffalo hasn’t made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011, and the Sabres will have to kick their play up a few notches to avoid an NHL-record 14th consecutive failure to make the postseason. They enter the week on an 0-4-2 slide and are the only team to lose a game after leading by four goals; Buffalo led 4-0 less than 12 minutes into its home game against the Colorado Avalanche last Tuesday but allowed one goal in the second period and four more in the third to lose 5-4.
That game also cost the Sabres their best defenseman, Rasmus Dahlin. He left that game with back spasms and as of Sunday had yet to resume skating – making it sound unlikely that he’ll be ready to go when the Rangers come to town.
Los Angeles Kings at Rangers (Dec. 14, 1 p.m. ET; MSG)
With a weekend back-to-back, don’t be surprised if Quick gets the call against his old team in this Saturday matinee at the Garden. He is 1-1-0 all-time against the Kings, having split two decisions against them last season after joining the Rangers. If Quick starts and wins one of the Rangers’ two games before the Kings come to town, he’d be trying to become the first U.S.-born goaltender to win 400 games by defeating the team for which he earned 370 of those victories.
The Rangers are 4-1-0 in their past five games with the Kings and 6-0-2 against them at the Garden since a 4-2 loss on March 24, 2015. Overall, the Rangers are 43-20-2 with six ties against Los Angeles at MSG.
Rangers at St. Louis Blues (Dec. 15, 6 p.m. ET; MSG)
Revenge will be on the Rangers’ minds when they take on the Blues in an early-evening game at Enterprise Center after St. Louis used a three-goal third period to leave the Garden with a 5-2 win on Nov. 25.
St. Louis has had its ups and downs, with most of the downs coming because of a lack of offense – the Blues enter the week having scored 73 goals, the sixth-lowest total in the NHL. However, they’ve gotten a boost with the return of forward Robert Thomas, who had six points (two goals, four assists) to help the Blues go 2-1-0 last week in the first three games of a four-game trip that ends Tuesday in Vancouver. Former Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich is among those who’ve struggled to score, though he’s perked up recently with a five-game point streak (two goals, three assists).
Chris Kreider has enjoyed success in his limited opportunities against the Blues with eight goals and 17 points in 18 career games.
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