Rangers host desperate Penguins team to kick off April
The New York Rangers have eight games remaining in their regular-season schedule to kick off the month of April. As they focus on trying to win the Metropolitan Division, they’ll host a desperate Pittsburgh Penguins team fighting for their playoff lives.
On Saturday, the Blueshirts outlasted the Arizona Coyotes 8-5 and picked up their 50th win of the season. However, that may have been the smallest milestone of the day.
Jonathan Quick led the way recording the 392 win of his amazing career to give him sole possession of 15th on the all-time NHL win list for goalies. More importantly, he became the all-time winningest American-born goaltender surpassing Ryan Miller.
“Grateful we got a couple of empty netters to close it out,” Quick smiled. “It’s a good feeling to get it done and focus on winning the division.”
The offensive star of the night was Alexis Lafrenière, who not only registered his first career NHL hat trick, but notched a career-high five points (three goals, two assists) in one game. Meanwhile, Chris Kreider registered his 300th, and Adam Fox picked up two assists to reach 300 points in just his 349th game.
Another good thing to come out of the victory was the return of captain Jacob Trouba, who missed 11 games with a lower-body injury. Now the Blueshirts await the return of defenseman Erik Gustafsson. He’s still day to day with an upper-body injury after leaving a 4-3 shootout win over the Panthers on March 23.
Here’s today’s game and broadcast info:
New York Rangers (50-20-4) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (32-30-11)
Date/Time: April 1, 2024 @ 7:00 PM ET
Arena: Madison Square Garden
TV: MSG
Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM
Note: Subject to change, updated for each game
Related: Milestone filled March
New York Rangers projected lineup
Here’s the expected lineup:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Roslovic
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Brodzinski – Wennberg – Kakko
Cuylle – Goodrow – Vesey
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Jones – Schneider
Shesterkin
Quick
Note: The New York Rangers will hold a morning skate tomorrow at 10:30 AM ET at the MSG Training Center. Head Coach Peter Laviolette will address the media afterwards. Check back here for updates.
New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins
The Rangers (104 points) remain in the lead for the Presidents’ Trophy race, up one point over the Dallas Stars (103 points) with a game in hand. Looking at the Metropolitan Division, the second-place Carolina Hurricanes are three points behind (101 points) and are off until Thursday, when they host the Boston Bruins.
Heading to the opposition’s locker room, the Penguins (75 points) are seven points in back of the Philadelphia Flyers (82 points), who hold the final wild card spot in the East. However, Pittsburgh have played two less games, so they need every one of their possible remaining points.
That being said, the Penguins have an atrocious record on the road (12-17-7) and haven’t won away from PPG Paints Arena in nine games (0-6-3). Meanwhile, the Rangers are excellent at home (26-9-0) and are 5-1-0 in their last six on Broadway. Overall, the Blueshirts have points in 24 of its last 29 games (22-5-2).
New York leads the regular season-series (2-0-0) and will be looking to sweep on Monday.
Upcoming Rangers Milestones
- Vincent Trocheck is 3 goals away from 200 in his career
- Braden Schneider is 2 games away from 200 in his career
- Mika Zibanejad is 8 goals away from 300 in his career
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