Rangers and Penguins set for afternoon tilt on national T.V.
The New York Rangers will look to rebound from a terrible third period in Tampa where they gave up four unanswered goals to the Lightning en-route to a 6-3 loss Thursday.
They will have to do so in Pittsburgh against a struggling, but still offensively dangerous, Penguins team in a Saturday matinee. It’s also a nationally televised affair on ABC.
The Rangers will be without Matt Rempe, who is serving his third of a four-game suspension for elbowing New Jersey Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler in the head Monday. Meanwhile defenseman Jacob Trouba remains sidelined for 2-3 weeks with a lower-body injury.
Here’s today’s game and broadcast info:
New York Rangers (43-19-4) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (29-27-9)
Date/Time: March 16, 2024 @ 3:00 PM ET
Arena: PPG Paints Arena
TV: ABC
Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM
Note: Subject to change, updated for each game
Related: College free agents the Rangers should target
New York Rangers projected lineup
Here’s the expected lineup:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Roslovic
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Wennberg – Kakko
Vesey – Goodrow – Brodzinski
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Schneider
Jones – Gustafsson
Quick
Shesterkin
Update: Head coach Peter Laviolette will address the media at 12:40 p.m. ET.
New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins
The Rangers remain at 90 points after losing to the Lightning and saw their Metropolitan Division lead reduced to four points over the Carolina Hurricanes (86 points), who beat the Florida Panthers on Thursday. The Rangers are still just four points behind the Panthers (94 points) for the Presidents’ Trophy with a game in hand.
“Kind of a good lesson for us going forward here,” forward Jimmy Vesey said. “The playoff games have a lot of momentum swings and we’ve got to learn to manage that.”
Meanwhile, the Penguins are clinging to slim playoff hopes with 67 points. They are five points in back of the final wild card spot held by the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings (72 points each). However, there are three other teams in front of them to jump before even thinking of claiming a berth in the playoffs. Over their past 10 games, Pittsburgh is 3-6-1.
A look at the Blueshirts shows they are one of the hottest teams in the NHL with 14 wins in their past 18 games (14-3-1).
This is the second of three meetings between the rivals with the Rangers coming out on top 1-0 in Pittsburgh back on Nov. 22. Jonathan Quick stopped all 32 shots he faced and Alexis Lafreniere notched the only goal.
The season series will conclude at the Garden on April 1.
Upcoming Rangers Milestones
- K’Andre Miller is 1 point away from 100 career points
- Artemi Panarin is 3 assists from 500 career helpers
- Chris Kreider is 3 goals aways from 300 in his career and 1 game from 800
- Jonathan Quick is 2 wins from tying Ryan Miller (391) for most wins by an American-born goalie
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