Rangers set to face Sabres as Artemi Panarin says “team has to do better”

Tonight the Rangers will take on the Sabres in Buffalo and to a man understand they need to get on track. They dropped another one goal contest (3 in row) with a 3-2 loss to the Penguins with just 91 seconds left in the game.

(7:00 p.m. ET – TV: MSG 2, Radio: ESPN 1050 AM)

Rangers: 1-3-1 (3 pts)
Sabres: 2-3-1 (5 pts)

Note: Rangers will have an optional morning skate at 11:30 a.m. at KeyBank Center. Rangers Head Coach David Quinn and select players will speak to the media around 12:30 p.m.

Rangers vs Sabres: Chytil out, Georgiev starts

Filip Chytil suffered what appeared to be a wrist injury against the Penguins. He is now on a plane and headed back to New York for further evaluation and will not play in Buffalo.

The Rangers will make another change in goal and give the reins to Alexandar Georgiev to face the Sabres. Igor Shesterkin was shaky in the third period and cost the team a win. Afterwards, David Quinn said his goalie was “dejected”.

Georgiev is 1-1 on the season with a 2.40 GAA and .907 SV%.

Artemi Panarin believes in the team but they have to be better

New York Rangers
Panarin and Lafreniere at camp (Nick Homler / NYR)

“Each player on this team has to do better,” Panarin said yesterday. “Each one.”

The Rangers leading scorer last year and Hart Trophy Finalist remained optimistic about his production and that of his line. “Obviously at the beginning of the season we didn’t feel confidence or bad luck,” Panarin explained. “I think when bad luck passes we’ll be scoring 5 goals a game.”

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Pre Game Notes:

  • All-Time vs Buffalo: 77-78-25-5 (43-31-15-3 at home; 34-47-10-2 on the road)
  • The Rangers have won three of their last four games against Buffalo (3-1-0 record) and have outscored the Sabres, 17-8, in the four games, as well as 14-7 in the last three contests.
  • Six of the last 12 meetings between the Blueshirts and Sabres, including four of the last nine meetings, have been decided by one goal.
  • Alexandar Georgiev – 3 GP, 2-1-0, 2.02 GAA, .943 SV% – Georgiev has made at least 30 saves and has allowed two goals or fewer in two of his three career appearances against the Sabres. He has made 99 saves on 105 shots in his career against Buffalo.
  • Mika Zibanejad – 24 GP, 3-14-17 – Zibanejad has registered a point in 12 of his last 18 games against Buffalo (three goals, 11 assists).
  • Artemi Panarin – 12 GP, 5-8-13 – Panarin has tallied a point in eight of his last nine games against the Sabres (five goals, seven assists over the span).
  • Chris Kreider – 18 GP, 6-4-10 – Kreider has notched a point in six of his last 10 games against Buffalo (four goals, three assists), including a goal/point in four of his last seven contests against the Sabres (four goals, one assist) and in each of the last two games (two goals).
  • Ryan Strome – 15 GP, 5-2-7 – Strome has recorded six points (four goals, two assists) and a plus-nine rating in his last seven games again.

*Pre Game Notes courtesy of the NYR

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Anthony Scultore is the founder of Forever Blueshirts and has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL... More about Anthony Scultore

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