Rangers start big week by hosting struggling Devils
The New York Rangers will begin a back-to-back set Monday night at Madison Square Garden against the New Jersey Devils before heading to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes on Tuesday.
In their last game, the Blueshirts dominated the St. Louis Blues on Saturday by a 4-0 score thanks to the solid goaltending of Igor Shesterkin, who stopped all 26 shots sent his way.
“When he’s on top of his game, there’s nobody better than [Shesterkin],” defenseman Adam Fox said.
Of course, all eyes were on the two new additions up front with the speedy Jack Roslovic and the slick Alexander Wennberg making their Rangers debuts after the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline.
While Roslovic played a solid 16:21 of ice time registering two shots and ringing one off the crossbar, Wennberg notched an assist on Kaapo Kakko’s power-play goal in the third. His line with Will Cuylle and Kakko instantly hit it off, earning Wennberg the Broadway Hat from his teammates postgame.
“I feel like we were finding each other pretty well,” Wennberg said. “These are guys I’ve never played with before. It takes some time to build chemistry, but right away you feel like there’s something there.”
Here’s today’s game and broadcast info:
New York Rangers (41-18-4) vs New Jersey Devils (31-29-4)
Date/Time: March 11, 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: Rangers add Jack Roslovic at end of trade deadline
New York Rangers projected lineup
Here’s the expected lineup:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Roslovic
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Wennberg – Kakko
Vesey – Goodrow – Rempe
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Schneider
Jones – Gustafsson
Quick
Shesterkin
Update: Fox is a game-time decision. He didn’t take part in the morning skate due to an illness. If he can’t play, Chad Ruhwedel will make his Rangers debut and Erik Gustafsson will move up to the top defense pairing with Ryan Lindgren.
New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils
The Rangers remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division with 86 points, despite only playing twice last week. However, the hard-charging Hurricanes are just two points behind thanks to a recent hot streak over their last six contests (5-1-0). New York does have a game in hand.
That being said, New York can’t look past New Jersey, which will most certainly bring it, fighting for its playoff life. The Devils have only won four times in their past 12 games (4-8-0) and are six points behind the New York Islanders for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
This season, the Blueshirts are 22-8-0 at the Garden and 7-1-0 in their past eight contests on home ice. Additionally, the Rangers have points in four of their last five regular-season meetings (3-1-1) versus the Devils.
With this being the first set of a back-to-back and a battle for first place in the Metro set up for Tuesday, Jonathan Quick will make the start in goal for the Blueshirts.
Quick has a record of 13-5-2 this season with a goals-against average of 2.45 and .916 save percentage. His last start was a 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb, 25, so he’s long overdue to get the nod in net.
Note: On Monday, the Rangers will celebrate Women’s Empowerment Night advocating for women to be well- represented in every area throughout the community, including all of sports.
Upcoming Rangers Milestones
- Jonathan Quick is 1 win away from tying Dominik Hasek (389) for 15th all-time
- 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
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