Rangers visit Maple Leafs just one week after brutal loss at home
On Tuesday, the New York Rangers will look to get revenge on the Toronto Maple Leafs as they head north for another Original Six match up. Just one week ago, they were embarrassed by the Maple Leafs on home ice in a brutal 7-3 loss.
“I think anytime you don’t get the outcome you’re looking for, it’s good to play the team (again),” Peter Laviolette explained. “My interpretation of that game is that we weren’t very good in the first period, I thought we were really good in the second period. I think we started the third period the right way. We had to kill that penalty, they scored right away on it, and that deflated us. We didn’t handle it very well from there.”
The last two games have been a great sign for the Blueshirts. After an impressive 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks and an even better 2-1 overtime win against the Boston Bruins, they may finally be back on track. After surrendering three losses in a four-game span, their worst stretch of the season thus far, they have now won two straight.
Another positive that came from Saturday night’s win over Boston was the impressive play of Igor Shesterkin, who stopped 22 out of 23 shots in the contest. After struggling since his injury, he returned to form and looked very sharp in the cage.
The goal for the Rangers will be to stop the explosive offense of Toronto. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner each found the back of the net twice in what was a seven-goal outing for the Maple Leafs. New York will have to bolster their defense in this match up if they want to flip the script in Toronto.
Here’s tonight’s game and broadcast info:
New York Rangers (21-7-1) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (16-6-6)
Date/Time: December 19, 2023 @ 7:00 PM ET
Arena: Scotiabank Arena
TV: MSG, MSGSN
Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM
Note: Subject to change, updated for each game
New York Rangers projected lineup
Following a hard-fought victory over the Boston Bruins, the lines at the Rangers practice looked to be the same on Monday. Here are the expected line combinations and pairings for Tuesday night:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Wheeler
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Bonino – Brodzinski
Vesey – Goodrow – Pitlick
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Gustafsson – Schneider
Shesterkin
Quick
Note: The Rangers will hold a morning skate at 11:30 AM ET at Scotiabank Arena. Check back in for updates.
New York Rangers vs Toronto Maple Leafs
The Rangers look to be skating with some confidence once again. After taking down one of the best teams in the league on Saturday, they will come into Toronto looking to do it again. The Maple Leafs are third in the Eastern Conference behind the Rangers and Bruins, and are coming off a dominating 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
New York has dominated on the road this season. They have amassed an 11-4-1 record as the visiting team. Good enough for 23 points and a .719% points percentage which ranks second in the NHL. They will look for this play to continue as they head north to face Toronto.
Once again, the duo of Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck will be leaned on if the Rangers are to come out victorious this time around. Panarin now has 11 points (4G-7A) in his last seven games and has recorded a point in 24 out of 29 games this season.
After scoring both of the team’s goals in a 2-1 win over Boston, Trocheck now has 25 points (7G-18A) in 23 games. He has been on a tear ever since being placed on the second line. Hopefully, these two will be able to ignite Alexis Lafreniere. After a great start to the season, he now finds himself amidst a 12-game goal-scoring drought. He has only four assists in that time frame.
Toronto will look to overpower the Rangers as they did last week. William Nylander has just eclipsed the 40 point mark (15G-25A). Auston Matthews is tied for the league lead in goals with 23 and sits with 35 points. On defense, Morgan Reilly is now up to 21 points in 28 games.
After getting his first win of the season against the Rangers, Martin Jones went on to blank the Pittsburgh Penguins in Toronto’s 7-0 routing. It would not be surprising to see Jones in net again when they take on the Rangers. In two games, along with one relief appearance, Jones has a .949% save percentage and a 1.85 GAA. It has been an impressive resurgence thus far for the netminder.
This will be a great test for the New York Rangers, who will certainly be looking for revenge when the puck drops at Scotiabank Arena.
“Obviously, we went through a little bit of a tough stretch,” Blake Wheeler mentioned. “Over the course of the season those things are going to happen, so it really is all about how you respond. Look at it as an opportunity for us to have a little bit of a better performance than we had last week when we played (Toronto).
After having beaten a top team in the league on Saturday, taking down another one would be a statement win for the Blueshirts as they head towards the holiday break.
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