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Rangers aim for third straight win against Bruins; Kreider maybe more than day-to-day
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
After a two day break following two weekend wins, the Rangers (4-2-0) will aim to extend their win streak to three games when they take on the Boston Bruins (3-3-0) tonight at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers are dealing with a few early injury bugs, forcing them to insert Oscar Lindberg into the lineup ahead of time and place Pavel Buchnevich on IR. Alain Vigneault said that leading scorer Chris Kreider was having “a tough time moving” and that his neck spasms might keep him out longer than day-to-day. Buchnevich is on IR for the time being but has been practicing in a non-contact jersey, so he may be ready for Friday.
The Bruins had a few of their own injuries, having to make two call-ups in net for their game last night against the Wild. Malcolm Subban and Zane McIntyre both played in Boston’s 5-0 loss. Tuukka Rask may have tweaked his hamstring and Anton Khudobin is out for about three weeks so it’ll probably be those two again tonight. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers battle the Caps for the first time; Girardi and Buchnevich still not ready
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After two home games followed by two days off, the Rangers (2-2-0) will face one of their toughest tasks of this brief season, and that’s a road contest against Alex Ovechkin and the Washinton Capitals (3-0-1), who have not lost in regulation.
This is also the first game in a back-to-back series for New York, as they will face the Coyotes tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. For the Capitals, this is their last game before they get some time off, with just one game in the next six days.
This is the first of four meetings between the Rangers and the Caps this season, with the next game not coming until February. The Rangers were 2-2-1 in the series last season, winning one of the two games at the Verizon Center. New York has earned a point in seven of their last 10 games against Washington (6-3-1), and have scored at least three goals in eight of those 10 games. Read the rest of this entry
McDonagh back as the Rangers take on Chicago; Boyle and Staal still questionable
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
In the last game for the Rangers, the fists were flying early on as the Rangers looked to stand up for their downed captain. After that, Derick Brassard tied his career high of 19 goals, and Derek Stepan found the back of the net twice, including scoring his 100th career NHL goal. Henrik Lundqvist was superb when he had to be, and came within 10 seconds of a shutout.
The Rangers have played some pretty good teams in the past few weeks, but this is the first time they’ll be going up against one of the league’s elite teams since they played the Capitals on January 17th. After a slow start, Chicago has surged into second place in the Central Division, and third in the NHL with 79 points. Read the rest of this entry
McDonagh hurt as Rangers mount late comeback to take down the Flyers
Alexandra Russo
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
With 30 games left in the regular season, the playoff race is getting tight, and the Rangers (29-18-5) know how important these remaining games are. Rick Nash was still out of the lineup with a bone bruise, but Kevin Klein returned after missing the previous game with a fractured thumb. After a wild back-and-forth contest, the Rangers came away with a 3-2 shootout win on the road.
The rivalry was felt in the early stages of the game as both teams traded chances. Stepan had a takeaway at the blueline, but his pass was stolen, and the Flyers came down the ice. Mark Streit skated in on Lundqvist, but he shot it wide. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers back on the ice at informal skate; Zuccarello “As good as new”
Bobby Bevilacqua
Mats Zuccarello is healthy and ready to have an impact on the ice with the Rangers this season. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
For the first time in quite a while, the New York Rangers were back on the ice, participating in an informal skate while getting re-acclimated to the ice at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, New York.
Almost all of the Rangers players were on the ice for the Tuesday afternoon scrimmage, excluding Henrik Lundqvist and Captain Ryan McDonagh, who are both away participating in the NHL Player Media tour. Amongst the mainstays and newcomers at the scrimmage was Mats Zuccarello, five months removed from a scary head injury.
In Game 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Zuccarello was struck upside the head by a puck, causing him to miss the remaining 14 games of the playoffs, and leading to some scary symptoms. He suffered a brain contusion, a skull fracture, and the loss of speech for four days.
Thankfully, Zuccarello has said that all of the symptoms stemming from his head injury have subsided, and that he will not have any side-effects heading into the season. Although he still needs to get accustomed to skating and playing hockey again, his health is fine, which is most important. Read the rest of this entry
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