The Rangers return to action at MSG tonight against their subway rivals, the Islanders. The Islanders come in having won six of seven, drooping a 4-3 decision Tuesday against Carolina to end their six-game win streak. The Blueshirts fell 4-2 to Vegas on Tuesday to extend their losing streak to four contests. Both teams face each other again Saturday afternoon at 1pm at the Barclays Center.
David Quinn Post-Morning Skate:
#NYR Coach Quinn talks about takeaways from the road trip, the back-to-back matchups with the Islanders and lineup changes for tonight. pic.twitter.com/h66ENCvwWa
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 10, 2019
What we learned is: - Kevin Hayes skated for the first time since December 27 but will sit again tonight - Tony DeAngelo is out, replaced by Frederik Claesson. - Fast and Zucc are swapping lines.
The Rangers lines tonight will be: Kreider-Zibanejad-Zuccarello Namestnikov-Chytil-Fast Vesey-Howden-Buchnevich McLeod-Strome-Nieves
The defense pairings will be: Skjei-McQuaid Staal-Pionk Claesson-Shattenkirk
This is the third match up between the two teams. In the first, the Islanders rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 7-5 win in Brooklyn on Nov. 15 as Anthony Beauvillier notched his first career hat trick. In the second, the Rangers snapped the Islanders’ eight-game winning streak with a 5-0 victory on Nov. 21 at the Garden, the only time the Islanders have been shut out this season. As mentioned above, game four of this season’s chapter in the rivalry will be Saturday afternoon.
Igor Shestyorkin continues to excel:
Shesterkin's eight shutouts this season are the most in the KHL. In addition, his eight shutouts in 2018-19 are tied for his single-season career-high in the KHL (he also earned eight shutouts in 39 appearances during the 2016-17 season). #NYR https://t.co/QMwR6vpvgq
— NYR Stats & Info (@NYRStatsInfo) January 10, 2019