After a tough road trip, the Rangers come home to take on the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden (7:00 P.M. ET, MSG).
The Blueshirts concluded their four-game road trip with a 2-1 win in Carolina. With the win, the Rangers finished the road trip 2-2 with their other win coming against the Buffalo Sabres. After falling behind 1-0, the Rangers got goals from Connor Brickley and Vlad Namestnikov to top the Hurricanes. Henrik Lundqvist made 43 saves.
“Hank was certainly the difference,” said head coach David Quinn. Lundqvist now sits just 3 games short of his 14th consecutive 20-win season.
The Minnesota Wild come to Madison Square Garden tonight, and they are the only team the Rangers have not faced this season.
“We want to take advantage of playing at home for sure,” said Quinn. We’ve just got to continue to build on the way we’ve played over the last 5 weeks. We’ve played some pretty good hockey over the last 5 weeks.”
Since playing the Hurricanes just before the all-star break, the Rangers have gone 8-5-1. The Rangers will continue to do their best to win games despite trade rumors.
“We’re going to put the best lineup we can tonight and march forward,” Quinn said. “Until I am told differently.”
However, the Blueshirts did make a transaction shortly after Quinn’s morning press conference as Lias Andersson has been recalled. While a trade is possible to occur, some players could also be dealing with nagging injuries. As of now, Hayes, Zuccarello and McQuaid are expected to dress.
While the Rangers are surrounded with trade rumors, the Wild complete an impactful trade last night. They acquired Ryan Donato and a 5th round pick from the Boston Bruins, in exchange for Charlie Coyle. Donato will play on the third line in his first game with Minnesota.
Henrik Lundqvist will oppose Devan Dubnyk. Brett Howden, who suffered an MCL sprain against the Flyers on January 29th, skated for the first time Thursday in a no-contact jersey.
“Means we’re getting close,” Quinn said. “He feels good, he’s looked good, he’s made a lot of progress. So he’s obviously closer to coming back than not.”
Projected Lineup:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Zuccarello
Vesey-Hayes-Buchnevich
Namestnikov-Strome-Fast
Chytil-Nieves-Brickley
Staal-DeAngelo
Skjei-McQuaid
Smith-Shattenkirk
Lundqvist
[ZuuucFanatics]