Rangers Begin Three-Game Road-Trip in New Jersey

The Blueshirts are across the Hudson as they travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils (7:00PM on MSG2).

Rangers	Rankings	Devils
37-16-3	Record	28-23-4
4th	League Rank	18th
13th	Goals For	10th
8th	Goals Against	26th
5th	Power play	14th
7th	Penalty Kill	20th

Pregame Checklist

The Blueshirts begin a three-game road trip starting Thursday night against the Devils
All three-games will be against Metro Division opponents
Rangers won the first meeting 5-3 in New Jersey back in November
Both teams won their Stadium Series game at Metlife Stadium
Artemi Panarin and Jimmy Vesey are both game-time decisions for the Rangers. Panarin was in pain in the previous game after blocking a shot, though he remained on the ice and was able to play the rest of the game. Both players are listed with lower-body injuries. In addition, each player scored two goals in the previous meeting and the empty net goal was scored by Blake Wheeler – who is out for the remainder of the season
Brennan Othmann was called up from Hartford in case one of Panarin or Vesey can’t play. Othmann won’t play for Edstrom or Rempe and is strictly only playing if there is an injury. Othmann, the former first-round selection would be playing in his third career NHL game
The Devils are without Dougie Hamilton due to a torn-pectoral muscle. Goaltender Vitek Vanecek is also on the injured reserved
Cal Foote and Michael McLeod are also unavailable as they have taken a leave of absence from the team as they deal with legal charges
Jesper Bratt leads the Devils in points with 58 on the season in 55 games played. Jack Hughes has 50 points in just 39 games played. Hughes has 17 points in 17 career games against the Blueshirts
Former Los Angeles Kings forward Tyler Toffoli leads New Jersey in goals with 24 on the season
Igor Shesterkin will get the start in goal for the Rangers. If you do not include the outdoor game, Shesterkin has played two of his best games of the season in the last two indoor games. Shesterkin shutout the Flames pre Stadium Series game and followed it up with 41 saves against the then highest scoring team in the league on a per game basis against the Stars. He saved over two goals above the expected and has now allowed just one goal in the last two games to take place in an arena.
Shesterkin also had a save-of-the-year candidate against Dallas to maintain the Blueshirts one goal lead late in the third-period
Nico Daws could be in net for the Devils. Daws has taken over since Vancek has gone down. But New Jersey could also elect to start Akira Schmid who shutout the Rangers twice in the playoffs last season.
Adam Fox is starting to heat up as he has seven points in the last three games. Fox was out injured and missed ten games earlier in the season – including the 5-3 victory over the Devils. Fox now has 46 points in 47 games on the season
Jonny Brodzinski earned a two-year one-way contract as he has been a good depth player for the Rangers. Brodzinski will be cheap and provide the Rangers with a reliable player for the next two seasons

Bet of the Night

The bet of the night is a two-leg parlay. The first leg is the over on Shesterkin saves at 28.5. Rangers goalies have been over this line in each of the past four games including Shesterkin in three of them. Shesterkin has also been over this number in the previous three regular season games against the Devils and four of the last five regular season games. The Devils also are in the top ten for shots per game this season

The second leg is the over on Vincent Trocheck shots on goal which is at 2.5. Trocheck has been over this in five straight games and he has had exactly five shots in each of the previous four games. If Panarin is unavailable, this could put Trocheck more into a shooting mentality including on the power-play.

At +200 odds, a $5 bet would pay $15 for a profit of $10.

Current record: 20-17

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $26.77 on the season