New York Rangers Continue Road Trip in San Jose

After falling victim in overtime to the Seattle Kraken, the Blueshirts will head to California to take on David Quinn’s San Jose Sharks (10:30 P.M. ET, MSG).

Rangers	NHL Rankings	Sharks
8-6-4	Record	6-10-3
13^th	NHL Standing Rank	25^th
21^st	GF/PG	23^rd
11^th	GA/PG	24^th
8^th	PP%	22^nd
6^th	PK%	1^st

Previous Game

The Blueshirts fell 3-2 to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night. The Rangers goals were scored by Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck – both were scored on the power-play. The Rangers didn’t manage any goals at even strength in Seattle and now rank 20^th in the league in even strength goals. Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves including a few game-saving saves.

“He made some great saves,” said head coach Gerard Gallant. “He made some key saves including in the second period…. He kept us in the game and we found a way to get a point in the end, but it’s not good enough and we are better than that.”

Rangers vs Sharks

The Blueshirts will need to find their game particularly at even strength. The Sharks have the top ranked penalty kill in the league and are hovering at 92%. Head coach David Quinn and his coaching staff have implemented an aggressive penalty kill. The Rangers found that out the hard way in the first meeting when the Sharks not only killed off every Rangers power-play but also gave them no time on the puck to make a play.

Gallant will stick with the same offensive lines as he has the previous two games. With that, Vitaly Kravtsov will be a healthy scratch with the Rangers looking for offense. On defense, Zac Jones will return to the lineup in place of Libor Hajek on the third pairing. Jones has been a healthy scratch for the past four games.

Shesterkin is back in goal for the Blueshirts as expected. The Rangers will finish the road trip with a back-to-back which Shesterkin will likely split with backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

On the San Jose side, the Rangers will have to keep a close eye on a red-hot Erik Karlsson. The Sharks are finally getting what they traded for when they acquired Karlsson from Ottawa. The Swedish defenseman once known for being the best offensive defenseman in the NHL has reverted to old form and currently leads all defensemen in points with 28. If Karlsson could keep this pace up, he will give himself a shot at winning the Norris Trophy.

Another thing that should give the Rangers some confidence has been San Jose’s form on home ice. The Sharks currently have a home ice record of 1-6-3 including a five-game home losing streak.

James Reimer is expected to start for the Sharks. Reimer has been one of the bright spots for the Sharks this season and his name has come up in trade rumors. Despite having an .899 save percentage, Reimer has been one of the Sharks better players this season.

Magic Number

The magic number for the Rangers tonight is three. The Blueshirts hold a 7-1-0 record when they score three goals in one game. Looking for offense, the Rangers will be coming up against the top ranked penalty kill. If they can manage three even strength goals, they will hopefully be able to use it to build confidence among the team.