After coming up with back-to-back wins against divisional rivals, the Blueshirts are on home ice where they welcome the Central Division leading Winnipeg Jets (7:00PM on MSG).

Rangers	Rankings	Jets
45-19-4	Record	43-19-5
3rd	League Rank	5th
9th	Goals For	16th
5th	Goals Against	1st
6th	Power play	21st
4th	Penalty Kill	21st

Previous Game

The Rangers are coming off a thrilling 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. The Blueshirts got goals from Mika Zibanejad, Will Cuylle, Jonny Brodzinski, Kaapo Kakko, and Alexis Lafreniere. Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves for his 29th win of the season. The unfortunate news for the Rangers was that defenseman Ryan Lindgren left the game with a lower-body injury and did not return. Lindgren was unable to put any weight on his leg. Without Jacob Trouba already, the Blueshirts will be short two defensemen. Lindgren does not have an exact time frame for his return to the lineup, but according to USA Today journalist Vince Z. Mercogliano, the injury is not as severe as originally thought.

Laviolette on Lindgren:

"When you watch somebody leave the ice like that, then you come back and they tell you it might be 2 or 3 weeks, that's some good news. He’s such a great player for us, so it’s tough. But we'll make sure he's healthy. We won’t rush him back."#NYR
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) March 19, 2024

Rangers vs Jets

New York will now take on the best defensive team in the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg has allowed just 157 goals-against which is seven fewer than the Florida Panthers who have allowed the second-fewest goals-against. The Rangers will face the Panthers on Saturday evening.

The Blueshirts will need their special teams game on point as Winnipeg has the 21st ranked penalty kill. The key to the Jets success has been their defensive play at 5-on-5 where they have allowed just 95 goals. Florida has allowed 99, but the next closest team after those two are the Boston Bruins at 114. The Rangers will be in Boston on Thursday.

Head Coach Peter Laviolette will hope his defense can be as good as it has been in recent weeks despite being short Lindgren and Trouba. Zac Jones has done a good job with Trouba being out of the lineup, and Laviolette will be hoping for more of the same from Ruhwedel. The Blueshirts acquired Ruhwedel at the trade deadline as a depth piece and now he is set to make his Rangers debut. Jones and Ruhwedel are expected to make up the third pairing whereas Erik Gustafsson is expected to join Adam Fox on the top unit.

Laviolette said that Trouba has started skating on his own, but added, “We’re not going to rush him.” No firm timetable for a return yet. #NYR
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) March 19, 2024

The only player out of the Jets lineup is Gabe Vilardi who is out with an upper-body injury. Otherwise, the Blueshirts can expect a fully healthy Jets lineup including three former Rangers in Neal Pionk, Morgan Barron, and Vladislav Namestnikov.

Winnipeg’s big move at the trade deadline was acquiring Tyler Toffoli from the New Jersey Devils for a couple of draft picks. Toffoli has four goals and one assist since being acquired from the Devils in four games as a Jet.

New York will have to do a good job on the Jets top top line which consists of Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. Scheifele has 59 points in 60 games whereas Connor has 47 points in 51 games. When healthy, this duo makes up one of the most dangerous lines in the league.

Connor Hellebuyck will get the start in goal for the Jets. Hellebuyck has a .922 save percentage on the season which is the best among starting goaltenders in the league. The former 5th-round selection has a record of 31-15-3 on the season.

Jets head coach Rick Bowness will not be behind the bench after undergoing a minor medical procedure. Jets associate head coach and former Rangers associate head coach Scott Arniel will serve as the interim head coach in Bowness’s absence.

Igor Shesterkin will be back in goal for the Rangers. Shesterkin is hitting form at the right time and New York will need him this week as they prepare to take on three Stanley Cup contenders.

Matt Rempe is slated to be a healthy scratch despite his four-game suspension being served after sitting vs the Islanders on Sunday afternoon. Laviolette liked the way his bottom-six played on Sunday, and he wants to give it another chance. The Rangers head coach did admit that there will be rotation among the forwards as he wants all of them to be ready for the playoffs. The next chance Rempe will have to get into the lineup will be against the Bruins on Thursday in what is expected to be a physical game.

Brandon Scanlin was recalled from Hartford and he will serve as the team’s extra defenseman until one of Trouba or Lindgren returns to the lineup. At 6 ‘4, Scanlin went undrafted, but he has been a fine defenseman in Hartford. If the 24-year-old gets into a game, he would be making his NHL debut.

Bet of the Night

The bet of the night is for Adam Fox to get a point on the power-play. Winnipeg’s defense at 5-on-5 has been good, but being short handed has been their weakness. New York will need to take advantage of this and taking the quarterback on the power-play is the best option. At +270 odds, a $5 bet will win $18.50 for a profit of $13.50. Hopefully Fox can snap the losing skid we are currently on

Current record: 20-20

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $6.77 on the season