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Rangers vs. Maple Leafs - Mar. 20th, 7:00pm - SN, Fan 590

CarltonTheBear

CarltonTheBear

Administrator
Staff member
NYR_light.svg
​
TOR_light.svg
New York Rangers
33-30-6, 72 pts​
vs.​
Toronto Maple Leafs
41-24-3, 85 pts​
Projected Line-ups​
Panarin-Trocheck-Cuylle
Lafreniere-Miller-Zibanejad
Kreider-Carrick-Parssinen
Berard-Brodzinski-Rempe

Vaakanainen-Fox
Miller-Borgen
Jones-Schneider

Shesterkin​
Knies-Matthews-Marner
Holmberg-Tavares-Nylander
McMann-Domi-Robertson
Lorentz-Laughton-Jarnkrok

Rielly-Carlo
McCabe-Tanev
Benoit-OEL

Stolarz​
Scratches​
Carson Soucy
Brennan Othmann
Calvin de Haan​
​
David Kampf
Philippe Myers​
Injuries​
Arthur Kaliyev - Upper Body - Injured Reserve
Adam Edstrom - Lower Body - Injured Reserve​
​
Max Pacioretty - Undisclosed - Injured Reserve
Jani Hakanpaa - Knee - Injured Reserve​
Game Notes​
NYR
-Igor Shesterkin (23-24-4, 2.78 GAA, .907 Sv%) will likely start for the Rangers
-New York currently sits 1 point behind Montreal for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East, but the Canadiens also have 2 games in hand on the Rangers
TOR
-Anthony Stolarz (13-8-3, 2.39 GAA, .918 Sv%) will start for the Leafs
Streams​
 
If I had to pick a roster that underachieved this season, I would give the Rangers strong consideration.
I haven't seen them enough or followed them closely enough to know what happened but from a distance, it does confound some.
I recall a bunch of hockey pundits picking them to win their division and a few of them to be a Cup finalist .. while no one picked the Jets or the Caps.
Regardless, on the road, on the latter half of a back to back while facing a fresh team is going to be a challenge
 
I think the Rangers have aspects of a good team but unless Shesterkin is great I just personally don't see it. Trocheck as your 1C is not at all ideal.
 
Bender said:
I think the Rangers have aspects of a good team but unless Shesterkin is great I just personally don't see it. Trocheck as your 1C is not at all ideal.
Click to expand...
A couple seasons ago, it definitely felt like they were being carried by Shesterkin, and maybe the success with him gave them a bit of a boost since. That can't last forever, though, and, outside of Panarin and Miller, they're definitely lacking in guys that are still truly high-end forwards.
 
Their team defense has been really bad this year, goalies have been up and down, some forwards have really under-performed (Zib, Kreider, Lafreniere has not become the game breaker they thought he would), and it sounds like there has been some internal "issues" that were associated with all the noise around Trouba. Still, tonight has the makings of "one of those nights" with the Leafs coming off a tough battle (Marner and Matthews well over 20 min) against a rested team that is fighting for their playoff life. Tonight would be good night for the 3rd line to run over a bad defensive team.
 
Bender said:
I think the Rangers have aspects of a good team but unless Shesterkin is great I just personally don't see it. Trocheck as your 1C is not at all ideal.
Click to expand...
Zibanejad falling off has probably been a big reason for their struggles this season. He had 91 points two seasons ago, a respectable 72 points last season, but is on pace for just 58 points this season. I guess they're hoping a move to the wing with Miller revitalizes him.
 
From a distance, it looks like they're having issues in both ends of the ice. Team GFA is down .43. Team GAA is up .23
+53 goal differential last year to -1 this year. Offense seems to have fallen more. Some of it strikes me as a team chemistry or coaching issue. I was a little surprised they had not tried another coach - but again, I haven't followed closely. It is hard to look at their roster and not figure they could be a difficult team on any given night. They have a bunch of players who have played pretty good hockey during their careers. I've been waiting all season figuring they'd get hot at some point ... just hope it doesn't start tonight.
 
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