Who: New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Where: CONSOL Energy Center
When: Wednesday night at 8:00 PM
Watch: NBCSN; post game on MSG Network
Listen: ESPN-98.7 FM and NewYorkRangers.com
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The Skinny:
The Rangers (30-18-5, 65 pts) own a three-game winning streak, but they will step up in class as they try and make it four in a row Wednesday night when they face off with the Pittsburgh Penguins (27-18-7, 61 pts). New York has beaten three straight hard-working clubs--Minnesota, Philadelphia, and New Jersey--owns its longest win streak since winning nine in a row from October 25-November 15, and has won six of its last eight games. However on Wednesday the Rangers face a Penguins team that has won six of its last seven games, outscoring the opposition 23-14 in those six victories. On Tuesday Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault spoke openly about the respect he and his team has for the high-flying Penguins and their star-studded lineup that features the red-hot Sidney Crosby--the league's fifth-leading scorer, point-per-game center Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang--the NHL's fifth-leading scorer amongst defensemen. Fortunately the Rangers will not have to face both Crosby and Malkin on Wednesday as Malkin remains out of the lineup with a lower body injury. He will be joined on the sidelines by injured forwards Eric Fehr and Beau Bennett, though the Rangers again will be missing the injured Ryan McDonagh and Rick Nash from their lineup, so both teams are missing key performers. Vigneault stressed Tuesday that the Rangers must "defend first" in order to beat the Penguins, and said it will take full five-man efforts to slow down Pittsburgh's high-octane offense. Offensively the Rangers will want to take from the forechecking blueprint that has worked like a charm throughout this three-game winning streak. Some more magic from the Derick Brassard, J.T. Miller, Jesper Fast line--20 points combined in the last five games--would go a long way for New York, as well, on Wednesday. Some better play from the special teams--especially from the power play which is in a 2-for-49 funk after Monday's 0-for-5 outing in a 2-1 win over the Devils--surely would not hurt either. Another obstacle Wednesday will be the fact that the Rangers--10-13-3 on the road this season--will be facing a Penguins team that has won six straight games on home ice and has not lost in regulation at the CONSOL Energy Center since December 19 going 8-0-2 in that span, including Monday's 6-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
Head To Head:
Wednesday marks the first game this season between the Rangers and Penguins, and also the first since the Rangers eliminated Pittsburgh from the opening round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs in five games. Ironically it was current Penguins forward Carl Hagelin who scored the series-deciding goal in overtime of Game Five for the Rangers to eliminate his future team. The Rangers won two of three games last spring from the Penguins and both of the contests played in Pittsburgh. In Game Three of the series the Rangers skated to a razor-thin 2-1 victory and then two nights later in Game Four Kevin Hayes scored the overtime winner as New York again defeated the Penguins 2-1 at CONSOL Energy Center. Derick Brassard led the Rangers with three goals in the series against Pittsburgh and tied with Ryan McDonagh with a team-high four points. Henrik Lundqvist fashioned a 1.53 GAA in the five-game series. Last spring marked the second consecutive year in which the Rangers eliminated the Penguins from the playoffs. During the regular season a year ago the Rangers were 3-0-1 against the Penguins, losing only a 3-2 shootout decision on November 15, 2014 in Pittsburgh. In the other contest played in Pittsburgh, on January 18, 2015, the Rangers won 5-2 as Rick Nash and Derek Stepan both scored twice. Nash recorded four goals in the four-game season series to lead the Blueshirts. These two teams will meet three more times this season--March 3 in Pittsburgh and March 13 and 27 at Madison Square Garden.
Players To Watch:
Rangers-Derick Brassard; Not only does Derick Brassard have 16 points in 14 career regular season games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he also has had clutch success against them in the post-season, as well. Last spring he led the Rangers with three goals and four points in the Rangers five-game first-round series win--opening the series by scoring just 28 seconds into Game One. In the 2014 second-round series against the Penguins he led the Rangers with four goals and five points, and netted the game winner in two of New York's four victories. That history is all well and good, but what stands out even more when the Rangers face off with the Penguins on Wednesday is the current roll he is on. Brassard has recorded nine points (3-6-9) in the past five games, including the primary assist on J.T. Miller's third-period game-winner Monday night against the Devils. The 28 year-old Brassard, who was second on the team with 60 points a year ago, leads the Rangers with 40 points this season, and his 18 goals are tied for the team high--and are just one shy of his career-best of 19 set last season.
Penguins-Sidney Crosby: Plain and simple the Rangers are running into Sidney Crosby at the worst possible time. The same Crosby who was held without a point the first five games of the season and who had just one goal through 11 games, is right now the hottest player in the entire National Hockey League. After scoring twice on a pair of breakaways and totaling four points in Monday's win over the Anaheim Ducks, Crosby has scored at least one goal in a career-high seven consecutive games, totaling ten goals in that span. He also has scored at least one goal in nine straight home games, and on Monday he extended his point-scoring streak to 11 consecutive games overall, with 22 points in those 11 games (12-10-22). Since January 23 Crosby has had a hand in 14 of the Penguins last 21 goals; and in that mix he notched his 900th career point last Saturday, doing so in his 677th NHL game, making him the 11th fastest player to reach 900 points. With his recent surge, Crosby is now the league's fifth leading scorer with 53 points in 51 games, and has surpassed Evgeni Malkin to become the team's top scorer.
Where: CONSOL Energy Center
When: Wednesday night at 8:00 PM
Watch: NBCSN; post game on MSG Network
Listen: ESPN-98.7 FM and NewYorkRangers.com
*****************************
The Skinny:
The Rangers (30-18-5, 65 pts) own a three-game winning streak, but they will step up in class as they try and make it four in a row Wednesday night when they face off with the Pittsburgh Penguins (27-18-7, 61 pts). New York has beaten three straight hard-working clubs--Minnesota, Philadelphia, and New Jersey--owns its longest win streak since winning nine in a row from October 25-November 15, and has won six of its last eight games. However on Wednesday the Rangers face a Penguins team that has won six of its last seven games, outscoring the opposition 23-14 in those six victories. On Tuesday Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault spoke openly about the respect he and his team has for the high-flying Penguins and their star-studded lineup that features the red-hot Sidney Crosby--the league's fifth-leading scorer, point-per-game center Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang--the NHL's fifth-leading scorer amongst defensemen. Fortunately the Rangers will not have to face both Crosby and Malkin on Wednesday as Malkin remains out of the lineup with a lower body injury. He will be joined on the sidelines by injured forwards Eric Fehr and Beau Bennett, though the Rangers again will be missing the injured Ryan McDonagh and Rick Nash from their lineup, so both teams are missing key performers. Vigneault stressed Tuesday that the Rangers must "defend first" in order to beat the Penguins, and said it will take full five-man efforts to slow down Pittsburgh's high-octane offense. Offensively the Rangers will want to take from the forechecking blueprint that has worked like a charm throughout this three-game winning streak. Some more magic from the Derick Brassard, J.T. Miller, Jesper Fast line--20 points combined in the last five games--would go a long way for New York, as well, on Wednesday. Some better play from the special teams--especially from the power play which is in a 2-for-49 funk after Monday's 0-for-5 outing in a 2-1 win over the Devils--surely would not hurt either. Another obstacle Wednesday will be the fact that the Rangers--10-13-3 on the road this season--will be facing a Penguins team that has won six straight games on home ice and has not lost in regulation at the CONSOL Energy Center since December 19 going 8-0-2 in that span, including Monday's 6-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
Head To Head:
Wednesday marks the first game this season between the Rangers and Penguins, and also the first since the Rangers eliminated Pittsburgh from the opening round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs in five games. Ironically it was current Penguins forward Carl Hagelin who scored the series-deciding goal in overtime of Game Five for the Rangers to eliminate his future team. The Rangers won two of three games last spring from the Penguins and both of the contests played in Pittsburgh. In Game Three of the series the Rangers skated to a razor-thin 2-1 victory and then two nights later in Game Four Kevin Hayes scored the overtime winner as New York again defeated the Penguins 2-1 at CONSOL Energy Center. Derick Brassard led the Rangers with three goals in the series against Pittsburgh and tied with Ryan McDonagh with a team-high four points. Henrik Lundqvist fashioned a 1.53 GAA in the five-game series. Last spring marked the second consecutive year in which the Rangers eliminated the Penguins from the playoffs. During the regular season a year ago the Rangers were 3-0-1 against the Penguins, losing only a 3-2 shootout decision on November 15, 2014 in Pittsburgh. In the other contest played in Pittsburgh, on January 18, 2015, the Rangers won 5-2 as Rick Nash and Derek Stepan both scored twice. Nash recorded four goals in the four-game season series to lead the Blueshirts. These two teams will meet three more times this season--March 3 in Pittsburgh and March 13 and 27 at Madison Square Garden.
Players To Watch:
Rangers-Derick Brassard; Not only does Derick Brassard have 16 points in 14 career regular season games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he also has had clutch success against them in the post-season, as well. Last spring he led the Rangers with three goals and four points in the Rangers five-game first-round series win--opening the series by scoring just 28 seconds into Game One. In the 2014 second-round series against the Penguins he led the Rangers with four goals and five points, and netted the game winner in two of New York's four victories. That history is all well and good, but what stands out even more when the Rangers face off with the Penguins on Wednesday is the current roll he is on. Brassard has recorded nine points (3-6-9) in the past five games, including the primary assist on J.T. Miller's third-period game-winner Monday night against the Devils. The 28 year-old Brassard, who was second on the team with 60 points a year ago, leads the Rangers with 40 points this season, and his 18 goals are tied for the team high--and are just one shy of his career-best of 19 set last season.
Penguins-Sidney Crosby: Plain and simple the Rangers are running into Sidney Crosby at the worst possible time. The same Crosby who was held without a point the first five games of the season and who had just one goal through 11 games, is right now the hottest player in the entire National Hockey League. After scoring twice on a pair of breakaways and totaling four points in Monday's win over the Anaheim Ducks, Crosby has scored at least one goal in a career-high seven consecutive games, totaling ten goals in that span. He also has scored at least one goal in nine straight home games, and on Monday he extended his point-scoring streak to 11 consecutive games overall, with 22 points in those 11 games (12-10-22). Since January 23 Crosby has had a hand in 14 of the Penguins last 21 goals; and in that mix he notched his 900th career point last Saturday, doing so in his 677th NHL game, making him the 11th fastest player to reach 900 points. With his recent surge, Crosby is now the league's fifth leading scorer with 53 points in 51 games, and has surpassed Evgeni Malkin to become the team's top scorer.
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