RANGERS VS SABRES GAME DAY PREVIEW 10/6

RANGERS HIT THE ROAD FOR FIRST OF BACK TO BACK WEEKEND GAMES

New York Rangers (0-1-0) vs Buffalo Sabres (0-1-0)

KeyBank Arena, Buffalo, New York

TV: MSG, MSGB

Both the Rangers and Sabres come into tonight's contest looking for their first win of the season after having dropped their season openers, The Rangers 3-2 to Nashville and Buffalo a disappointing 4-0 blanking by the Boston Bruins in Buffalo.

The Rangers hit the road for their second game of the season before returning home and taking on the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow for an early evening contest at the Garden.

Showing sparks of what coach Quinn's game on Thursday the Rangers put up a good fight looking physical while using their speed to match up against the depth driven Predators who have steadily become one of the playoff forces in the NHL over the last few seasons.

While there were areas to work on there were areas that started to click for New York. Starting his 13th season in net for the Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist looked sharp in the contest showing the reason he was nicknamed "The King of New York" by the fans in his first season between the Rangers twine.

The line centered by Kevin Hayes flanked by Mats Zuccarello and Jimmy Vesey seemed to click early in the game and continued throughout three periods getting chances against a tough Pekka Rinne. Vesey failed to score on two good chances and Zuccarello was stopped by Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne three times on close-in chances. Hayes led the Rangers with four hits.

Jesper Fast once again showed why he has become a dependable player for the Rangers playing a quiet but solid game and picking up a goal in the season opener. Pavel Buchnevich scored a late third period goal to put the Rangers within one goal of tying Nashville after the Predators had tallied an empty net goal to make the game 3-1.

The Rangers were 3-0-0 against Buffalo last season. Although coach Quinn relayed that he will split the goaltending duties this weekend there are no lineup changes from Opening Night are expected for the Rangers except for the possibility that Alexandar Georgiev may get the start against Buffalo tonight.

Rangers Projected Opening Lineup:
Forwards:
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello
Ryan Spooner-Filip Chytil-Jesper Fast
Vlad Namestnikov-Brett Howden-Vinni Lettieri

Defense:
Brady Skjei-Adam McQuaid
Marc Staal-Neal Pionk
Brendan Smith-Kevin Shattenkirk

Starter:
Henrik Lundqvist

Backup:
Alexandar Georgiev

Scratches:
Fredrick Claesso, Tony DeAngelo, Cody McLeod

Injuries:
Matt Beleskey (Shoulder), Boo Nieves (Concussion Protocol)