RANGERS HOST CAPITALS AT THE GARDEN
New York Rangers (19-13-4) vs Washington Capitals (22-13-2)
TONIGHT 8:00 PM TV: NBCSN RADIO: ESPN 1050 AM
Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
Hockey returns to Madison Square Garden tonight after a 3 day layoff for the Holiday break as the Rangers take on division rivals the Washington Capitals.
The Rangers look to end a two game skid tonight after an overtime loss to New Jersey last Thursday and Saturday’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both losses saw numerous turnovers and a huge jump in minor penalties to the Rangers that ate up valuable time to put out any offensive numbers.
Thursday’s loss saw Alain Vigneault bench defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk for most of the closing period, Saturday’s saw the benching of top line center Mika Zibanejad which Vigneault deemed due to two untimely turnovers by Zibanejad who had just returned from concussion symptoms two games ago.
Tonight the Rangers will try to right the ship in the second of four games this season against the Washington Capitals. The Rangers dropped the first meeting between the two teams earlier in the month on December 8 in Washington 4-2. Michael Grabner and Jesper Fast score the Rangers goals in the loss while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 36 of 40 shots on goal.
The Capitals come into the game also having lost their last two games, a 3-2 loss to Arizona last Friday and a 3-0 blanking by Vegas on Christmas Eve.
The 4th place Rangers trail the 2nd place Capitals by 4 points in the Metropolitan Division standings and are tied with the Islanders with 42.
TEAM LEADERS
Rangers
POINTS: Mats Zuccarello 29
GOALS: Michael Grabner 17
ASSISTS: Mats Zuccarello 21
ASSISTS: Mats Zuccarello 21
Capitals
POINTS: Evgeny Kuznetsov 38
GOALS: Alex Ovechkin 23ASSISTS: Evgeny Kuznetsov 26
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