RANGERS AT SHARKS GAME DAY PREVIEW 11/25

SPIRALING RANGERS LOOK TO SALVAGE ROAD TRIP IN SAN JOSE

New York Rangers (24-20-5) vs San Jose Sharks (26-14-7)

TONIGHT 10:30 PM TV: MSG2 RADIO: ESPN-NY 98.7 FM

SAP Center San Jose, CA

Coming off their third straight road loss, the Rangers will try to salvage two points out of the four game road trip tonight in San Jose as they take on the Sharks at the SAP Center.

Having dropped out of the Eastern Conference Wild Card Race the Rangers are in a must win situation in a very close Metropolitan Division where first place and last place are only separated by 11 points. As of now the Rangers trail both Columbus (1st Wild Card Spot) and Pittsburgh (2nd Wild Card Spot) by two points in the standings. The Rangers (49) have played one more game than Columbus (48) and one less than Pittsburgh (50) have a best case scenario of a Win tonight in San Jose and a Penguins loss against Minnesota to move them back into the second wild card position.

After being removed in the first period of Tuesday’s 6-3 loss in Anaheim, Henrik Lundqvist should be in net for the Rangers tonight. Lundqvist who has been carrying the Blueshirts for awhile now had a miserable showing against the Ducks giving up 3 goals on 6 shots prompting a goaltending change for the remainder of the game in favor of backup Ondrej Pavelec.

The Rangers lineup is in flux until what is seen at the morning skate as Kevin Hayes who has been out with a leg bruise was said to be 50/50 once again to start against the Sharks. Add to the mix of the benching of J.T. Miller in Tuesday’s loss for all of the second and third periods the Rangers could see a significant change in forward lines.

This is the second and final of two meetings this season between the Rangers and Sharks. In the first contest at MSG back on October 19th, the Rangers lost the game 4-1. The lone Rangers goal came from Mika Zibanejad after 4 unanswered Sharks goals while Lundqvist suffered the loss allowing 4 goals on 28 shots.

The Sharks come into tonight’s game after losing 5-4 in overtime to Winnipeg on Tuesday but have won three of their last five games. San Jose will be without center Joe Thornton who suffered an MCL injury in Tuesday’s loss.

TEAM LEADERS

Rangers

POINTS: Mats Zuccarello 35

GOALS: Michael Grabner 21

ASSISTS:  Mats Zuccarello 27

Sharks

POINTS: Brent Burns 39

GOALS: Logan Couture 18

ASSISTS:  Brent Burns 32