RANGERS VS CAPITALS GAME DAY PREVIEW 3/26

RANGERS FACE CAPITALS IN FIRST OF HOME AND HOME MATCHUP

New York Rangers (33-34-8) vs Washington Capitals (44-24-7)

TONIGHT 7:30 PM, NBCSN, WEPN

Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY

The Rangers and Capitals meet for the first of a home and home matchup tonight at Madison Square Garden and meeting for the fourth and final time in Washington on Wednesday.

New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton announced yesterday that the team has recalled forwards Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League. The Rangers have not yet announced if Andersson or Chytil will be in the lineup for tonight’s game.

The Rangers come into tonight’s contest after a 5-1 win Saturday Night against the Buffalo Sabres. Jimmy Vesey scored two goals in the win, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Neal Pionk each tallied a goal and an assist in the contest. Alexandar Georgiev picked up the win with a personal season high 43 saves against Buffalo including 21 shots in the first period.

This is the third of four meetings between the Rangers and Capitals. So far the season series is split 1-1 with both teams winning on home ice. The Capitals won the first contest in Washington 4-2 on December 6 and the Rangers the second at MSG 1-0 on December 27 in the shootout. Henrik Lundqvist suffered the loss in Washington but stopped 40 of 44 shots on goal. Ondrej Pavelec picked up the home shutout win stopping all 30 shots that he faced not including all 3 shooters he faced in the shootout. Jesper Fast has a goal in the series. Mats Zuccarello scored in the shootout to give the Rangers the win on December 27.

The Metro Division First Place Capitals enter tonight’s game after a 6-4 win in Montreal Saturday Night and having lost only one game in their last five. Capitals Captain Alex Ovechkin leads the team with 44 goals and 81 points, Evgeny Kuznetsov leads in assists with 50.

GAME DAY TEAM LEADERS

Rangers

POINTS: Mats Zuccarello 50

GOALS: Mika Zibanejad 27

ASSISTS: Mats Zuccarello 35

Capitals

POINTS: Alex Ovechkin 81

GOALS: Alex Ovechkin 44

ASSISTS: Evgeny Kuznetsov 50