Game #9: New York Rangers vs Dallas Stars Open Thread

All things considered, the Rangers haven’t played poorly over the last four games. They’ve outshot their opponents by a 141-121 margin, and have eclipsed 40 shots on goal in two of those contests. However, they’ve been outscored 13-5 in those games and have an 0-2-2 record to show for their play. After spending the majority of last season getting outplayed and relying on the heroics of Igor Shesterkin to win games, the shoe is on the other foot now, and some residents of Rangerstown are starting to panic.

The next opportunity to end the skid comes on the road in Dallas against Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and the rest of the Dallas Stars. Stars’ goaltender Jake Oettinger is coming off of a 27 save shutout against the Washington Capitals two nights ago, so the Rangers will have to contend with yet another strong goaltender tonight.

Player to Watch: Braden Schneider

After stinking it up from the time of his recall last season through the end of the playoff run, Schneider’s sophomore season is predictably off to a rough start. The rotation between Zac Jones and Libor Hajek for the sixth defenseman spot means that Schneider’s lineup spot is safe barring anything extreme happening, so he’ll just have to turn things around rather than being forced out of the lineup. Keep an eye on Schneider this afternoon.

Enjoy the game!