Game #13: Minnesota Wild vs New York Rangers Open Thread

It may only be the second week of November, but the Blueshirts are set to wrap up their first season series of the 2023-24 campaign tonight. After falling to the Minnesota Wild in a shootout at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul this past Saturday, the scene has shifted to Madison Square Garden for tonight’s clash.

Saturday’s contest was the first in what will be a long stretch of the Rangers playing shorthanded as Adam Fox, Filip Chytil, Barclay Goodrow, and Igor Shesterkin were all unavailable. Goodrow will be back in the lineup tonight, but the team’s recalling of both Louis Domingue and Dylan Garand from AHL Hartford suggests Jonathan Quick may be unable to play tonight, pushing New York down to its third string goaltender. The Blueshirts have jumped out to sizable leads of 3-0 and 5-0 in each of the past two games, but the end results of those games being a 5-4 loss and a 5-3 victory doesn’t inspire much confidence about the team’s ability to hold a lead for the time being.

Player to Watch: Barclay Goodrow

Goodrow returned to the lineup for Tuesday’s game against Detroit following the birth of his child. As the Rangers continue along this stretch of pressing onward through injuries, depth players will need to take on bigger roles and step up. Keep an eye on Goodrow as the Rangers looks to continue their strong start to the season and become the first team in the Metropolitan Division to record 10 wins.

Enjoy the game!