Tonight the New York Rangers will be tested by the Lightning in Tampa Bay. Tampa comes into this game as the heavy favorite, with a 23-7-1 record this season and a 13-4-0 record on home ice. They are also 9-1-0 in their last 10 games.
The Rangers bested the Florida Panthers in a shootout on Saturday, but are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. The Rangers also have a brutal record away from Madison Square Garden — the Blueshirts are a lowly 4-8-2 on the road this season.
OK, looks like the lines are:
20-93-90
26-13-16
72-21-17
39-50-38
D pairs are same as usual. Smith and McQuaid (red jersey) make up fourth pair.— Colin Stephenson (@ColinASteph) December 9, 2018
Louis Domingue will be in net for the Lightning. The Lightning’s leading scorer is Nikita Kucherov. He has 44 points — 12 of which are goals — in 31 games this year. So, he’s pretty good and is always a player to keep an eye on when the Rangers cross sticks with Tampa Bay. Of course, a few of the other players worth keeping an eye on tonight are the handful of former Rangers who are currently playing hockey with the Bolts.
The puck drops 7:35 p.m. tonight. Please use this as your open game thread.