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Rangers Vs. Lightning Preview: Rangers Faceoff Against Lightning Tonight At Madison Square Garden

The New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning will be meeting up once again tonight at Madison Square Garden. The New York Rangers have run into some injury trouble over the last couple of games, and have currently lost four straight games. The Lightning are in the same boat win wise, as they have been struggling as late just like the Rangers.

VS.

Tampa Bay Lightning (9-9-1) vs New York Rangers (8-8-2)
Madison Square Garden – New York, NY – 7:00 PM
Television: MSG | Radio: ESPN NY 98.7
Opponent’s Blog: Raw Charge| Tickets: New York Rangers Tickets

Tonight is a good night for the Rangers though, they are expected to see Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, and Michael Del Zotto return to the lineup tonight. While injuries shouldn’t have been used an excuse for the Rangers lackluster efforts, they dearly missed these three, and it was near impossible to replace all of them.

The Rangers dropped their last game to the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 score, but there were a ton of positives to take away from the win. While the scoreboard didn’t reflect it, the Rangers battle level returned to how it was earlier on in the season, and they fought hard for their three goals. Those goals as a matter of fact, all came from simply throwing the puck on net, and crashing. As simple as that sounds, it still has the ability to create offense in today’s NHL, so why not give it a shot?

Some Quick Thoughts:

As stated earlier, the Rangers will be getting some fresh legs back into the lineup, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, and Michael Del Zotto are all expected to return from their specific injuries, which should help the Rangers out in a big way tonight. With an effort similar to Tuesday night, this will be a fun game to watch.

– Mathieu Garon is expected to get the start in goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. He’s known to be a thorn in the Rangers side over the last two seasons, so they need to put everything on net. If you pepper any goalie with shots, one is bound to go in.

Projected Lineup:

Carl HagelinDerek StepanRick Nash
Ryan CallahanBrad RichardsMarian Gaborik
Taylor PyattBrian BoyleJ.T. Miller
Darroll PoweJeff HalpernStu Bickel

Marc StaalDan Girardi
Anton StralmanRyan McDonagh
Steve EmingerMichael Del Zotto

Henrik Lundqvist
Martin Biron

Scratches: Arron Asham (back spasms)

Talking Points