Rangers Vs. Penguins Preview: Rangers Look To Make It Three In A Row

The New York Rangers will take to the ice of Madison Square Garden, where they will face off against their division foes, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rangers are coming into this game with their first winning streak of the season, and they are hoping to extend that streak to three tonight. The Penguins dropped their last game to the New York Islanders by a sizable margin, and are looking to rebound.

VS.

Pittsburgh Penguins (3-3-0) vs New York Rangers (3-3-0)
Madison Square Garden - New York, NY - 7:00 PM
Television: MSG (local), NHL Network | Radio: ESPN NY 98.7
Opponent's Blog: Pensburgh | Tickets: New York Rangers Tickets

Last game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Rangers topped their most complete performance, and came away with a 2-1 victory, that went right down to the wire. They had another hot start and wound up getting rewarded with an early goal from Michael Del Zotto. Henrik Lundqvist is starting to come back into his form from last season, and held the Rangers in the game when pressure began to pick up for the Flyers.

The New York Rangers will look to have a similar game tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Even though the Penguins haven't played up to par last game, the Rangers cannot afford to underestimate them. The Rangers have to stick to their aggressive forecheck and not allow the Penguins to make the right decisions with the puck in their own end.

Some Quick Thoughts:

*** The New York Rangers will be without captain Ryan Callahan tonight as he is expected to miss 10-14 with a shoulder subluxation. The Rangers will definitely feel Callahan's absence, as you simply can't replace Callahan with one single player. Everyone will need to come together and step up as a whole to make up for Callahan not being in the lineup. Tonight is the first test, so we'll see how it goes.

*** Matt Gilroy will be in the lineup for the first time this season with the Rangers as he will take Steve Eminger's spot on the back end. I'm interested to see what Matt Gilroy can bring to the table in tonight's appearance. He definitely rounded out his game down in Connecticut, and could be an asset depending on how he is used tonight. I also wouldn't mind seeing him out on the power play tonight. It was one of his main advantages down with the Whale.

*** As expected, Henrik Lundqvist will get the nod tonight as he was the first goalie off at this morning's optional skate. Chris Kreider was also on the ice today for a second straight day, but there is still no timetable for his return.

Projected Lineup:

Marian Gaborik - Brad Richards - Rick Nash
Carl Hagelin - Derek Stepan - Taylor Pyatt
Mike Rupp - Brian Boyle - Benn Ferriero
Arron Asham - Jeff Halpern - Stu Bickel

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Michael Del Zotto
Anton Stralman - Matt Gilroy

Henrik Lundqvist

Scratches: Chris Kreider (ankle), Steve Eminger