Open Game Thread: Rangers vs. Wild
Rangers look to end five-game skid tonight against the Wild
The New York Rangers (27-29-5, 59 points) are set to face-off against the Minnesota Wild (33-20-7, 73 points) tonight for their second and final meeting of the season. The Wild won 3-2 over the Rangers in their first matchup of the season in Minnesota. The Rangers have lost their last five games, while the Wild have won their last two.
Devan Dubnyk will start in net for the Wild. He's accumulated a 24-11-5 record and 0.919 save percentage. In net for the Rangers will be Alexander Georgiev. Last night, he made his NHL debut against the Montreal Canadiens and stopped 38 of the 40 shots he faced. Before joining the Rangers, he appeared in 31 games in Hartford, going 12-11-2 with a 0.908 save percentage.
Nash will remain out as expected. Georgiev is starting again. Vigneault said Benoit Allaire wanted some extra time to work with Lundqvist.
— Justin Tasch (@J_Tasch) February 23, 2018
Rick Nash will be held out for precautionary reasons again. They're still without Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Shattenkirk, Ondrej Pavelec, and Steven Kampfer, who are all out with injury. Also, it's their first game with Michael Grabner, who was traded to the New Jersey Devils last night.
Rejoining the lineup tonight is Chris Kreider, who has been out since December 27th with a blood clot. He'll play alongside Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich, reunited the "KZB" line.
#NYR lines:
— Matt Calamia (@MattCalamia) February 23, 2018
Kreider - Zibanejad - Buchnevich
Vesey - Hayes - Zuccarello
Miller - Desharnais - Fast
McLeod - Lettieri - Carey
SKjei - Pionk
Staal - O’Gara
Gilmour - DeAngelo
Georgiev
