Rangers vs Capitals - Open Game Thread
The Rangers take on the Capitals in their first meeting of the 2015-16 season.
The Washington Capitals make their first return to Madison Square Garden after giving up a 3-1 series lead in last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is a different looking Capitals team, however, with newcomers Justin Williams and T.J. Oshie making names for themselves in Washington. Combine that with the always scary Alex Ovechkin and up-and-coming Evgeny Kuznetsov, and solid as ever netminder Braden Holtby, this is a Capitals team that is poised to make a deep run in the spring. Here is the full Washington lineup:
Alex Ovechkin - Evgeny Kuznetsov - T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson - Nicklas Backstrom - Justin Williams
Jason Chimera - Jay Beagle - Andre Burakovsky
Brooks Laich - Chandler Stephenson - Tom Wilson
Brooks Orpik - John Carlson
Karl Alzner - Matt Niskanen
Braden Holtby
The Rangers will certainly have their hands full tonight with that first line of offense, and have decided to bump Dan Girardi back up to the first pairing. Dylan McIlrath will be playing in his second regular season game, after making his debut against Winnipeg on October 13th. He will be on the third pairing with Keith Yandle. Here is the projected Rangers lineup:
Rick Nash - Derick Brassard - Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Jesper Fast
Oscar Lindberg - Kevin Hayes - Viktor Stalberg
J.T. Miller - Dominic Moore - Jarret Stoll
Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Keith Yandle - Dylan McIlrath
Look for the Nash-Brass-Zucc line to continue their hot streak, as they accounted for all 3 goals and all 9 points in the win over Toronto. The Rangers will also have to be very careful and try to stay out of the penalty box, as we all know what this Washington powerplay (read: Ovechkin) is capable of. If we can keep this at a 5-on-5 game and control the pace, I think we have a good shot at 2 points.
Let's go Rangers.
