What better time to be in New York City than the three days before Christmas? The Carolina Hurricanes face the Metro Division rival, Rangers this afternoon. The Rangers are coming off a victory against the Dallas Stars, while the Canes were defeated in Washington by the Capitals on Friday by a score of 3-1.
The Rangers were on a rough string of games before defeating the Stars in Dallas. They had lost their last 6 out of 7 games, with the lone victory coming against the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Sitting one point away from the Metro Division cellar, the Rangers have been looking to shake things up. Recently, the Rangers traded their captain, Jacob Trouba. This week the Rangers shipped out former second overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken.
Matt Rempe came up against Dallas after the trade and stayed in the game briefly before receiving yet another game misconduct for a reckless hit. Rempe is expected to be out of the lineup this afternoon with an imminent suspension on the horizon.
The lack of production from stars, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad has been the forefront of the recent failures. Kreider has jst12 points, 11 of them being goals. Zibanejad has just 6 goals and 21 points on the season. Artemi Panarin leads the team with 15 goals and 37 points after disappearing in last Spring's Eastern Conference Finals against the Florida Panthers.
Will Cuylle has had a breakout season for New York providing some physical presence and scoring 11 goals. Alexis Lafreniere has been disappointing after signing a new extension, scoring just 9 goals in what was expected to be a career season. Also, Vicent Trochek is not duplicating last year's All-Star campaign, hurting the scoring depth of the team.
Adam Fox has not been the same on defense despite having 25 assists. His 1 goal joins a group of blueliners who are hard to come by in the goal-scoring category. Braden Schneider has 2 goals and continues to grow, but this team needs more from the defensive group.
Igor Shesterkin inked a new, expensive contract but has been mediocre for himself with a 2.95 GAA and a .912 save percentage. The Rangers are below .500 at Madison Square Garden and the Canes will look to take advantage of that. Scoring early on this Rangers team will be beneficial as they are mentally weak at the moment.