Tonight at 7 pm, the New York Rangers will battle the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden. For both of these teams it will be their second game of the preseason, after a match up on Saturday in Ottawa.
The Senators jumped on the board early in that game and took a 3-0 lead midway through the second period. Their offense was powered by goals from Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley and Mike Fisher.
It took the Rangers up until a minute after the third Ottawa goal to strike, and that goal belonged to Brandon Dubinsky. He would also go on to score a second time later in the third period, a shorthanded breakaway—but it was not enough, as the Rangers fell 3-2.
Steve Valiquette, who will most likely be the backup to Lundqvist this season, looked very shaky as he allowed all three goals. Prospect Miika Wiikman played solidly and made some big saves upon his entrance into the game at the midway point of the second period.
Ottawa, on the other hand, got solid goaltending from both Martin Gerber and Brian Elliot. Not one goalie who played Saturday is expected to play or dress for tonight's game, though.
Ottawa's line combinations and defensive parings for tonight are projected be as follows:
F1. Foligno-Vermette-Shannon
F2. Ruutu-Bass-Donavan
F3. Kelly-McCammond-Isbister
F4. Zubov-Regin-Carkner
D1. Bell-Volchenkov
D2. Schubert-Lee
D3. Philips-Richardson
G1. Auld
G2. Glass
The Rangers' line combinations and defensive pairings for tonight are expected to be as follows:
F1. Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev
F2. Fritsche-Dubinsky-Weise
F3. Voros-Nedved-Parenteau
F4. Korpikoski-Anisimov-Orr
D1. Redden-Girardi
D2. Kalinin-Sanguinetti
D3. Pock-Fahey
G1. Lundqvist
G2. Zaba
It appears that after sitting out to make way for their big-gun teammates on Saturday, more Rangers prospects will get their chance tonight. Perhaps it's due to the coaches wanting the best players to play at home—but whatever the reason, look for the Rangers to be much stronger tonight.
They were heavily overmatched in the last game, but held their own, only to lose 3-2. I'm not one to make predictions, buit I say the Rangers will come out on top in this one, 5-2.
Tonight's game can be seen locally on MSG Network and MSG HD.
