Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, the Pittsburgh Penguins (18-6-2, 38 points) and New York Rangers (11-10-4, 26 points) face-off for the third of four meetings against each other this season live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game can be live streamed here. Pittsburgh fans can hear all of the action on WXDX 105.9 while New York fans can do the same on 98.7 ESPN.
Pittsburgh has won three out of its last four and is in search of its second straight win while sitting atop the Metropolitan Division. New York has lost two straight games and currently sits out of playoff position.
Both of these teams have split victories up to this point with the Rangers notching a 5-0 win on Nov. 11 and the Penguins retaliating with a 3-2 triumph four days later on Nov. 15.
The Penguins are coming off of a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday that saw Evgeni Malkin notch two goals.
Pittsburgh enters Monday's game with a lot of banged up players, but will look to persevere.
"I know we've had some tough injuries but I think that's every team now, or most teams," Penguins center Brandon Sutter said via NHL.com. "For the first 20-something [games] we were 100 percent pretty much, and then a couple guys started going down. But that's the way it works. Nothing really new for this business."
Captain Sidney Crosby has paced the Penguins and he is first in the NHL in assists (25), second in points (34) and has added nine goals.
Malkin, meanwhile, is fourth in the league with 14 goals and second on the team with 32 points while Patric Hornqvist has found the twine 11 times and added 14 assists for 25 points. Hornqvist (undisclosed) is unlikely to play tonight.
While the Penguins are beat up, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault will not be underestimating them.
"I mean, they're one of the best teams in our division and in this conference with great players, so we need to perform well," Vigneault told NHL.com.
The Blueshirts are coming off of a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday that saw the team drop its second straight contest despite Rick Nash scoring his 17th tally of the season.
Nash is tied for second in the league in goals and leads New York with 27 points while Derick Brassard has eight markers and 13 helpers for 21 points and Marin St. Louis has lit the lamp 10 times and added 10 assists for 20 points.
In net, New York turns to Henrik Lundqvist and he is 9-7-3 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage thus far this season. Lundqvist is second in the NHL with four shutouts on the campaign.
Pittsburgh is likely to counter with Marc-Andre Fleury in the crease and he is third in the NHL with 15 wins while putting together a 2.07 GAA and .928 save percentage. Fleury paces the league with five shutouts this season.
Two division rivals go head-to-head when the Penguins visit the Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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