Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET the New York Rangers (3-7-0) take on the New York Islanders (4-4-3) in the first of five meetings between the two Metropolitan Division rivals this season live from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New York. The game can be live streamed here. Rangers fans can hear all the action on 98.7 WEPN FM, while Islanders fans can do the same by turning their dials to WHRU 88.7 FM.
The visiting Rangers enter this game in last place in the Metropolitan Division with six points and are 10 points behind the first place Pittsburgh Penguins while the Islanders enter play in second place in the division, five points behind the Pens.
Thomas Vanek makes his Islanders debut and is thrust right into this New York rivalry after the Islanders traded for him from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Matt Moulson and a first-round draft pick in the 2014 NHL Draft as well as a second-rounder in 2015. Vanek had four goals and five assists for nine points with Buffalo and is expected to take Moulson's spot on the top line with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo.
"I'm just happy to be here right now, taking it all in," Vanek, 29, told NHL.com about the trade. "An opportunity like that doesn't come around much, so I'm going try to make the most of it."
The Rangers homecoming to a newly renovated Madison Square Garden Monday night after a season-opening nine-game road trip was thwarted by the Montreal Canadiens, who shut them out in a 2-0 victory.
"It's fun to play here again. I think we did a lot of good things," goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said per NHL.com. "We just hoped for an early goal for us to get the energy and confidence and get the building going. It was kind of a tight game. It was a disappointing loss, but it was great to be back."
Lundqvist recently missed two games due to an undisclosed injury but returned to the Rangers Monday night and delivered 25 saves off of 27 shots faced. Lundqvist will sit with this being the second game of a back-to-back, and give way to rookie Cam Talbot who will make his third career start and is 1-1-0 with a 1.94 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.
For the Islanders, Evgeni Nabokov has started in net for nine of the team's first 11 games and has gone 4-2-3 with a 2.82 GAA and a .908 save percentage.
Nabokov will be facing a Rangers team that has lacked a potent offense thus far this season and has a league-worst 1.50 goals-for per game ratio. Brad Richards is the only Rangers player suiting up tonight with more than one goal as he has five goals and three assists for eight points. The Rangers hope to get a lift from top-six winger Carl Hagelin who returns from offseason shoulder surgery tonight while Ryan Callahan (3-0-3, broken thumb) and Rick Nash (0-3-3, concussion) remain sidelined.
Frans Nielsen has led the Islanders with a team-high 15 points this season off of seven goals and eight assists while Tavares has 13 points off of four tallies and nine helpers and Okposo has lit the lamp four times and added eight assists for 12 points.
Two points and bragging rights in New York are on the line when Vanek and his new team in the Islanders host a returning Hagelin in the Rangers in the only game to take place between these two teams at Nassau Coliseum this season tonight.
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