Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the New York Rangers (18-18-2, 38 points) and Washington Capitals (19-14-4, 42 points) go head-to-head live from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. for the third of four meetings against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. New York fans can hear all of the action on 98.7 WEPN New York while Washington fans can do the same on WFED 1500.
New York embarks on a road trip for the first time in 10 games as the team just wrapped up a franchise-record nine-game homestand while Washington enters play second in the Metropolitan Division--13 points behind the first place Pittsburgh Penguins and four points above the third place Philadelphia Flyers and Rangers.
The first time these two teams met, the Rangers blanked the Capitals 2-0 in Washington on Oct. 16 before the Caps got a measure of revenge on the Blueshirts with a 4-1 win on Dec. 8 in Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Capitals have blown two-goal leads in consecutive games, most recently in a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
"We have 20 more minutes to go to play," Nicklas Backstrom told NHL.com. "It was just a couple of mistakes that cost us the win. Overall, I thought we played all right, but it's hard to say that you played all right when you lose, that's for sure. We have to find a way to win the next one."
Backstrom leads the Caps with 42 points off of nine goals and 33 helpers while Alex Ovechkin has 30 markers and 11 helpers for 41 points and Mikhail Grabovski has 10 points in 10 games for a total of 29 points off of 11 tallies and 18 helpers.
The Rangers went a disappointing 3-4-2 on their nine-game homestand but finished strong with two straight victories to close it out.
"There's more desperation in our game, there's more emotion, more desperation about winning," said center Derick Brassard via NHL.com. "We're not playing any differently, Xs and Os, just with more emotion."
Brad Richards paces the Rangers with 26 points off of nine goals and 17 assists while Mats Zuccarello has lit the lamp eight times and added 17 helpers for 25 points and Derek Stepan has found the back of the net seven times and added 16 assists for 23 points.
Cam Talbot will start his third game between the pipes for New York and is 8-2-0 with a 1.60 goals-against average and .938 save percentage while Braden Holtby will likely man the crease for Washington and is 13-10-2 with a 3.00 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
New York will look to play solidly on the road after nine straight home games while Washington will look to maintain any leads that it gets when these teams hit the ice at the Verizon Center tonight in Washington, D.C.
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