Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the New York Rangers (20-19-2. 42 points) and Pittsburgh Penguins (29-12-1, 59 points) hit the ice at Consol Energy Center for the third of four meeting 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 while Pittsburgh fans can do the same on 105.9 WXDX.
New York enters play looking for some consistency after an up-and-down first half that leaves them with a mediocre record while Pittsburgh has been working its way through some injuries. The first time these two teams met, the Rangers defeated the Penguins 5-1 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 6 while the Pens got some revenge on the Blueshirts in the second meeting with a 4-3 shootout victory on Dec. 18 in New York.
The Penguins added Taylor Pyatt after the Rangers waived him to try and help with depth as the injuries keep stacking up. The team is coming off of a 2-1 loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
The Rangers, meanwhile, will get captain Ryan Callahan back for the first time since being sidelined with a left knee sprain on Dec. 10. The team hopes to start bouncing back after a rocky season to date.
"I think it's important that we're putting the right amount of pressure on ourselves to perform at our best level," goalie Henrik Lundqvist told the New York Daily News. "We're going to need it down the stretch. It's always fun to start the second half of the season, as long as you look at it the right way and see it as a big challenge to try to come back here and have a strong couple months and get us in"
Lundqvist will start tonight and is 12-15-2 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. He'll be opposed by Marc-Andre Fleury, who is 22-10-1 with a 2.15 GAA and a .920 save percentage thus far.
Mats Zuccarello leads the Rangers with 28 points off of nine goals and 19 assists while Brad Richards has nine tallies and 18 helpers for 27 points despite going through a goal drought and Derek Stepan has 25 points off of seven markers and 18 assists.
For the Penguins, Sidney Crosby leads the way with 59 points off of 22 goals and 37 assists while Chris Kunitz has lit the lamp 21 times and added 22 helpers for 43 points. Evgeni Malkin has 41 points while finding the twine nine times and adding 32 assists, but he is sidelined.
The Rangers look to find their identity while the Penguins look to keep strong despite many injuries when the lights come up at Consol Energy Center tonight in Pittsburgh.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
