A three-game losing skid takes the Anaheim Ducks (8th in Pacific Division) to a home matchup against the New York Rangers (4th in Metropolitan), who will be playing the second contest of their current back-to-back stretch.
The New York Rangers (10-6-4) started their latest back-to-back stretch with a win after orchestrating their first multigoal comeback of the current campaign during a 5-3 triumph against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena last night. The Blueshirts were trailing 2-0 following the opening frame, but took a 3-2 lead in the middle frame, eventually bagging two more snipes through Chris Kreider (9 goals, 17 points this year) in the final third. With that, New York went 2-0-1 on its current four-game road trip, 3-0-1 in its past four outings overall and 5-1-1 on its most recent seven travels.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin (10-2-3 for the season with a 2.38 GAA and a .917 save percentage) made 35 saves yesterday, but will vacate the crease for Jaroslav Halak ahead of tonight’s trip to Anaheim. Halak is 0-4-1 for the rolling year w ith a 3.22 GAA and a .883 save percentage, but has registered an 11-7-2 past tally against the Ducks with a 2.62 GAA and a .907 save percentage. The Rangers, meanwhile, are netting the 14th lowest number of goals per game this season (3.05), while allowing the 7th lowest amount defensively (2.70). They are 10th in power play (23.5%; 16-for-68) and 6th in penalty kill (81.7%; 49-for-60).