Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
A three-game winning streak takes the New York Rangers (3rd in Metropolitan Division) to Newark, where the local New Jersey Devils (2nd in Metropolitan) will try to snap an eight-game losing skid on own ice.
The New York Rangers (22-12-6) banked their third straight victory after beating the Montreal Canadiens with a count of 4-1 at Bell Centre on Thursday. The Blueshirts tallied three snipes, including a shorty, in the second period before the hosts got a goal back in the final third, only for Filip Chytil (11 markers, 21 points this year) to bury his second strike of the night into an empty net during power play with 1:10 remaining. Chris Kreider (18 goals, 29 points) and Braden Schneider (5 goals, 10 points) also scored for New York, which is 11-2-1 in its last 14 matchups.
Goalie Jaroslav Halak stopped 17 shots on Thursday to improve to a 4-6-1 record for the season with a 2.85 GAA and a .896 save percentage. Igor Shesterkin (18-6-5 on the year with a 2.43 GAA and a .917 save percentage), though, is expected to return to New York&# x2019;s crease on Saturday afternoon, having posted a 7-4-0 career total against the New Jersey Devils with a 2.76 GAA and a .917 save percentage. The Rangers, meanwhile, are netting the 13th highest number of goals per game in 2022-23 (3.25), while allowing the 6th lowest amount defensively (2.68). They are 11th in power play (24.0%) and 10th in penalty kill (81.0%).