The second contest of a back-to-back stretch takes the Tampa Bay Lightning (3rd in Atlantic Division) to a domestic outing against the New York Rangers (5th in Metropolitan), who have triumphed in five of their past six road games.
The New York Rangers (19-12-5) returned from the holiday break with a defeat after being beaten for the second time in their past three matchups (1-2-0) following a 4-0 shutout loss against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. The Blueshirts outshot the visitors 32-30 and killed two of their three penalties, but went 0-for-5 with the man-advantage themselves, eventually conceding four unanswered strikes, including a 5-on-3 power-play marker and a shorthanded empty-netter, ultimately being blanked for the second time this season. Despite the defeat, New York still is 8-2-0 in its most recent 10 contests.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped 26 shots on Tuesday to take his current performance status to 17-6-4 for the ongoing campaign with a 2.47 GAA and a .915 save percentage. He has picked up a perfect 4-0-0 career record against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 1.23 GAA and a .959 save percentage. The Rangers, meanwhile, are netting the 16th highest number of goals per game this year (3.19), while conceding the 9th lowest quantity on the defensive end (2.75). They are sitting 17th in power play (21.9%) and are 13th in penalty kill (80.2%).