Everything you need to know ahead of tonight's game between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings

Tonight, the Detroit Red Wings (1-1-0) will look to stake their claim to a winning record for the first time in the young season, traveling to Madison Square Garden for the season's first road game, where they will meet the reigning Presidents' Trophy holders, the New York Rangers (1-0-1).  It will not be an easy task for the visitors. Detroit went 0-3-0 last season against the Rangers, falling twice at MSG in November and once at Little Caesars Arena in April.  Derek Lalonde's team will look to buck that trend tonight at the World's Most Famous Arena (self-proclaimed of course, like the rest of New York's superlatives).

 What to Watch For

-Special teams were a major distinguishing factor in last year's regular seasons series. The Red Wing power play went 2/14 across the three games (14.3%, down from the year long average of 23.1%), while the Ranger man advantage converted on three of its eight chances (37.5%, up from an already daunting season average of 26.4%).  Throughout their recent push toward the top of the Eastern Conference (whether during Gerard Gallant's tenure or in their present, Peter Laviolette-coached iteration), New York has never been a dominant five-on-five team.  Instead, they rely heavily on special teams (and an elite power play in particular) to achieve results.   

-Coming out of Saturday night's game against Nashville, I wrote about the significance of what Derek Lalonde described as the Red Wings' "ground game."  The basic idea is that possessing the puck via the cycle in the offensive zone bears a certain resemblance to running the ball in football.  In both cases, even if it does not necessarily result in explosive plays, it can provide defensive relief and game control through a territorial or in a football parlance, field position, advantage.  Given that the Rangers are not an elite five-on-five team, getting into that ground game can be a way for Detroit to apply pressure and put New York into discomfort.

-From a personnel perspective, the Red Wings will be without both Jeff Petry and Christian Fischer tonight.  Justin Holl will replace Petry (as he did Saturday night), but, as of this writing, Fischer's replacement is not yet definite.  One option would be to dress seven defensemen and just 11 forwards tonight, an approach Lalonde has previously said he sees value in, especially on the road when it can help him muddy up match-ups for his opposition.  Another would be to call up an additional forward from Grand Rapids.  When he discussed this possibility yesterday, Lalonde suggested that, because Fischer's injury is a short-term one, a potential call-up would likely be a more veteran player than one of Detroit's prospects who might miss out on more significant minutes with the Griffins (i.e. Austin Watson, rather than Marco Kasper).

-At their morning skate, the Rangers lined up as follows, with superstar Igor Shesterkin expected to get the nod in net:

Where to Watch

For fans in the Detroit market, tonight's game (a 7 PM scheduled puck drop) will be business as usual, available on traditional television on Bally Sports Detroit and to stream on the Bally Sports Plus app.  For out-of-market fans, tonight's game is an NHL Network exclusive, which is to say it will not air on its usual streaming homes of Hulu/ESPN+.  97.1 The Ticket will provide the radio broadcast, per usual.

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