It might just be two games, but the New York Rangers are on their first winning streak of the season. Tonight, against an Edmonton Oilers team without Connor McDavid, the Rangers have the chance to make it three in a row on the road.
The New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers are set to face-off tonight at 9:00pm EST tonight. This is the team's third game of a five-game road trip and they're sustain that road warrior mentality.
Matchup History:
The Rangers and Oilers had some absolute classics last season, but there was a common trend. The home team in both of those games blew a three-goal lead. The Rangers allowed four straight goals in the third period at Madison Square Garden, as they fell 4-3 on November 26th, 2022. The highlight from that game was Leon Draisaitl disrespecting the Rangers captain, Jacob Trouba, when Draisaitl knocked his stick out of his hands while skating to the bench after scoring the eventual game-winning goal.
In the second meeting, the Rangers erased a 4-1 deficit and won the game in a shootout thanks to a slippery five-hole tuck by Alexis Lafreniere to secure the 5-4 win on the road. That win was a part of the Rangers seven-game win streak at the time.
Dating back to 2019, when the Rangers are in Edmonton the games have been incredibly high-scoring. In that three game span, there have been a combined 31 goals. So, you can anticipate a high-scoring affair tonight.
Tonight's Matchup:
There's no denying the fact that the Oilers are struggling right now, and things might get worse before they get better considering that they're without Connor McDavid. Edmonton is on a three-game losing streak and they're 1-4-1 to start the season. For a team that is typically known for their offensive weapons, they have only scored a total of seven goals in their last three games.
Entering this game, they're ranked as the 20th highest-scoring offense, only averaging 2.83 goals per game, but on a positive note, their power play is clicking at a 28% rate.
Goaltending:
Defensively, the Oilers are a total disaster right now. They're allowing the second most goals per game (4.50) and their goaltending situation couldn't be worse. Jack Campbell has been the go-to-guy, but right now he is skating to a record of 1-3-0 with a .878 SV% and a 4.35 GAA, along with a -2.1 GSAx. Stuart Skinner is expected to get the nod tonight, but he hasn't been much better in his two starts. Skinner is 0-0-1 with a .814 SV% and a 4.29 GAA, and has the second worst GSAx in the league (-5.1).
Campbell career vs. Rangers: 3-1-2 with a .890 SV% and a 2.94 GAA.
*Skinner has never played against the Rangers.
Igor Shesterkin should be in the blue paint once again for the Rangers after a stellar performance in Calgary. Shesterkin allowed one goal against on 26 shots and boasted a .962 SV%. This season, he is skating to a 3-2-0 record with a .897 SV% and a 2.66 GAA to go with his +1.3 GSAx.
Shesterkin career vs. Oilers: 1-1-0 with a .869 SV% and a 3.88 GAA.
Concern for tonight's matchup: Edmonton's power play.
The only thing that concerns me tonight is if the Rangers play undisciplined. New York has taken seven penalties in the first two games of this road trip and have yet to allow a power play goal. The penalty kill should feel confident coming into this game, but even without McDavid, this Oilers man-advantage is scary. Dating back to the start of the 2021-22 season, nobody has more power play goals than Leon Draisaitl (59). If the Rangers stay out of the box, they should have no issues handling the Oilers at 5-on-5.
They can't let Draisaitl beat them.
Projected lineup vs. Oilers (not confirmed yet):
Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Chytil-Lafreniere
Cuylle-Trocheck-Wheeler
Goodrow-Bonino-Vesey
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Gustafsson-Miller
Shesterkin
The Rangers have looked great in their first two games of the road trip, but you know what they say. Two's a fluke, three's a streak. Let's see if the Rangers can extend it tonight.