The New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks both enter tonight's matchup riding their own respective three-game win streaks. Which of these two teams will see their streak come to an end?
This road trip has been nothing but one big confidence boost for this New York Rangers club. They have now defeated the Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers in three straight games, and they have won these contests the right way.
The Vancouver Canucks played last night, so this will be the second half of a back-to-back, but they absolutely pummeled the St. Louis Blues at home, winning by the score of 5-0.
Matchup History:
The Rangers won both meetings last season, first by the score of 4-3 at Madison Square Garden. Then, a week later, they went into Vancouver and took down the Canucks 6-4.
Tonight's Matchup:
The New York Rangers enter this game looking very strong in their own end. The team has only allowed two goals in its last three games. With that said, Vancouver has the fourth-best offense in the NHL right now, averaging 4.00 goals per game. The Canucks power play is almost just as effective and dangerous as the Rangers. Vancouver is currently skating to the leagues sixth-best man-advantage unit at 28.6%, but they haven't converted on the power play in their last two games (0 for 5).
The Rangers power play is still on fire as they have scored in every single games besides one. Adam Fox is leading the group with six points on the man-advantage and he tallied a power play goal in the teams most recent game. As a group, the Rangers are converting at a 30.4% rate, which is the fifth-best in the NHL. Vancouver has been just about average on the penalty kill, sitting at 80% which is 16th in the league.
Slowing down Elias Petterson & J.T. Miller:
In their last five games, the Canucks centers Elias Petterson and J.T. Miller have been on a tear. Last night, Miller had a goal and two assists and has now put up seven points in his last five games. Petterson was quieter last night, but still had two assists. He has notched six points in the teams last five games.
The Rangers have done a very strong job at limiting their opponents scoring chances and that will certainly be a huge factor in tonight's game. Especially dealing with Petterson and Miller.
Can Lafreniere and Panarin extend their streaks?
Alexis Lafreniere has been the talk of this road trip as he has now scored in all three games that the team has played in. Lafreniere has looked like a much more confident player on his line with Artemi Panarin and Filip Chytil. They've by far been the teams best line throughout the first seven games of the season. Panarin has been nothing short of the word outstanding. He has recorded a point in every single game of the season and is leading the group with 10. He also leads the team with 28 shots on goal. Lafreniere and Panarin's chemistry has gotten stronger in each game and Chytil has been a perfect fit in the middle for the two of them.
I will keep an eye on the goaltending matchups and the expected lineup as they come out after today's morning skate.