Rangers Go Into The Six, Looking For Two Points

Exactly one week ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs had an offensive explosion at Madison Square Garden, helping them defeat the New York Rangers by the score of 7-3. Tonight, the Rangers go into their building seeking revenge.

The New York Rangers faced Martin Jones and the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 12th, and per David Alter, who covers the Leafs for The Hockey News, the Rangers will most likely face Jones once again tonight.

For those that haven't been keeping up with the Maple Leafs, Jones has actually been phenomenal in Toronto's blue paint. In his last three starts, he is 3-0-0 with a 1.85 goals against average as well as a .949 save percentage. Jones also earned one shutout, which came in the teams most recent game in a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Keep in mind, the Leafs smacked the Penguins without their star goal-scorer, Auston Matthews, who is expected to make his return to the lineup tonight against the Rangers. 

In his last 10 games, Matthews has tallied nine goals and five assists he stacked those stats in the last game against the Rangers by scoring two goals with two helpers. 

Another Leaf that the Rangers need to keep their eyes on tonight is Mitch Marner, who has eight goals and six assists in his last 10 games. Just like Matthews, Marner had a strong showing at MSG, scoring two goals and adding an assist. 

Let's shift focus on the Rangers. 

Per Vince Mercogliano, there haven't been any changes to the lineup from the game against the Boston Bruins. That said, it's great to see K'Andre Miller in the lineup for a second straight game. 

The key for the Rangers tonight will be their goaltending. Toronto has a ton of top-end talent that can really make their opponent pay if they get good looks. 

It looks like Igor Shesterkin will get the start tonight, per Mollie Walker.

Shesterkin's last game against Toronto was not a good showing. He allowed six goals against on a total of 29 shots faced, skating to a .793 save percentage. 

With that said, he followed that up with an incredible bounce back performance against the Bruins, stopping 21 of 22 shots while boasting a .955 save percentage. 

In his last seven appearances, Shesterkin is 3-4-0 with a 3.59 goals against average and a .887 save percentage. 

Tonight is a huge game for Shesterkin and his team will need a similar effort to the one he had In Boston on Saturday evening.