New York Rangers Vs Coyotes: What To Watch For 2
Oct 19, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) is congratulated after scoring a goal against the Detroit Red Wings during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Fresh off an huge 4-2 win against Washington, the New York Rangers look to improve there record to 4-2 as they square off with the Arizona Coyotes.

  • New York Rangers (3-2-0, 6pts)
  • Arizona Coyotes (1-3-0, 2pts)
  • NHL, Tonight, 7:00 PM on NHL Network, and MSG
  • Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Before Saturday’s game against the Capitals, New York Rangers Head Coach Alain Vigneault told Rick Carpinello of The Journal News: 

“We can easily be sitting here 4-0 the way we played in those games both offensive and defensively.”

The Rangers have two losses on the board but have only lost by a combined two goals in both games.

In last night’s 4-2 comeback victory against the Capitals, Rangers’ wonder boy Jimmy Vesey scored two goals including a beautiful backhand to give them the lead. So how does the young rookie cement his reputation? Consistency, which starts with tonight’s game.

The Rangers will face off against the Arizona Coyotes tonight in New York. The Coyotes enter the contest having lost their last three games.

Dan Girardi is expected to make a return to the Rangers’ blue line tonight, which will spark some controversy among the Blueshirt faithful.

Here is the probably lineup for tonight’s game.

Clendening is out tonight and Dan Girardi will take his place.

Antti Raanta is expected to start for the Rangers. UPDATE: Henrik Lundqvist is in tonight.

The Rangers are facing a Coyotes team that has been anything but spectacular in their first four games. Having said that, the Rangers will be playing their second game in two nights and will need to avoid falling into a hole early.

Arizona will skate without their starting goaltender Mike Smith, who is out with a lower body injury. Hopefully the Rangers won’t try to make yet another back up goalie look like Patrick Roy.

Filling in for Smith is 24-year-old Louis Domingue, who will face the Rangers for the first time tonight.

Prediction

The Rangers special teams haven’t been great. Their power play is currently ranked at 14th in the league with a 17.6% success rate and their penalty kill is only the 17th best with a 83.3% kill rate.

If last night is any indication, the Blueshirts may have started to turn their special teams around. Vesey scored an important power play goal and the team killed off a four minute double-minor with surprisingly efficiency. Both of these factors will need to continue tonight.

If the Rangers can also keep up the strong defense which they demonstrated yesterday, it will go a long way to making Lundqvist’s job easy and should allow the offense to play wide open.

Rangers 5 , Coyotes 1

 NEXT: Rangers Reaction: Jimmy Vesey Is Good At Hockey 

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Jake Weingarten
Hello Rangers fans, my name is Jake Weingarten and i really love the rangers. The rangers mean a lot to me, whether it's the fans, players, or the history. I've enjoyed many games at MSG and on the road, but none better then game 7 2015 against the Washington Capitals. If i had to choose a favorite blueshirt of all-time, it would be Carl Hagelin. Last thing, always believe in yourself and never doubt your thoughts. Let's go Rangers!.

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