Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers will be looking to bounce back when they take on the Washington Capitals during a Sunday matinee.
- New York Rangers (37-18-1, 75 pts)
- Washington Capitals (39-11-7, 85 pts)
- NHL, Sunday, Feb. 19, 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC
- Verizon Center, Washington D.C.
It was disappointing. This much is for sure.
Whether you’re a fan, a player or anybody who works in the organization, the fact that the New York Rangers have yet to win a single game in Brooklyn is a rough reality. The Islanders kept this trend going with their 4-2 win over the Rangers on Thursday night.
The great thing about hockey, though, is this isn’t football. The Blueshirts don’t have to wait a week to bounce back. Rather, they’ll have that shot on Sunday afternoon when they welcome in the NHL’s best team in the Washington Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin‘s squad comes in with 85 points, one more than the Minnesota Wild and 10 more than the fourth-place Rangers. They hold an incredible 19-2-2 record over their last 23 games, but haven’t played in five games, via Stats LLC.:
“In your head, you haven’t played for a week, and you’re getting used to thinking the game fast again,” Capitals forward Lars Eller said to the Washington Post. “Everybody was thinking a little too slow, especially in the first period, we were playing slow because we were kind of moving the puck slow. It wasn’t a lack of willingness. It was just too slow thinking, and then we looked slow. But it got better.”
As far as New York is concerned, the Isles loss snapped a six-game win streak. Expect Henrik Lundqvist to be back between the pipes and also expect to see two fresh names on the ice.
Pavel Buchnevich will be back in the lineup replacing Matt Puempel and Kevin Klein will make his return to the lineup in favor of Adam Clendening.
AV says Buchnevich will replace Puempel tomorrow, while Klein returns for Clendening. #NYR
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 18, 2017
First puck drop is slated for 12:30 p.m. ET. The game will be nationally televised on NBC.
"It’s going to be a good test for us." – @HLundqvist30 on #NYR facing the Capitals Sunday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/wRZ9tYPijO
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 18, 2017