The New York Rangers head back on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes looking for their third win away from MSG without Ryan McDonagh.
- New York Rangers (10-9-2, 22 pts)
- Carolina Hurricanes (9-6-4, 22 pts)
- NHL, Metro, Nov. 22, 2017, 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG2
- PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
OFFICIAL: Ryan McDonagh will not practice today and will miss tomorrow's game with an abdominal strain. #NYR
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 21, 2017
Ryan McDonagh has not had the best start to the season that he and the New York Rangers were hoping for.
The injury doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise as McDonagh has missed several practices throughout the season. The Rangers called those missed practices maintenance days yet McDonagh won’t play on Wednesday night in Carolina.
Steven Kampfer will replace the injured McDonagh who will be missing his first game of the season. Kampfer has skated in nine games for the Rangers this season and has yet to record a point. He played in a stretch of six consecutive games in place of the struggling Brendan Smith and will be getting a chance to prove himself once again via the McDonagh injury.
Lundqvist gets the nod again
No changes to #NYR's forward lines from Sunday. Kampfer will replace McDonagh. @HLundqvist30 gets the start against Hurricanes.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 21, 2017
Henrik Lundqvist will be receiving his 10th straight start in goal for the Rangers.
In his last five games, Lundqvist has gone 3-2 allowing 10 goals during that span. He is coming off a 20-save shutout against the Ottawa Senators where the Rangers played their best defensive game of the season.
It certainly looks like Lundqvist has turned a corner in the month of November. His save percentage is back to a respectable .911 and his goals-against average is down to 2.81. Lundqvist had a 2.74 goals-against average in all of the 2016-17 season.
AV Meets the Media
AV on the status of Ryan McDonagh, tomorrow's #NYR lineup, the play of Boo Nieves and more following practice. pic.twitter.com/4BVSvZLyOf
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 21, 2017
When talking about Ryan McDonagh, head coach Alain Vigneault mentioned that the injury “has been there for a little bit so we just want to check it out.” Vigneault would go on to mention that McDonagh would not accompany the team to Carolina and his status for the teams game against Detroit Friday is up in the air.
“So many guys are always looking to get more minutes,” Vigneault said when asked about replacing McDonagh.
Vigneault also mentioned that McDonagh does play over 20 minutes a night so it is imperative for someone to step their game up in his absence.
Other Rangers News
- ESNY’s Frank Curto explains why Ondrej Pavelec needs still needs to work on his game in practice.
- Chance the Rapper had a hard time pronouncing Brady Skjei in a skit on Saturday Night Live.
- Mika Zibanejad continues his historic start to the season.
