The New York Rangers are preparing to play the Hurricanes tonight and they will have to do so without their top goal scorer as Mika Zibanejad will be out of the lineup indefinitely.
- New York Rangers: 13-10-2
- Carolina Hurricanes: 10-8-5
- Television: MSG Network
- Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
The New York Rangers announced yesterday that center Mika Zibanejad will be out indefinitely due to a concussion (read that ESNY story here.) Their top goal scorer and points man was initially injured in the game last week against Detroit.
Here is a clip of the hit that is believed to have caused the concussion.
Here's the full play pic.twitter.com/mofBPZ5qzI
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) November 30, 2017
As was the case in their game against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, David Desharnais will replace Zibanejad in-between Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich. As of practice yesterday, all the other lines remain the same.
Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh was back at practice yesterday with no ill effects from his abdominal strain injury that resulted in him missing three games. It looks as if he will return to the lineup tonight.
The Rangers are have won seven of their last 10 games and are coming off a bad loss to the Florida Panthers, 5-4 on Tuesday night.
The Rangers recently defeated the Hurricanes on Thanksgiving eve by a score of 6-1.
The Rangers also made a minor trade yesterday as Adam Cracknell was traded to the Montreal Canadians for center Peter Holland. Holland will report to the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack.
OFFICIAL: #NYR have acquired forward Peter Holland from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Adam Cracknell.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 30, 2017
The Carolina Hurricanes lost their last game against the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 in a shootout. The Hurricanes are currently in seventh place in the Metropolitan division.
Teuvo Teravainen leads the team in points with 21. Left wing Jeff Skinner leads the Hurricanes with nine goals on the season. The Hurricanes are ranked 28th on the power play at 15.6 percent. Goaltender Scott Darling is 7-6-5 with a 2.66 average for goals against.
The teams have two games remaining with each other after tonight’s contest; Mar. 12 @MSG and Mar. 31 in Carolina.
- Mike Murphy of Blueshirtbanter.com discusses the play of Marc Staal.
- ESNY’s Dominick Renna talks about how this stretch of hockey is the team’s best so far.
