The New York Rangers begin their preseason schedule Monday night in New Jersey as Alexandar Georgiev gets the start between the pipes.
Hockey is back for the New York Rangers and their fans. Let the backup goalie competition begin.
The Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils Monday night in Newark with Alexandar Georgiev getting the start in net. The Russian goaltender is the favorite to win the battle of the backup to goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis tweeted that Georgiev told him he would be starting and would play the first have of the game Monday night.
Georgiev appeared in 10 games for the Rangers last season with a record of 4-4 -1, 3.15 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
Georgiev had a tale of two seasons last year while playing for the Blueshirts. In a game against the Buffalo Sabres, he made 43 saves as he and the Rangers won the contest 5-1. In his next game against the Washington Capitals, he lasted only 8:54 of the first period as he allowed three goals on only six shots against him.
The goalie has shown great promise, but last seasons play was not good enough to give him the backup job. He will have to work for it as the team has six goalies in camp aside from Henrik Lundqvist.
The Rangers need to know if Georgiev is the right goalie to backup Lundqvist as the team will probably need whoever wins the job to play in at least 25 games this season.
The Rangers will also dress Marek Mazanec who will play in the second half of the game against the Devils. Mazanec was signed as a free agent in December 2017. He was originally drafted by the Nashville Predators in 2012.
He appeared in 20 games with the Wolf Pack in 2017-18, posting an 11-6-2 record, along with a 2.97 GAA and a .905 SV%. Mazanec earned a win in his debut with Hartford on Dec. 10, 2017, vs. Springfield.
Head coach David Quinn has indicated practices will be as important as games with only six preseason games to determine who will earn the backup role.