The New York Rangers will face the Boston Bruins in their final game before the All-Star break as David Quinn returns to his hometown.
New York Rangers: 20-20-7
Boston Bruins: 27-16-5
Television: MSG Network
Venue: TD Garden
The New York Rangers need to stay focused as their bye week/All-Star break begins after their game Saturday night in Boston. The team will be off for nine straight days until a Jan. 29 game against Philadelphia at MSG.
Rangers head coach David Quinn makes his return to the Boston area for the first time as the team’s head coach with his team playing their best hockey since November. The team has won three out of their last four games.
The team is coming off a thrilling 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Filip Chytil, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, and Mika Zibanejad all had goals in the win.
Rookie defenseman Ryan Lindgren, playing in his second NHL game, recorded 13:58 of ice time with two shots on goal. He is expected to be in the lineup Saturday night.
Mika Zibanejad, the Rangers’ leading scorer with 42 points, has seven points and a plus-5 rating over his current four-game points streak. Chris Kreider leads the team in goals with 22 on the season.
Center Kevin Hayes will not be in the lineup as he will miss his ninth consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Neal Pionk will also be out of the lineup, missing his fifth straight contest.
Henrik Lundqvist will be in net for the Blueshirts.
Defenseman Adam McQuaid, who played nine seasons for the Bruins and won the Stanley Cup with them in 2011, will play his first game against Boston.
Projected Lineup
Kreider – Zibanejad – Zuccarello
Chytil – Strome – Fast
Vesey – Nieves – Namestnikov
McLeod – Howden – Buchnevich
Staal – DeAngelo
Skjei – McQuaid
Lindgren – Shattenkirk
Lundqvist
Mazanec
Saturday night is the first of three-game series where the Rangers face off against Boston. The teams will meet up again Feb. 6 at Madison Square Garden and Mar. 27 at Boston.
