The Nashville Predators head east, after a disappointing and hard-fought loss to the Winnipeg Jets, to face the New York Rangers. We don’t have lines yet, but the Preds’ official preview includes multiple fun facts about Roman Josi, so that may be a reason for optimism about his return. Hopefully Dante Fabbro isn’t too banged up either.
The Rangers are coming off a 6-0 win yesterday over the Pittsburgh Penguins, and are currently third in the Metropolitan Division. Their roster is healthy; their gameplay is solid. Just-okay even-strength offense, defense, and penalty kill are counterbalanced by a great power play and great goaltending, mostly from Igor Shesterkin. Jaroslav Hálak has been a perfectly adequate backup, though.
Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad lead the team with 77 and 75 points respectively, while Adam Fox has chipped in 52 assists from the blue line. Recent acquisition Patrick Kane has 7 points in 8 games since he was traded, while fellow recent acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko also shouldn’t be overlooked, with 13 points in 18 games.
How to Watch
The game airs at 6PM Central/7PM Eastern on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.