Winners of two straight, the New York Rangers take a step up in class when they host the Washington Capitals
Winners of two straight, the New York Rangers take a step up in class when they host the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
That’s taking nothing away from their first two victories of the season, including a 6-1 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. But the Penguins and Buffalo Sabres — whom the Rangers defeated on the road Thursday — aren’t considered playoff contenders this season. In fact, the Penguins missed the postseason three straight years and the Sabres haven’t been in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011.
The Capitals, on the other hand, finished first in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference last season. They advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. Most hockey pundits predict the Capitals to finish ahead of the Rangers in the Metro this season.
So, yes, this is a step up in class for the Blueshirts.
That said, the Rangers (2-1-0) looked really good in Pittsburgh on Saturday. They received contributions up and down the lineup, and 12 skaters recorded at least one point. Defenseman Adam Fox built on his fast start this season with two goals and an assist. He has three goals already, most among NHL defensemen and tied for third most overall in the League.
They’ve outscored the opposition 10-1 in their past two games, with all four lines and each of the three defense pairs stepping up, and goalie Igor Shesterkin playing at an incredibly high level. Against the Penguins, the Rangers received a massive lift from their bottom-six forward group.
That’s especially important considering the Rangers are without injured center Vincent Trocheck on a week-to-week basis.
The Capitals (1-1-0) knocked off the Islanders 4-2 at UBS Arena on Saturday for their first win of the season. Aliaksei Protas led the way with two goals and an assist, when Washington skated to a 4-0 lead before holding on to finish it off. They opened the season with a 3-1 loss at home to the Boston Bruins.
Last season, the Capitals swept the season series against the Rangers, winning twice in regulation at home and 3-2 in overtime at MSG on March 5.
3 storylines when Rangers host Capitals
1. Quick turnaround
This is the first set of 12 back-to-backs for the Rangers this season. So, after three brilliant starts by Shesterkin to begin the season, the Rangers are expected to turn to Jonathan Quick in goal against the Capitals.
The 39-year-old was 11-7-2 with three shutouts last season. But his 3.17 goals-against average and .893 save percentage weren’t pretty. Was that more a case of some seriously shoddy defensive play in front of him? Or is Quick aging, pardon the pun, quickly in front of our eyes?
The Rangers certainly hope it’s the former because they need their No. 2 to be more the goalie he was in 2023-24 (18-6-2, 2.62 GAA, .911 save percentage) to improve their playoff chances this season.
Quick’s got big skates to fill Sunday. Shesterkin stopped 83 of 85 shots in the first three games, posting an absurd .976 save percentage, best in the League. He also already has 7.0 goals saved above expected, per Money Puck, also tops among NHL goalies.
2. Next man up
As mentioned, the Rangers did an excellent job Saturday, filling the void created by Trocheck’s absence. They must continue to do that, of course, moving forward, and it won’t be easy to do, especially against a quality opponent like the Capitals.
Now the Rangers must pick up for another fallen teammate. Carson Soucy landed on injured reserve after the veteran defenseman sustained an upper-body injury during the second period against against the Penguins. The Rangers recalled Connor Mackey from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Sunday. However, Matthew Robertson, a healthy scratch the first three games, likely draws in against the Capitals.
Urho Vaakanainen could move up from the third pair to take Soucy’s spot next to Will Borgen on the second pair. Robertson — or Mackey — then could slot in on the third pair alongside Braden Schneider. Or Schneider could move to his off (left) side next to Borgen, leaving two left-shot defensemen on the third pair.
3. Heeeeere’s Jonny?
Outside of replacing the injured Soucy, it doesn’t make sense for coach Mike Sullivan to make any other changes to a winning lineup, right? Not so fast. With Trocheck out, why not get Jonny Brodzinski in there?
The highly-respected veteran would bring fresh legs on the second of a back to back, and is worthy of an opportunity. He could play in the top six to give Conor Sheary, who’s 33, a night off. Or Brodzinski could slot on to the third line — either in the place of Jusso Parssinen, or if Parssinen moves up to take Sheary’s spot, if the veteran is a scratch.
Brodzinski scored an NHL career-high 12 goals last season and finished with 19 points in 51 games.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — J.T. Miller — Conor Sheary
Juuso Parssinen — Noah Laba– Taylor Raddysh
Adam Edstrom — Sam Carrick — Matt Rempe
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Urho Vaakanainen — Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson — Braden Schneider
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin
Rangers vs. Capitals: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals
When: Sunday Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
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Category: General Sports
