NY RANGERS: PRESEASON GAME 1 PREVIEW VS. ISLANDERS

NY RANGERS: PRESEASON GAME 1 PREVIEW VS. ISLANDERS

By: Matthew Blittner



IT IS TIME!

Hello and Welcome to the unofficial start of the 2017-18 NHL season!

Tomorrow, Monday September 18th, 2017 the NY Rangers open their preseason slate of games with a matchup against their rivals, the NY Islanders.

While the Islanders are in action for an exhibition match today at their old home -- Nassau Coliseum -- the Isles and Blueshirts will renew acquaintances at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night at 7pm EST.

Tomorrow's game is the first of six on the docket for the Rangers this preseason, and dating back to September 21st, 2009, the Blueshirts are 12-2-0 in preseason games at MSG.

With the addition of Kevin Shattenkirk, re-signing of Brendan Smith, acquisition of Anthony DeAngelo, retirement of Kevin Klein, and releasing of stalwart Dan Girardi, the defense has a new look feel to it.

On the offensive side, the Rangers are returning largely the same unit that finished as a top-5 offense last season. The losses of Derek Stepan and Oscar Lindberg will undoubtedly be felt in the early going. However, the addition of David Desharnais and the potential for top-pick Lias Andersson to make the team have the ability to offset those losses. 

In net, The King, Henrik Lundqvist returns for his 13th season, and if training camp is any indication, Hank is in the best shape of his life. Meanwhile, Prince Antti was traded to Arizona and has been replaced by Ondrej Pavalec. Pavalec is a work in progress, but with Benoit Allaire as the Rangers' goaltending coach, Pavalec is in great position to further develop his game.

The Rangers enter the season having made the playoffs in seven straight and 11 of their last 12 seasons. Over that time span, they are the only team to not be mathematically eliminated from postseason contention prior to a regular season game.

With the current construction of this team, that stretch of success is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

As for the game tomorrow night, listed below is the projected lineup. Remember teams like to use a mix of NHLers and minor-leaguers in the early portion of the preseason.

GOALTENDERS
31 Ondrej Pavelec
75 Brandon Halverson

SKATERS
10 J.T. Miller
23 Bobby Farnham
24 Cristoval Nieves
25 Andrew Desjardins
27 Ryan McDonagh
28 Paul Carey
29 Cole Schneider
40 Michael Grabner
44 Neal Pionk
47 Steven Kampfer
50 Lias Andersson
54 Gabriel Fontaine
55 Nick Holden
61 Rick Nash
63 Ryan Graves
77 Tony DeAngelo
89 Pavel Buchnevich
95 Vinni Lettieri

As always, check back here tomorrow night for a recap of the game.

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