Holy crap, its been a while since I've done one of these!
Rangers at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After a much needed All Star break, a light of good news has been shown on the Rangers. After blocking a shot that broke his hand, Ryan Callahan will be back in the lineup tonight after missing six weeks of hockey. Along with that, Dan Girardi will also be back tonight after suffering a rib injury. Up until now, the newer editions to the Rangers lineup like Wojtek Wolski and Mats Zuccarello have come up big when needed to. It is going to be hard for the management to decide who goes down and who stays in the lineup when everyone returns. But for right now, they have a game tonight against the Penguins. The Rangers have beaten the Penguins two out of three times so far this season, both on Penguin home ice. The Penguins though, have beaten the Rangers here at the Garden by the score of 3-1.
The Penguins will be without two major parts of their lineup tonight. Sidney Crosby still sits with concussion problems, but is close to a return. Also, Evgeni Malkin is out with a knee injury and a sinus infection (fun combination eh?). However, the Pens have favored well with the loss of their top two players. The Penguins are definitely not to be counted out of this game immediately, but it will be somewhat more difficult without Sid and Geno. Marc-Andre Fleury has been playing very solidly for the Pens recently, and if all holds up tonight, it will be just as hard to score on him as any other night.
My Diagnosis
The Rangers are getting back two key players while the Pens are still without two of theirs. Now, like I said, the Penguins are not to be counted out immediately, but it will be much harder for them to get the big plays without Malkin or Crosby there tonight. the Rangers have shown that they can outplay the Penguins twice this season, and its very likely they will show that same kind of enthusiasm tonight at the Garden.
My Predictions
Rangers win 4-2
Wojtek Wolski will the the first goal for the Rangers early in the 1st period.
Brian Boyle will get a second one also in the 1st.
Kris Letang will get the Pens on the board at the start of the 2nd period.
Derek Stepan will get the third goal for the Rangers also in the 2nd.
Jordin Staal will score the second and final goal for the Pens half way through the 3rd.
And finally, Marc Staal will get the empty net goal to seal the victory for the Rangers.
Enjoy the game!
No comments:
Post a Comment