Blueshirts Gameday Preview: Rangers Take on Oilers in Friday Night Matchup
The Rangers are coming off of a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs on Tuesday (Dec. 19) and will be hoping to ride the positive momentum.
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Welcome to THW New York Rangers Game Preview, where we discuss every upcoming Rangers game. Before each contest, we will look at the Rangers’ projected lineups, notes, and more.
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Now, let’s get this preview started!
The Rangers (22-7-1) who are atop the Metropolitan Division will be taking on the Oilers (14-15-1) who are sixth in the Pacific Division. These two teams battled each other on October 26th, 2023 and the Rangers came out victorious with a 3-0 win so the Oilers will be looking for revenge.
The Oilers are coming off of a huge 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils and will be looking to continue building off of their strong offensive showing while the Rangers are coming off of a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs, so both teams are coming in having won their last matchup.
Let’s now take a look at the Rangers’ projected lineup, game notes, and more.
Rangers’ Projected Lines:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Wheeler
Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere
Cuylle - Bonino - Brodzinski
Vesey - Goodrow - Pitlick
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Gustafasson - Schneider
Quick
Oilers’ Projected Lines:
Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Hyman
Kane - Draisaitl - Foegele
Janmark - McLeod - Gagner
Erne - Hamblin - Ryan
Nurse - Ceci
Ekholm - Bouchard
Kulak - Desharnais
Skinner
The Rangers have been strong to start their 2023-24 season while the Oilers haven’t quite been as good. The Oilers come into the game with their only injury being to forward Dylan Holloway, who is expected to be out until after Christmas.
The Oilers have been slightly better offensively having scored 3.43 goals per game while the Rangers have scored 3.33 per game this season. Defensively, the Rangers have been better allowing only 2.7 goals per game while the Oilers have allowed 3.43 goals per game.
This should be a fun game to watch as their first matchup was entertaining. Hopefully the Rangers can continue their strong stretch of recent games.