The Rangers walk into Rogers Place on Monday carrying a three-game winning streak and the memory of the last time they saw the Oilers.
That loss came Nov. 1 at Madison Square Garden, a 4-1 Edmonton win that still stands as New York’s most recent defeat. Since then, the Rangers have steadied themselves with three straight victories, including a 4-3 comeback over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday to open their four-game road trip through the Northwest. It was only their second road win of the season, but it gave the group a needed lift as they head into another tough test.
New York is 10-7-1 overall and 2-5-1 away from home. Edmonton, meanwhile, comes in at 12-3-3 and has gone 1-1-1 since beating the Rangers. The Oilers still sit on top of the Pacific Division, and the game offers the Rangers a shot at a fourth straight win against the same club that snapped them last time out.
In goal, the Rangers are going back to Dylan Garand. He’ll make his 13th appearance and 11th start in the past 14 games after Joonas Korpisalo handled the crease Saturday in his delayed Rangers debut. Korpisalo had been out for a month with a foot infection before making 25 saves against Seattle.
Garand has already seen Edmonton once this season, and it wasn’t a clean night. He gave up three goals on 23 shots in that Nov. 1 meeting, including one to Connor McDavid 50 seconds into the game. But he bounced back in his next two starts, allowing three goals total on 58 shots.
The blue line has taken another hit. Rookie defenseman Alberts Smits missed his first game of the season Saturday and is now week to week with an upper-body injury.
Matthew Robertson steps in on the third pair. Sean Durzi is still sidelined with an unspecified injury, though he was on the ice for Monday’s optional morning skate in a red no-contact jersey.
Scott Morrow remains in his spot for the fifth straight game.
Edmonton’s biggest problem for opponents is still McDavid, who has at least one point in all 18 games this season and leads the league with 47 points - 10 goals and 37 assists. He is on pace to become only the second player in NHL history to finish a season with 200 points, with Wayne Gretzky the only other one to do it.
The Oilers have plenty more firepower behind him. Evan Bouchard leads all NHL defensemen with 10 goals and 31 points and brings a six-game point streak into Monday. Leon Draisaitl is tied for the league lead with 16 goals, has scored four times in his last three games, and is riding a five-game point streak.
New York’s projected lineup has Pavel Dorofeyev with Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere on the top line, followed by Tye Kartye, J.T. Miller and Gabe Perreault.
Will Cuylle centers the third line with Noah Laba and Oliver Bjorkstrand, while Eeli Tolvanen, Luke Glendening and Jaroslav Chmelar make up the fourth unit. On defense, Valdislav Gavrikov pairs with Adam Fox, Marcus Pettersson skates with Braden Schneider, and Robertson joins Morrow on the third pair.
Garand is expected to start, with Korpisalo backing him up.
Rangers vs. Oilers is set for Monday, November 9 at 8 p.m. ET at Rogers Place, and the game will be shown on MSG.
In Other News...
Rangers Just Got A Telling Sign About One Goalies Readiness
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Joonas Korpisalos latest assignment is the more notable one for the Rangers, since the veteran goaltender is now back with Hartford on a conditioning stint as he works his way back from a foot infection. For a team trying to keep its options open in goal, it is a useful checkpoint on Korpisalos readiness, even if the exact timeline for what comes next remains the part everyone will be watching. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Fans Just Got A Telling Wolf Pack Progress Report
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The result left Hartford with a 4-3-1-0 mark on the trip, which is the kind of stretch that can steady a group and keep it moving in the right direction. The matchup with Springfield is not going away for long, either, with the clubs set to see each other again at PeoplesBank Arena on Nov. 14 in the I-91 Rivalry game. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers May Finally Get A Real Fourth Line Test On This Trip
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Gawdins arrival comes at a time when the Rangers are still searching for a workable answer in that role, and this trip should provide a clearer read than the brief looks they have had before. For a team trying to round out its bottom six, the next few games could go a long way toward showing whether this is simply another stopgap or something closer to a real solution. [Read more 🡒]