The New York Rangers haven’t lost a game in the past week, heading into their clash against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Monday. And the team trying to end their four-game winning streak is the same one which handed the Rangers their most recent defeat.
Since the Rangers (10-7-1) lost 4-1 to the Oilers on Nov. 1 at Madison Square Garden, they’ve reeled off three wins in a row. That includes a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, which started their four-game road trip to the Northwest on a positive note, and was just the second road victory this season for the Rangers (2-5-1).
That game also marked the return of goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who made his delayed Rangers debut after sitting out a month with a foot infection. Korpisalo made 25 save Saturday, but Dylan Garand is back between the pipes against the Oilers, making his 13th appearance and 11th start in the past 14 games.
Rangers tools
Garand allowed three goals on 23 shots against the Oilers eight days ago, including one to Connor McDavid just 50 seconds into that game. The 24-year-old goalie rebounded by allowing three goals on 58 shots combined in two starts after that one against the Oilers.
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Rookie defenseman Alberts Smits missed his first game of the season Saturday, and won’t be in the lineup again Monday nor in the foreseeable future. Smits is week to week with an upper-body injury, and Matthew Robertson replaces him on the third defense pair.
In addition, Sean Durzi remains out with an unspecified injury, though he did take part in the optional morning skate Monday, wearing a red no-contact jersey. Scott Morrow replaces him again for the fifth consecutive game.
The Oilers (12-3-3) are 1-1-1 since knocking off the Rangers, and remain atop the Pacific Division standings. And McDavid keeps piling up points. The Oilers superstar captain has at least one point in all 18 games this season and leads the League with 47 points (10 goals, 37 assists). He remains on pace to become only the second player in NHL history to record 200 points in a season, the other being Wayne Gretzky.
Of course, McDavid’s sidekicks are pretty darn good too. Evan Bouchard leads all NHL defensemen with 10 goals and 31 points, and carries a six-game point streak into this one. Leon Draisaitl is tied for the League lead with 16 goals, including four in his past three games, and has a five-game point streak currently.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Pavel Dorofeyev — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
Tye Kartye — J.T. Miller — Gabe Perreault
Will Cuylle — Noah Laba — Oliver Bjorkstrand
Eeli Tolvanen — Luke Glendening — Jaroslav Chmelar
Valdislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Marcus Pettersson — Braden Schneider
Matthew Robertson — Scott Morrow
Dylan Garand
Joonas Korpisalo
Rangers vs. Oilers: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Edmonton Oilers
When: Monday, November 9 at 8 p.m. ET
Where: Rogers Place
How to watch: MSG
Jim Cerny is Executive Editor at Forever Blueshirts and Managing Editor at Sportsnaut, with more than 30 years of … More about Jim Cerny
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