Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The NHL holiday break is in sight for the New York Rangers, but not before a three-games-in-four-days stretch that begins Friday night against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
The desperate Rangers (15-15-1) are trying to end a three-game losing streak and salvage the finale of this three-game road trip. They followed a 5-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday with a 3-2 defeat in St. Louis against the Blues on Sunday and a 2-0 shutout loss at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
All told, the Rangers have lost 11 of their past 14 games, and in that span traded two regulars from their lineup. First, captain Jacob Trouba was shipped to the Anaheim Ducks two weeks ago for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a draft pick. And then forward Kaapo Kakko was traded to the Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen and two draft picks on Wednesday.
Perhaps only the NHL roster freeze at midnight Thursday stopped even more of a shakeup to the Rangers roster.
Now, after largely failing against against second-tier teams recently, the Rangers take a step up in competition this weekend. The Stars (19-12-0) are third in the Central Division and considered a top Stanley Cup contender. The Rangers then play two of the top three teams in the Metropolitan Division on consecutive days when they skate against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday and New Jersey Devils on Monday.
Happy Holidays indeed.
Related: Rangers trade grades after Kaapo Kakko dealt to Kraken for Will Borgen
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
There’s been a heaviness and malaise that’s surrounded the Rangers for several weeks now. Losing will do that to you. So will constant trade rumors. It really hasn’t looked like the Rangers enjoy going to work anymore.
Perhaps that changed Thursday. General manager Chris Drury met with the team after the Kakko trade, and then there was a spirited practice in Texas, one that featured coach Peter Laviolette taking part in a shootout against goalies Jonathan Quick and Igor Shesterkin. The players hooted and hollered when Laviolette ended practice by beating Shesterkin one-on-one, even if the $11.5 million goalie likely allowed it to happen.
It’s a small thing, but for at least one day the heaviness lifted and the Rangers had some fun. Let’s see if that carries over at all into what should be a difficult game Friday night.
Borgen doesn’t have the resume of Trouba. But the newest Rangers defenseman will be expected to fill a similar role as the departed captain. Like Trouba, Borgen is big (6-foot-3, 204 pounds), physical and can play an angry game in his own end of the rink. The 28-year-old is not flashy, but he understands his role and will play a hard game night-in and night-out. He hasn’t missed a game in two-plus seasons.
Borgen makes his Rangers debut Friday and you can expect him to throw a bomb or two on the ice, perhaps even a punch or two. Again, he’s not Trouba, but there are similarities.
Will Borgen drops the gloves with Brandon Duhaime with 23 seconds left in the game.
Good sportsmanship from Borgen making sure Duhaime was ok after falling with no helmet. pic.twitter.com/udnuUnzGJE
— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) February 25, 2024
He’s also not Victor Mancini. The 22-year-old rookie looked more and more overmatched at the NHL level and will benefit greatly by gaining valuable experience at Hartford in the American Hockey League. Borgen is an NHL defensemen, suited for third-pair duty, which should be his role in New York.
The Stars, to put it succinctly, are Texas tough. They are not only difficult to score against, but even just getting shots through against them is a war. The Stars have the third-best team goals-against average in the NHL (2.58) and surrender the fifth-fewest shots on goal per game (26.6).
An interesting note, though, is that Stars goalie Jake Oettinger has a .909 save percentage, just a tick better than Shesterkin (.908), even though he’s second in the NHL with 16 wins and has a GAA more than a half goal better than the Rangers goalie.
What Oettinger has is a better defense corps in front of him and a more committed team defensive structure than Shesterkin. The Rangers must be ready to work to get their scoring chances Friday.
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Kreider – Chytil – Cuylle
Berard – Zibanejad – Smith
Edstrom – Carrick – Vesey
Lindgren – Fox
Jones – Schneider
Vaakanainen – Borgen
Shesterkin
Quick
Who: New York Rangers vs. Dallas Stars
When: Friday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. ET
Where: American Airlines Center
How to watch: MSG
Click here for New York Rangers complete 2024-25 schedule and game results
Mentioned in this article: Dallas Stars Game Preview Peter Laviolette Will Borgen
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