Game #43: Los Angeles Kings vs New York Rangers Open Thread

After a day of rest following a win over the lowly Arizona Coyotes, the Blueshirts are back in action tonight. Two weeks after getting thumped by the Los Angeles Kings out on the west coast, it’ll be yet another rematch of the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals on tap. The 3-1 score wasn’t indicative of how Gerard Gallant’s squad played during the previous meeting of these two teams, so look for a better effort out of his team tonight.

Some lineup shuffling will be in order, was the team announced that Kaapp Kakko’s upper body injury, originally deemed to be a “day-to-day issue”, is now being considered a week-to-week injury.

Player to Watch: Chris Kreider

Kreider stepped up in the wake of Kakko’s injury two nights ago, scoring goals at even strength, on the power play, as well as the penalty kill to complete a hat trick and set a career high with 29 goals. That hat trick pulled him into a tie with Alex Ovechkin for the league lead in goals, and the Rangers will need Kreider to keep scoring if they want to keep winning.

Enjoy the game!