Good evening New York hockey fans, Thomas Buckley coming to you from Floral Park, NY with the latest installment of Buckley Knows Best!! We have a rivalry matchup renewed tonight at MSG, between the New York Islanders and the New York Rangers. Coming into tonight's action the New York Islanders and New York Rangers are both sitting towards the bottom of the now called East division as they both hope to right the ship in hopes of a potential playoff appearance in this modified 56 games schedule, both teams clearly have their work cut out for them as only the top 4 teams per division are eligible to qualify for the postseason.
These 2 teams are no stranger to each other, and just because they share a city, does not mean there is any love loss between the 2 storied franchises. Coming into tonight's matchup these 2 teams have split the 2 decisions they have played on this young season. While the Islanders are the veteran group who made an appearance in the ECF last year seem to need a stutter step as they come out of the gate this year. After a short win streak to start the year they have put together multiple losses in a row which is the reasoning behind their current spot in the East division, (6th place). While the Rangers on the other hand are still wrapping up rebuild mode as they try to get their top draft picks acts together to see what this young team is really capable of. As the days go on, the pressure mounts more and more to complete the development of the Rangers' young stars in the likes of LaFreniere, Kakko, Miller, and goaltender Shasterkin.
Some key matchups to keep an eye on this evening in New York City are Matt Barzal (NYI) and Mika Zebanijad (NYR). Both are relied on heavily to generate scoring offense and that is exactly what both teams will look for out of their key goal scorers this evening.
As for some other Islanders who will be depended on to provide a spark this evening, keep your eyes on Anders Lee
who the Isles will look to to provide a spark on this cold evening in the big apple.
As Semien Varlamov mans the net tonight, the Islanders will look for yet another gritty and shutdown performance as Varlomov carries a (4-2) record into tonight's action, providing one of the few bright spots on a sluggish Islanders team as of late.
The Rangers goaltender this evening is still TBD as no reports have been made official as of yet. Whoever it is scheduled to start between the pipes will have to be sharp as the Rangers, like the Islanders have some ground to make up if they have any hopes of being apart of the 2021 NHL Playoffs.
You can catch all of tonights high flying action with your choice of broadcast whether it be Butch Goring, Brendan Burke, Shannon Hogan, and AJ Malesco on MSG+ the home of the Islanders. Or you can enjoy it all on MSG with Sam Rosen, Joe Micheletti, Don Maloney, and Ansen Carter!! Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm et sharp, we will see you there New York Hockey fans!!!
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