NY Rangers (8-7-2) at Tampa Bay Lightning (8-5-2)
• 12 November 2025 19:00 EST
• Benchmark Intl. Arena, Tampa
• TV: TNT, TVAS, HBO MAX •
The Rangers begin a short road trip after finally snagging their first home victory of the 25/26 season. Tonight they’ll be dropping by St. Pete Eli’s to take him and the missus out for a blue plate special before heading on over to the rink in Tampa. I’ve heard there is a nice bridge for sale down that way too 😉
So this is a match between two eight win teams, though the Rangers have played two more games in total. It also could have been an unusual match up of a former NYR captain (Ryan McDonagh) and the current NYR captain (JT Miller), the latter who played under the former in NY before both were traded. But Mac Truck is listed as just placed on injured reserve (undisclosed). Can’t make this stuff up! Tampa has been on a roll, 7-3-0 in their last ten to the NYR 5-4-1. Tampa’s last two wins were against WAS and VGK, two of the better teams. The Rangers just took down the Predators but that is what the schedule gave them!
In net tonight is Shesterkin (5-6-3, 2.46 GAA, 0.906 SV%) against Vasilevskiy (5-4-2, 2.64 GAA, 0.908 SV%) so will be interesting to see if one or both stand on their heads. Otherwise, looks like same line up. For Tampa, Hedman is out and Cirelli looks to be game time. If he can’t go Tampa will have to make a call up to meet the minimum player limit.
The refs tonight are Gord Dwyer (1326 GP) and Brandon Schrader (282 GP). Both have their money on the home team. How many hooking penalties can the Rangers get in one game? Stay tuned!
Keys to a Ranger victory: Take advantage of a wounded Tampa team but don’t forget about defense!
On this date in history: In 1991, Jeff Beukeboom became a NYR when Edmonton complete the Messier trade that originated the month before.
Speculative NYR lineup: UPDATED
Forwards
1st line ⊳ Panarin ⋄ Trocheck ⋄ Lafreniere
2nd line ⊳ Perreault ⋄ Zibanejad ⋄ Miller
3rd line ⊳ Cuylle ⋄ Laba ⋄ Sheary
4th line ⊳ Edström ⋄ Carrick ⋄ Raddysh
Defensemen
1st pair ⊳ Gavrikov ⋄ Fox
2nd pair ⊳ Soucy ⋄ Borgen
3rd pair ⊳ Vaakanainen ⋄ Schneider
Goalies
Starter ⊳ Shesterkin
Backup ⊳ Quick
Healthy scratch: D Robertson F Pärssinen F Brodzinski
Injured: none
In the Cooler: none
Long-term IR: Rempe (UBI)
Leave a Reply