NY Rangers (28-34-9) vs Chicago Blackhawks (27-32-13)
• 27 March 2026 19:00 EDT
• MSG, NYC
• TV: MSG, CHSN •
Tonight the Rangers are home for a tilt against fellow original-sixers the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately for fans, both team’s best interest is to lose this game – at the moment they are positioned for the #2 (NYR) and #3 (CHI) spot in the upcoming NHL entry draft.
The Blackhawks come into the game 4-3-3 of their last ten, splitting the last two and two of five. The Rangers though 4-5-1, are winnless in their last six games. Chicago will also be playing the back half of a back to back tonight.
Garand (0-0-1, 2.00 GAA, 0.946 SV%) will get his second start in net tonight; his last was a strong performace (SO/L) against Winnipeg. Knight (18-20-10, 2.69 GAA, 0.908 SV%) expected for the Hawks. In good news, Laba was at praccy with a regular sweater on but is not expect in the game tonight. Newly signed defenseman Drew Fortescue will be making his NHL debut tonight in front of many family, friends and former teammates. No pressure! As a result, Sullivan has juggled the lines a little bit again, this time resulting in two righties and two lefties paired together 🤔 and the Prucha’ing of Iorio. No changes expected with the forwards until Laba returns.
The refs tonight are Jordan Samuels-Thomas (151 GP) and Brian Pochmara (1259 GP). They might cancel each other out – Samuels-Thomas favors the visitors and Pochmara the hosts, both by good margins.
On this date in history: In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans beat the Montreal Canadiens for the first Stanley Cup to be won by a United States based team. The team would fold just seven years later. Of note on the ’17 Cup: PCHA rules were used in two of the games meaning seven players per side, forward passing in the neutral zone and no subsitution for penalized players.
Speculative NYR lineup:
Forwards
1st line ⊳ Perreault ⋄ Zibanejad ⋄ Lafreniere
2nd line ⊳ Kartye ⋄ Miller ⋄ Sheary
3rd line ⊳ Cuylle ⋄ Trocheck ⋄ Sykora
4th line ⊳ Raddysh ⋄ Brodzinski ⋄ Chmelar
Defensemen
1st pair ⊳ Gavrikov ⋄ Fox
2nd pair ⊳ Borgen ⋄ Schneider
3rd pair ⊳ Fortescue ⋄ Robertson
Goalies
Starter ⊳ Garand
Backup ⊳ Shesterkin
Healthy scratch: F Pärssinen F Edström D Iorio
Injured: F Laba D Vaakanainen G Quick
In the Cooler: none
Long-term IR: F Rempe (thumb)
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