NHL Game of the Week: Rangers vs. Isles

One of hockey’s best interstate rivalries gets another game, this time at Metlife Stadium.

The New York Rangers and New York Islanders will drop the puck in North Jersey at 3 p.m. on Feb. 18, with the Rangers looking to keep their perfect 4-0 outdoor streak alive.

Here’s how the two teams stack up in the Garden State:

New York Rangers (35-16-3, First in Metro)

After a rough patch, the Rangers are back to playing great hockey.

It’s been the week of Chris Kreider in New York after Kreider totalled a hat trick, including a powerplay goal, in the team’s victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

The standout player for the Rangers this season has been Artemi Panarin, who leads the team in goals, assists and points. He’s tallied 71 points, including 40 assists, for the Blueshirts in 54 games played this season.

The Rangers will be without veteran presence for this outdoor classic, however. The team announced Blake Wheeler will be out for the season with a lower-body injury.

To counter Wheeler’s injury, the Rangers have moved some of their lines around, including shifting Jimmy Vesey up to the first “Kreibanejad” line alongside Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, and rolling with the productive line of Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrèniere.

The third line is interesting, with Jonny Brodzinski centering Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko, but if it hasn’t broken for New York yet, might as well not fix it.

Igor Shesterkin has found his groove once again, saving all 29 Calgary shots in a shutout against the Flames on Feb. 12.

Shesterkin will most likely start against the Islanders, but there’s a slight possibility the nod might go to Jonathan Quick, who’s been a brick wall all year for New York.

New York Islanders (22-18-3, Fifth in Metro)

Things haven’t exactly gone the Isles’s way so far this season, with the team on a two-game losing skid to Calgary and the Seattle Kraken.

Mathew Barzal has been holding up great for New York, leading the team in points with 56, and Noah Dobson is right on his trail with 55.

Bo Horvat also has his name written all over the scoresheet, following Barzal and Dobson in the goals, assists and points categories.

Like Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin has also been through a rough patch, as the All-Star is sitting at a 3.04 GAA, but his save percentage is .911%.

The first line of Anders Lee, Horvat and Barzal has been firing on all cylinders thus far and need to keep it up if they want to combat this fiery Rangers team.

Adrianna Gallucci is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.