The New York Rangers will go for their fourth win in a row when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
New York is coming off a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. That contest marked the start of a four-game road trip that also includes stops in St. Louis and Dallas.
In their past three games, the Rangers have outscored opponents 12-5.
Chris Kreider has played a key role in New York’s latest success, as he has all season. Kreider scored his 37th and 38th goals of the 2021-22 campaign in the win over Winnipeg.
The 30-year-old has matched his career high in points with 53. He needs one more point to reach 400 for his career.
“He’s rolling pretty good,” Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said. “Big power-play goal (Sunday), and then he scores another nice goal. So the big guys are scoring key goals at key times, and it put us in control of that game pretty good.”
As the Rangers look to keep rolling, Minnesota is hoping to snap out of a recent funk.
The Wild are coming off a 6-3 loss against the Dallas Stars on Sunday and have stumbled to a 2-8-0 record over their past 10 contests.
Minnesota head coach Dean Evason acknowledged his team’s worst slump of the year.
“We are a fragile group right now,” he said.
There still is time for the Wild to find their footing heading toward the playoffs. A fast start to the season put the team in a good position for the postseason, but nothing is guaranteed as Minnesota has slipped to third place in the Central Division.
“We’re trying to stop it,” Wild forward Nico Sturm said. “I’m telling you it’s not for a lack of effort. Like everybody in the locker room realizes what’s going on. We’re sliding. All the good things that we do doesn’t seem to work out, and the bad things just become magnified. It’s like you’re making a little mistake, and it just blows up.”
Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild in scoring with 70 points (28 goals, 42 assists) in 53 games. Mats Zuccarello is next with 56 points (17 goals, 39 assists) in 46 games, and Kevin Fiala is third on the team with 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists) in 54 games.
Minnesota is looking for improvement from both of its goaltenders, who have slumped as of late. Cam Talbot is 20-12-1 with a 2.98 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage on the season, and Kaapo Kahkonen is 12-7-2 with a 2.86 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
New York is led in scoring by Artemi Panarin, who has 61 points (15 goals, 46 assists) in 51 games. Mika Zibanejad has 58 points (22 goals, 36 assists) in 56 games, and Adam Fox has 55 points (seven goals, 48 assists) in 53 contests.
The Rangers’ top netminder is Igor Shesterkin, who is 28-6-3 with a 1.93 GAA and a .942 save percentage. Backup Alexandar Georgiev is 7-8-2 with a 3.05 GAA and an .897 save percentage.
This is the second meeting of the regular season between the teams. Minnesota won the first matchup 3-2 on Jan. 28 in New York.
–Field Level Media
