The New York Rangers conclude their three-game road trip tonight at 10 p.m. ET when they face off against the reigning Western Conference champions, the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.
New York is in the midst of a rebuilding year with their first-year head coach, David Quinn, formerly the head coach of Boston University. They have a lot of solid young players on the roster that show promise like Jimmy Vesey and Mika Zibanejad, along with veterans like Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello.
The Rangers are 17-17-7 with just 41 points so far in Quinn’s rookie season. Their defense has not been very good as of late, they are currently on a three-game losing streak following their 5-0 loss to a bad Arizona team. New York has given up 18 goals in that span only scoring three times.
Although some of the blame can be directed towards the defense, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is having arguably the worst season of his 14-year career. The 36-year-old has a 12-11-7 record with a 3.04 GAA which is a career high and a .909 save percentage, a career low.
Vegas is having another strong season following their inaugural campaign where they took the league by storm and made it to the Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights are 26-15-4 with 56 points after a slow start that had many people wondering if last season was a fluke.
After a disappointing loss to the Washington Capitals in the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, Vegas went out and traded for the former Montreal Canadiens captain, Max Pacioretty. Pacioretty is coming off a down year to his standards. He went through a couple of lengthy slumps as well as a knee injury that sidelined him for a couple of weeks.
The Golden Knights hope that Pacioretty can return to form with a change of scenery. The three-time all-star has scored 30 or more goals in four out of the last five seasons. In 32 games this season, Pacioretty has scored 12 goals and registered 21 points.
Tonight’s matchup between the New York Rangers and Vegas Golden Knights will be featured on ESPN+.
Scroll down for a free trial on us and how you can catch all the action:
Rangers vs. Golden Knights 1/8/19 free live stream, ESPN+ viewing information
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 8
Time: 10 p.m. ET
TV: MSG Networks (New York broadcast), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Vegas broadcast)
Live Stream: ESPN+ free trial
