Coming off of a 4-3 shootout win against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 14, the Arizona Coyotes (1-0) have crossed the Hudson River and will play their second of three games on the East Coast tonight against the New York Rangers (1-1).
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🆚 New York Rangers
🕒 4:00PM MST
📍Madison Square Garden, NY pic.twitter.com/cih9Djggp0— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) October 16, 2023
Thanks to Coyotes right-winger Nick Schmaltz scoring the game-tying goal and shootout winner in New Jersey, the valley hockey club have had a perfect start to the season.
However, it doesn’t get any easier for Arizona as they have to square-off against a 107 point team last year in the Rangers who finished as the ninth-best in the NHL with a 47-22-13 record.
Here is all you need to know before the Coyotes take-on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York City at 4 p.m. MST.
Pregame Notes
Even though they were knocked out of the first round in the 2022-23 playoffs by the Devils, the Rangers roster has remained unchanged besides adding a new face behind the bench.
In the summer, New York and former head coach Gerard Gallant agreed to part ways after the postseason series.
Taking his place, the Rangers hired former Stanley Cup winning coach with the Carolina Hurricanes, Peter Laviolette.
Leading the charge for the Rangers on the ice, center Mika Zibanejad scored 39 goals and 52 assists for 91 points in all 82 games last season.
Moreover, as for their points leader, left-winger Artemi Panarin recorded 92 points with 63 of them being assists in a full NHL campaign as well.
On the backend, New York defenseman Adam Fox had 12 goals and 60 assists to stash 72 points as a d-man in all 82 games.
In net, Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is one of the best in the league at his position.
Last year, Shesterkin started and played 58 games and had a record of 37-13-8 with a .916 save percentage and an 2.48 goals-against-average.
So far this season, the Rangers are 1-1 with their first game being a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 12, then a 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 14.
As for the Coyotes, they have an all-time record of 28-45-6-6 against the Rangers.
In two games, Arizona were 0-2 against New York last year.
The Coyotes lost 3-2 at Mullett Arena on Oct. 30 before getting trounced 4-1 at MSG on Nov. 14.
Tonight, it will be the 600th NHL game in Arizona defenseman Matt Dumba’s career.
If the Coyotes win, they would start a season 2-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Game Time and Watchability
Scripps Sports will be broadcasting the Coyotes vs. Rangers game at 4 p.m., the link for channel information is here.
Burn City Best Bets: Coyotes Take on the Rangers in the Big Apple
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Alec Cipollini is a journalist covering the Arizona Coyotes, Cardinals and Phoenix Rising for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini
