The New York Rangers look to bounce back from a loss when visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. New York is third in the Metropolitan Division at 38-18-5 with 81 points and six points behind the first-place Carolina Hurricanes. In the Eastern Conference standings, New York is 6th but only two points behind fourth place Toronto. New York was defeated by the New York Islanders 2-1 on Thursday, which snapped a two-game winning streak for the Rangers.
Chris Kreider is the leading goal scorer for New York with 40, while Artemi Panarin is the leader in assists with 55 and points with 71. In goal, Igor Shesterkin is 29-8-3 with a goals-against average of 2.07, save percentage of .938 and three shutouts. New York is scoring an average of 2.97 goals per game and allowing an average of 2.57 goals per game. New York's power play scores 26.9% of the time and its penalty-kill unit is successful 82.2% of the time.
Tampa Bay looks for its third consecutive victory when hosting New York on Saturday. The Lightning are second in the Atlantic division at 39-15-5 with 84 points and four points behind the first-place Florida Panthers. Tampa Bay is third in the Eastern Conference standings, three points behind Carolina and four points behind Florida. Tampa Bay defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-1 on Wednesday for their second consecutive victory.
Steven Stamkos is the leading goal scorer for Tampa Bay with 27 and the leader in points with 66, while Victor Hedman is the leader in assists with 43. In goal, Andrei Vasilevskiy is 32-11-4 with a goals-against average of 2.37, save percentage of .919 and two shutouts. Tampa Bay is scoring an average of 3.37 goals per game and allowing an average of 2.80 goals per game. Tampa Bay's power play scores 20.2% of the time and its penalty-kill unit is successful 80.0% of the time.
