The NY Rangers and Colorado Avalanche are playing on the NHL schedule on Thursday night and the matchup comes from the Pepsi Center at 9 pm ET and has Henrik Lundqvist looking for another win and it will be streaming from the NHL.com Game Center website.
The matchup is an important one for the Rangers, as they have not yet clinched a playoff spot and they come into the game after a nice win on the road against the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers come into things three points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers and they have been playing very well as of late and they have won two in a row and they are starting to show some distance in the division as they chase a playoff spot. Colorado has already clinched and has 102 points, while the Rangers are closing in on a playoffs spot and they have 43 wins and 90 points on the season.
So far the trade for Martin St. Louis has not been a success by his standards, as he has not been a goal scoring machine yet, but that could come down the stretch of the season. The Rangers come into the game ranked 17th in the league in scoring with over two goals per game, but they are in the top five in net because of Lundqvist and he has once again been one of the strongest goalies in the league and the team ranks fifth in the NHL in goals against per game. The team is 12th in power play percentage and that is an improvement from last year and they are also sixth in penalty kill percentage.
The Rangers are behind the Penguins in the division, but they have a chance to make a nice run and Mats Zuccarello comes in leading the team in points, while Rick Nash has been the top goal scorer and Derek Stepan has been the main assists man. Brad Richards and St. Louis need to step up down the stretch and that could give the Rangers a nice boost heading into the playoffs. The Avalanche come into the game after a win in overtime against the Blue Jackets and they have been very impressive under Patrick Roy.
The team is ranked fifth in the league in scoring with three goals per game and they are also ranked 14th in goals against with less than three. The team is in the top 10 in power play percentage and the Rangers could really get moving with a win on Thursday. The playoffs are coming and the team wants to avoid being a wild card and a positive result with a win or an overtime game here would be he for those prospects for the Rangers.
Check here for the NY Rangers and Colorado Avalanche live coverage from the NHL.