The Rangers – Lightning matchup arrives Wednesday with New York trying to end a three-game losing streak and Tampa Bay holding home ice, first-place form, and a lineup that could still shift before puck drop. The latest projected lineups point to several adjustments on both sides, with key names in and out of the mix for Rangers – Lightning in Tampa Bay. The Rangers enter at 33-39-9, while the Lightning come in at 50-25-6.
Projected lineups frame Rangers – Lightning
For the Rangers, the projected forward groups are Gabe Perreault, Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere; Tye Kartye, J. T. Miller and Conor Sheary; Will Cuylle, Vincent Trocheck and Jonny Brodzinski; and Adam Sykora, Noah Laba and Taylor Raddysh. Scratches are Vincent Iorio, Adam Edstrom, Jaroslav Chmelar and Jonathan Quick, while Matt Rempe and Urho Vaakanainen remain out with upper-body injuries.
The Lightning’s projected skaters include Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Nikita Kucherov; Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point and Gage Goncalves; Zemgus Girgensons, Nick Paul and Yanni Gourde; and Scott Sabourin, Conor Geekie and Corey Perry. Tampa Bay’s scratched list includes Steven Santini, Emil Lilleberg, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Mitchell Chaffee and Jakob Pelletier, with Darren Raddysh, Pontus Holmberg, Dominic James and Jonas Johansson listed injured.
What the numbers say before puck drop
Tampa Bay enters with a 26-13-1 home record and has gone 17-7-3 in games in which opponents take more penalty minutes. New York is 19-19-2 on the road and 8-12-8 in games decided by one goal, a sign of how many tight finishes have slipped away.
The teams meet Wednesday for the third time this season. The Lightning won the last meeting 4-1, with Brandon Hagel scoring two goals in that game.
Key players and injury watch
Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay’s attack with 44 goals and 86 assists, while Jake Guentzel has five goals and seven assists over the past 10 games. For the Rangers, Mika Zibanejad has 33 goals and 43 assists, and Gabriel Perreault has four goals and two assists over his past 10 games.
In the last 10 games, the Lightning are 6-4-0 and have averaged 2. 8 goals while allowing 2. 4 per game. The Rangers are 5-5-0 and have averaged 3. 5 goals while allowing two per game.
Rangers – Lightning injury picture and immediate outlook
The injury picture remains fluid for Rangers – Lightning. Garand is set to make his first start since March 27, Hagel is expected back after missing a 4-3 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings on Monday because of an undisclosed injury, and Crozier is slated to play for the first time since Feb. 1 after recovering from core muscle surgery. Johansson is unlikely to be available, and Halverson was recalled from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.
The most immediate question in Rangers – Lightning is whether Tampa Bay makes more changes before the opening faceoff. If the projected lineups hold, both clubs will have enough firepower to shape a fast, direct game, but New York needs a cleaner result to stop its slide and Tampa Bay has the home edge entering Wednesday.
