Rangers vs. Sabres: 3 things to watch for after rare 3-day break

Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers look to finish off a perfect homestand when they host the Buffalo Sabres. It’ll be New York’s first game after a rare three-day break in the schedule, following home wins against the Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders.

The Rangers last played Sunday afternoon, knocking off the Islanders 5-2, scoring two even-strength goals, a power-play goal, a short-handed goal and a 6v5 empty-net goal. Coach Peter Laviolette juggled his line combinations and defense pairs, with mostly better all-around play throughout the lineup compared to the previous four games.

New York did manage 40 shots on goal for the third time this season, but its 5v5 xGF was a meager 39.42 percent, per Natural Stat Trick. So, there’s still improvements to be made Thursday against the Sabres.

Despite having the second best points percentage in the Metropolitan Division (.773), the Rangers (8-2-1) are fourth in the standings with 17 points. They are one point behind a trio of teams — Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals — only one of which (Carolina) has played as few games (11) as the Rangers.

The Rangers have owned the Sabres (5-7-1) in recent years, with at least one point in 15 of their past 16 meetings (12-1-3) dating to January 2021. Goalie Igor Shesterkin is 9-1-2 all-time against the Sabres with a 1.97 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.

Buffalo is coming off a solid 5-1 win against the Senators on Tuesday. That was preceded by a three-game losing streak, which followed a three-game winning streak. They are 1-3-1 on the road.

3 things to watch for when Rangers host Sabres

1. Rangers have especially big advantage in these areas

If this game comes down to special-teams play, the Rangers will feel good about their chances to win Thursday. The Rangers have the second best penalty kill in the NHL (92.3 percent) and last allowed a power-play goal on Oct. 22 against the Montreal Canadiens. They were 5-for-5 Sunday against the Islanders and Chris Kreider scored his second short-handed goal of the season.

The Rangers also have the No. 6 ranked power play (28.1 percent) and scored a power-play goal in three straight games. Artemi Panarin leads them with four power-play goals, and Kreider has two.

On the flip side, there’re the Sabres, who are next to last on the power play (12.8 percent) and 24th on the PK (73.8 percent). Like the Rangers, the Sabres do have two short-handed goals this season, tied for second in the NHL. They also scored two power-play goals in their win Tuesday. They went eight games to begin the season without a power-play tally.

2. Keep an eye on this line

Amidst all the changes in line combinations against the Islanders, little attention was paid to the Will Cuylle-Vincent Trocheck-Reilly Smith line. They may be happy about that. Trocheck’s line struggled badly 5v5, with an xGF or 37.94 percent, outshot 11-4 and outchanced 5-3.

Trocheck had a weird game. He scored his 200th NHL goal — after a slick steal and pass by Smith — but had a team-high three giveaways and won only 40 percent of his face-offs (eight of 20).

Let’s see if there’s some better chemistry with these three forwards Thursday.

3. Let’s get physical

After leading NHL rookies with 274 hits last season, Cuylle is keeping up with the physical play again this season. The 232-year-old leads the Rangers with 44 hits, eighth most in the League. Couple that with his eight points (three goals, five assists) in 11 games, and you’re got some pretty solid play from Cuylle so far.

The Rangers, though, as a team are not so physical. And they’ll be tested in that area Thursday because the Sabres play a hard game. They will dress three players with 30+ hits this season and another two who have more than 20. Forward Beck Malenstyn leads the Sabres with 35 hits, averaging just 8:44 TOI per game. He averages 18.49 hits per 60 minutes.

Keep an eye on recently-recalled defenseman Dennis Gilbert, if he plays. Gilbert is averaging 20.86 hits per 60, with six hits in two games, averaging under eight minutes of ice time per game.

New York Rangers projected lineup

Panarin – Zibanejad – Lafreniere

Cuylle – Trocheck – Smith

Kreider – Chytil – Kakko

Edstrom – Carrick – Rempe

Lindgren – Fox

Miller – Trouba

Jones – Schneider

Shesterkin

Quick

Rangers vs. Sabres: When, where, what time, how to watch

Who: New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres

When: Thursday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Madison Square Garden

How to Watch: MSG