NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with the Wednesday Night Hockey matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
With their shootout win on Monday against the Kings the Lightning became the first team this season to reach 100 points. Their torrid pace has them well on their way to what would be a fifth playoff appearance in the last six seasons and could win the franchise’s first-ever Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season team.
Nikita Kucherov, now in his sixth season, leads the NHL in both assists (71 – franchise record) & points (101) – both career highs. After his assist on Monday (his only point of the game), he’s on pace for 92 assists and 131 points.
Should Kucherov, who has an eight-point lead over Patrick Kane in the scoring race, finish atop the league with the most points, he’d become the second player in franchise history to win the Art Ross Trophy – joining Martin St. Louis, who did it in 2003-04 and 2012-13... he is seven points away from tying Vincent Lecavalier’s franchise record (108 pts).
New York sits 11 points out of a playoff spot after an overtime loss at Washington in its last game on Sunday to continue the Rangers trend of alternating wins and losses for most of the month. The Rangers, once perennial contenders with 11 playoff appearances in a 12-season span from 2006-2017, are now headed towards missing the postseason for the second straight year.
Mika Zibanejad has tallied two assists in back-to-back games and now has 18 points (nine goals) in the last 13 games. He’s already reached career highs with 36 assists and 62 points this season – leads team in both. Zibanejad only needs two more goals to set a new career high in that category as well (had 27 goals last season).
Chris Kreider is tied with Zibanejad for the team lead in goals (26) and has scored in two straight games. Jimmy Vesey, who took Zuccarello’s spot on the top line on Sunday, had a goal and an assist – his second straight game with those marks.
[WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6:30 P.M. ET – NBCSN]
What: Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers
Where: Madison Square Garden
When: Wednesday, Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Lightning-Rangers stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
LIGHTNING
Ondrej Palat - Steven Stamkos - J.T. Miller
Tyler Johnson - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Yanni Gourde - Anthony Cirelli - Alex Killorn
Adam Erne - Cedric Paquette - Ryan Callahan
Dan Girardi - Victor Hedman
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak
Anton Stralman - Mikhail Sergachev
Starting goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy
RANGERS
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Jimmy Vesey
Vladislav Namestnikov - Ryan Strome - Jesper Fast
Brendan Lemieux - Lias Andersson - Pavel Buchnevich
Brendan Smith - Boo Nieves - Connor Brickley
Brady Skjei - Neal Pionk
Marc Staal - Tony DeAngelo
Frederik Claesson - Kevin Shattenkirk
Starting goalie: Alexandar Georgiev
Kenny Albert (play-by-play), U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member Eddie Olczyk (analyst), and Emmy Award-winner Pierre McGuire (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will have the call from Madison Square Garden in New York. Pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live, hosted by Liam McHugh alongside Mike Milbury, Keith Jones and Bob McKenzie.