Tuesday night will be an active night in the NHL this week. In one interesting game, the Dallas Stars will be in New York to take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The game will be played following a precedent-setting occurrence in the Dallas Stars’ season – they recently lost back-to-backs for the first time all year.
Road trips have generally been productive for the Stars so far in 2015/16. However, through two games of their current set, the stars have just one point added to the standings. They lost on the weekend in overtime to the New Jersey Devils and then hit a snag in New York against the Islanders on Sunday. The Rangers aren’t exactly playing the best hockey of their season right now either – perhaps the Stars will right their ship as they switch over from Long Island to Manhattan.
The Rangers ended 2015 on a high note as they dumped the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on December 31st. After a horrible December that saw NYR sink in the standings, a three-goal spread in another team’s building had to feel good. However, the momentum did not carry over to Sunrise, Florida as the Panthers returned the Rangers to their losing ways on Saturday night, defeating New York 3-0.
Tuesday’s game between Dallas and NYR will be the first one between the two clubs in the 2015/16 season. While it was New York that was considered the stronger team by pre-season hockey pundits, in terms of actual on-ice results it’s Dallas that have proven themselves.
With a start time of 7 pm ET on the 5th, look for Dallas to shake off the couple of losses they suffered recently. They shouldn’t be all that tired despite being at the end of a road trip. Firstly, it’s only a three-gamer and secondly a game in Jersey followed by two in New York doesn’t exactly send a team gallivanting all over creation. Maybe Dallas didn’t even change hotels.
Prediction:
Dallas Stars 5, New York Rangers 1