Well butter my biscuits, have we got a hockey matchup for you! Lace up your skates because we're taking a look at the New York Rangers knocking elbows with the Detroit Red Wings.
In goal for the Rangers, we've got Igor Shesterkin who’s been stopping pucks all season like a deer swatting flies in the wild, racking up a 91.9% save rate. Isn't that something?
Over on the Detroit end, we've got Cam Talbot showing off some fancy glove-work with a 96.3% save rate last month, and who could forget his impressive save record of 1390 saves last season? One might say he's the Red Wings' not-so-secret weapon. Oh, and let's not overlook Alex Lyon, running at 88.9% last month and 90.4% last season. If the Red Wings' tactics hold up, we're looking at a solid brick wall, folks.
Diving into trenches and examining the foot soldiers for each team, the Rangers' star players certainly pack a punch. We've got Artemi Panarin, with two decisive goals and 5 assists this season, Alexis Lafrenière with a matched pair of goals and assists this season, and Chris Kreider's red hot performance with 3 goals to his name.
On the other side of the rink, the Wings bring in Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, and Vladimir Tarasenko. All boast some punchy records, with 2, 2, and 1 goals respectively this season; boy do they know how to make the net sing.
Based on past match-ups, the Rangers tend to come out on top - they lead the Wings with three wins to two in the last five confrontations - and are showing a stronger regular season record.
Even so, recent rounds showed the Wings taking note and rallying, as we’ve recently seen the Wings pull out a mighty 3-0 win against Nashville.
Tonight’s going to be less like a ballet and more like an arm wrestle, and despite the Red Wings learning how to flap harder recently, those feisty Rangers seem to hold the upper hand based on the past face-offs and their goal-getters’ sterling performance.
Albert’s Prediction: New York Rangers by 2