New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals

7:30 p.m., Monday

Verizon Center

Rangers Record: 28-19-3

Capitals Record: 27-14-8

Tonight, Jan. 24, the Rangers face off against the Capitals in Washington. The Rangers, 6-4 in their last 10, are coming off a dramatic shootout victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night. The Caps also had an exciting last game, enjoying an Alex Ovechkin hat trick against the Canadiens. Washington is currently in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, but they do not sit comfortably there, as they are only three points ahead of both the Canadiens and the Rangers. A win for the Rangers tonight would allow them to gain valuable ground in what is becoming a close playoff race.

The Rangers played an emotional game against Atlanta which featured two comebacks-- one with less than six minutes remaining in the game--and a shootout. Once again for the Rangers, the game featured heroics from unexpected places, with goals from Brian Boyle, newcomer Wojtek Wolski and the shootout winner from Mats Zuccarello. Rookie Derek Stepan continued his impressive streak, adding an assist on Wolski’s goal to give him five points in his last five games. If the Rangers continue to play in this fashion, the growing list of injured players should not prove to be an insurmountable hurdle.

The Rangers added more players to the injury list in the last game, losing forward Brandon Prust and defenseman Dan Girardi in the game against the Thrashers. These new issues add to New York’s laundry list of injuries: forwards Derek Boogaard, Ryan Callahan, Erik Christensen, Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, Alex Frolov and Vinny Prospal. Girardi is the first defenseman to face the New York plague this season, and Michael Del Zotto was called up from the Connecticut Whale to replace him. The Rangers also called up forward Evgeny Grachev to help fill the vacated roster spots.

The Caps suffer from injuries to top forwards Eric Fehr and Alexander Semin. Ovechkin’s recent hot streak, however, has made the injuries seem less crippling than they could be.

In the last match-up between the Rangers and Capitals, the Rangers blew out last year’s President’s Trophy winners with a 7-0 victory. Can they repeat their success, even without many of their top forwards? Make sure to tune in at 7:30 to find out!