The Boston Bruins will be looking to extend their winning streak to three games on Monday night when they visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The two teams split the first two meetings this season, with each team picking up a blowout win at the TD Garden.
As far as the Bruins go, defenseman Nikita Zadorov will be a game-time decision after he was injured in Saturday night's 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Montreal Canadiens. At the end of the second period, he took a hit and landed awkwardly before being helped off the ice. He returned for the third period, and even though he wasn't the same player, his presence was good enough to help the Black and Gold rally.
As for the Rangers, rumors began swirling on Monday afternoon about defenseman Carson Soucy and a potential trade. It appears that where there is smoke, there might be some fire, and his availability for Monday night was revealed.
Rangers will down one defenseman against Bruins
Soucy will miss the game against Boston "for roster management reasons", which could indicate a trade coming down the pipes soon. There were some reports that the New York Islanders were trying to acquire Soucy. A New York Rangers and New York Islanders trade is certainly not something you don't see every year. However, if the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs can make a deal as they did last March with Brandon Carlo going to the Bruins' heated rivals, then anything is possible between any teams.
Earlier this month, the Rangers sent a letter to their fans and basically pointed out that they are going to go down the same road as the Bruins did last year at the trade deadline and "retool." It worked out well for Boston so far this year, and Soucy could be the first of multiple dominoes to fall by the trade deadline. Anything short of two points will be disappointing for Marco Sturm's team in this game.