Deadly LaGuardia Airport crash overshadows Monday night's Rangers-Senators game at MSG

This was already a tense spot for the Senators.

They're walking into Madison Square Garden for the only NHL game on Monday's schedule, which puts the full spotlight on Ottawa and Mike Sullivan's Rangers.

That matters because there's no place to hide in a one-game night.

Every lineup call, every goalie decision, every shift from the top six gets picked apart when the rest of the league is dark.

Ottawa also came into this one with momentum after a 5-2 win over Toronto.

That's the kind of result that can turn a road game into a statement game, especially against a Rangers group trying to steady itself at home.

For Green, this had the look of a pressure game even before the travel story took over.

A clean road effort at MSG can harden a playoff push fast, and it can also test a club's bench discipline in a loud building.

On the other side, Sullivan doesn't need extra noise around his club.

A home date against an Ottawa team arriving with energy is already tricky enough without the entire pregame mood shifting away from the ice.

Now the bigger story. A deadly collision at LaGuardia Airport has thrown New York travel into chaos just hours before puck drop.

CBS reported that an arriving Air Canada Express plane and a fire-rescue vehicle collided late Sunday night.

Two pilots were killed, and 41 people were taken to hospitals.

LaGuardia was closed Monday morning, and the FAA issued a ground stop until at least 2 p.m. EDT.

That alone creates a serious cloud over anyone trying to move through New York for tonight's game.

The NHL had not made an official announcement in the report. If this does cancel tonight's game, this would shutdown the league as the Sens-Rangers matchup is the only game on schedule today.

But journalists, fans, media crews, and even members of the Senators organization could run into delays or major rerouting trouble getting where they need to be.

That's what makes this such a brutal twist.

What started as a featured one-game NHL night now carries a real-world weight that changes the tone around the entire event.

If the game goes ahead as scheduled, the rink will still be full of noise.

But the day around it has already been altered, and that's the part nobody in hockey wanted.