The Rangers return to MSG for the first of three straight home games tonight against the Islanders. The Blueshirts come in having won three in a row and four of five following what originally looked like it would be an easy, but ended up being nothing of the sort, win against the Bruins. The Islanders are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, and from reading and listening to some of the comments emanating from the players, it looks like there is severe consternation internally about the direction etc. related to that team.
Much of the questions coming into the morning were on if Brian Boyle would be back in the lineup, and if so, who would sit? Well, we got the answer at the morning skate and Boyle, who had been scratched for three straight games, will be back in the lineup with Chris Kreider the healthy scratch. Boyle has said all the right things about knowing what he needs to do, how he has to play with more edge and urgency, how the time in the press box made him angry, etc., but the proof is in the pudding and he has to show that he has taken all of those emotions and translated it into better play. On the flip side, the question on who to sit came down to Kreider vs. JT Miller. Kreider likely is the one sitting because Miller in general has shown more since he was promoted, e.g. that his value is not just in scoring but he can play a physical game, while Kreider still seems to be finding his way. In addition, the focus on teaching Kreider better defensive responsibility seems to have negated his offensive game to an extent and he might benefit from just being told to go out and play, rather than thinking first and then reacting. Last, Miller had two goals against the Islanders last week and why not give him a chance for more success plus they get to shift him and see how he fares at wing. This may be critical because the Rangers have to decide after his fifth game - which is tonight - if they keep him and burn a year of his ELC. My view is that it may partially depend on how Boyle plays, because if the team views it that he is back and that Kreider can be re-inserted into the lineup, then maybe you send him down to further his development. I am not an advocate of that because his being in NY provides depth and competition, two needed commodities, but could see the Rangers sending him down.
In addition, some other lineup tweaks tonight. With Boyle back in on the third line, Taylor Pyatt shifts down from the second to that line, alongside Miller with Ryan Callahan going up to play with Richards and Callahan. We had discussed making that move in the past, as Gaborik and Richards each had success alongside Cally last year and because each of them has struggled, especially Richards, who right now is really not earning his healthy paycheck and I have seen twitter comments that he should be amnestied after the season. I think it's way too early to speculate about that, but agree that Richards' performance has been lacking, and if that continued, those discussions could occur later this year. In addition Martin Biron gets his second start of the season against an opponent he has a career mark of 21-4-1 with a 2.03 GAA and .930 save percentage. Henrik Lundqvist, who has been stellar the past two games and saw lots of action in the SO win over Boston, gets an extra few days of rest with Washington in on Sunday.
Lineup (including changes discussed above)
Hagelin-Stepan-Nash
Gaborik-Richards-Callahan
Pyatt-Boyle-Miller
Powe-Halpern-Asham
McDonagh-Girardi
Staal-Stralman
Del Zotto-Gilroy
(Will MDZ see more than 16 min of action? Will Gilroy play more than five minutes)
Biron
On the
Karlsson injury. I was in a major twitter conversation with Adam Proteau last night following this injury, where much of his argument was that reckless play is happening too often and this is just another casualty from that. I will admit that I am biased for a variety of factors. 1) Have Karlsson in my home fantasy league. 2) I happen to be a huge Karlsson fan, just like I am a huge Kevin Shattenkrik fan, and think those with Pietrangelo are the class of the league at d-man spot. Plus, hate seeing anyone get severely hurt, regardless of benefit that might happen to my team in the overall standings. 3) Matt Cooke's reputation precedes him.
I think
Ek spelled out many of these arguments very nicely in his blog this morning. The conversation I had with Proteau and point three above are the two main keys in my view. The problem is, even if you decide it was just "careless" and not reckless, is that sufficient enough for a suspension and should you factor in the injurer's reputation?
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