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Game 46: NYR-MON, Original Six and ECF Rematch at MSG |
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The Rangers and Canadiens meet in a battle of Original Six rivals at MSG on Thursday. There is no love lost between the two teams in general but lately, that results from last year's Eastern Conference Finals. New York opened the second half of the season with a dud, falling to the Islanders 4-1, while Montreal defeated Dallas 3-2.
That loss to the Islanders has triggered a pair of lineup moves as well as shuffling of the bottom six forwards. J.T. Miller, who struggled at times Tuesday, will sit alongside Matt Hunwick, who didn't provide as much as coach Alain Vigneault expected. In their stead, Lee Stempniak, who sat Tuesday, and John Moore, who had been a semi-permanent member of the press box lately, get back into the lineup.
The bottom two lines consist of Dominic Moore, who has shown some chemistry with Carl Hagelin, again moving up to center the third line with Stempniak. Sliding down to the fourth line is Kevin Hayes, who will center Tanner Glass and Jesper Fast. My view on Moore on the third line has been well documented. In terms of Glass, while I am happy he is being physical, seen in his hits the past three games, the question is are those hits making a difference in the game? To me, he has not been any sort of deterrent but if the sole focus is on volume and not quality of hits, expect him to remain in the lineup and us to complain about it.
While we have touched on the first two lines a bit, much of the focus has been moving Hags up and Zucc down. What if AV shifted MSL up and Zucc down to try and create a new look? The prevailing view is that MSL and Zucc can't be on the same line due to their diminutive size but I wouldn't be shocked if that is tried as well. Miller could have seen some runs in the top six but for now, he will need to watch from the sidelines but that is another change that could occur. In addition, Oscar Lindberg could get a look see in the bottom six, which would move Hayes or Moore to wing, though Moore would still take draws.
Defensively, the Rangers were a nightmare Tuesday. The only one who played well was Marc Staal and that term well is a relative one. If McDonagh and Girardi struggle again, shifts will once again take place, likely with Staal moving up, McD sliding over and G moving down. One other option is Kevin Klein moving up again to replace Dan Boyle, who was nightmarish Tuesday. (update: AV is switching up his D-pairs. Staal is skating with Klein, Boyle is with J. Moore).
The Rangers could use a win to restore the good feelings they had when closing out the 'first half' though it won't come easy against a good Montreal team.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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