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Game 56: NYR-CLM, Rangers start rough patch of four games in Columbus |
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The Rangers kick off a stretch of four games that may tell us a lot about this squad. Following tonight's game in Columbus, New York is in Brooklyn to face the Isles on Thursday, then at home for Washington on 2/19 and Montreal on 2/21. Even after those four contests, there are no patsies as games on the road versus Toronto and New Jersey follow with February closed out with additional match ups with Columbus and Washington.
New York has won five straight but there was some line tinkering at practice yesterday. The possible tweaks are ones we have discussed and suggested recently. Coach Vigneault moved Jimmy Vesey back down to a line with Oscar Lindberg and Jesper Fast, putting Pavel Buchnevich next to Rick Nash and Mika Zibanejad, while reuniting the Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello combination. The only line that remains intact is Michael Grabner-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller trio.
The shift of Vesey down and Buch is not a big surprise due Vesey's struggles after his strong start and the need to give Buch more ice time and play him with better line mates. Vesey had six goals in his first 10 games but just six goals in the 44 games since, including only one in the past 16 games. Vesey is also somewhat miscast on the fourth line, but it makes sense to give him the time there rather than scratching him for Brandon Pirri or Matt Puempel. Thought Kreider-Zib-Zucc might have been a better trio but CK20 has worked with Stepan and Zucc in the past and this might not be a long term combination.
Defensively, Dan Girardi, who sat out the last two games with a swollen and stitched up ankle after blocking a shot Tuesday, was able to practice Sunday and should be in the lineup alongside Ryan McDonagh. The Post did an nice job of spelling out just how tough G is, as it noted that Girardi was walking around the locker room with "bloody footprints" following the first period after the blocking the shot. Girardi described it as: “I looked back and at my stall there was a pile of blood, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s from me.’ ” Almost like, no big deal, just blood pouring from my ankle, stitch me up and let me go. We can question his talent level but one aspect of G's game we can never question is his toughness.
If G does go, Adam Clendening likely will be the scratch, especially after Kevin Klein scored twice Saturday. Personally, I would sit G one more game and have him ready for Thursday, especially with two days off between contests. But unless he has some swelling, look for McD-G, Staal-Holden and Skjei-Klein. With 15 days left to the deadline, the blueline is one where upgrades could be made, though it won't be easy in terms of cost. The Trouba-Skjei discussion on the prior blog is interesting but I view that as a mild upgrade and robs one young asset to add another. I will get into this one more as the deadline approaches but the thought process is sound, though Sean Day is nowhere close to ready and his development is a major wild card while the jury is still somewhat out on Ryan Graves as a reliable piece on the left side.
Henrik Lundqvist won #400 Saturday and has started 11 in a row. With the Isles up Thursday and two days off between games, I wouldn't be shocked to see Antti Raanta go today. Raanta needs the work and with seven back-to-backs remaining, including five in March, having him scrape off some of the rust now so he is ready when called upon in the future makes a lot of sense. But nothing definitive has come out yet on this.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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