There is actually a game tonight for the Rangers. After three days off and a pair of brutal losses, New York heads north to face Montréal. Each team will utilize a back up between the pipes, Alexandar Georgiev gets his first NHL start and action while Antti Anjelica gets the nod due to Carey Price dealing with a head injury.
All the focus is off the ice but New York is finally starting to get healthy and also welcomes a new face to the lineup. Alain Vigneault said yesterday that Marc Staal, our since suffering a cervical strain, February 3 against Nashville, will return to the Rangers lineup tonight. Staal, the team’s most consistent defenseman all season, will be paired with Tony DeAngelo.
Rob O'Gara, acquires with a third round pick Tuesday for Nick Holden, immediately steps in the lineup. O’Gara has seen lots of time on the right side, but will suit up on his normal, left, side alongside John Gilmour, who shifts to his right. With Staal back and O’Gara in, Ryan Sproul, who skated in four games with the Rangers after he was recalled on Feb. 12, registering two assists, was sent down to Hartford, at least for the time being.
Below is the full quote from AV on the injured players. In short, look for Chris Kreider this weekend, Ryan McDonagh maybe late next week, though given the deadline, where he will be playing is unknown, and Kevin Shattenkirk likely a few weeks away. Ondrej Pavelec, pure speculation on my part, is a week or two away.
On Chris Kreider, "medically he has been cleared, he is good to go. Not tomorrow but could be any time between Friday and Sunday. He's been cleared by the docs, he skated with us again today, not a lot of full practice time, but he skated today. He's staying behind, he will stay with all our injured guys. Shatty is skating, Mac is skating, Pavs has started to skate. All of those guys will skate tomorrow, Pavs hasn't started taking shots but he has started to skate. The other guys are coming along. I would say that Kreids is getting close and that will be a positive and bring us positive energy coming back into our lineup."
On McDonagh, "He's skating full go, I think it's just a matter of days before he can join the group in practice. Is it going to be two, four, five, not sure, the medical staff will decide that but he is really getting closer."
The
lineup tonight will be, though I expect Miller to move up to the second line, Vesey down to the third or fourth line with Fast either staying put or sliding down a line:
Nash - Zibanejad - Buchnevich
Vesey - Hayes - Zuccarello
Grabner - Desharnais - Fast
McLeod - Holland - Miller
Skjei - Pionk
Staal - DeAngelo
O’Gara - Gilmour
A
victory that was 20 years in the making and occurred on the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, the US Women won the Hockey Gold Medal:
Good live blog by Jim Cerny:
http://www.sportingnews.com/ca/athletics/news/winter-olympics-2018-canada-vs-usa-womens-gold-medal-game-live-updates-highlights-score-result-blog/fodjvz34lkx31llen7ewdge47
The trade deadline is slightly more than 100 hours away. We should see additional traction in general in the next day or so. Arizona traded Tobias Rieder, who brings some speed and scoring to the lineup, and Scott Wedgewood to LA for Darcy Kuemper. The Coyotes immediately signed Kuemper to a two-year deal, which allows the team, if they want, to deal Antti Raanta, though they want to sign him to a long term deal. Kuemper has been great for LA, outplaying Jonathan Quick at times this year, so this trade could hurt the King’s between the pipes. But it’s a low price cost to pay and I am unsure what Arizona is doing. This deal also takes LA out of the mix for Grabner after getting a somewhat similar player in Rieder.
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