The 6-2-3 New York Rangers visit the Saddledome tonight for game four of a five game home stand. No morning skate, so here are yesterday’s practice lines:
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk Coleman-Backlund-Pitlick Lucic-Dube-Mangiapane Richardson-Monahan-Lewis Duehr
Hanifin-Andersson Kylington-Tanev Zadorov-Gudbranson
Markstrom
Kyling it It will be interesting to see if defenseman Oliver Kylington can keep his momentum going. We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, but the 24 year old left defenseman has six points in nine games this season. He actually has six points in his last five games. His goal against Nashville was phenomenal and he’ll only get better with more reps as a top 4 defenseman.
Playing a tired team The Edmonton Oilers surged back in the last night to win 6-5 in overtime. They’ll be certainly tired. Whether they’ll be hungry to get back on track or simply getting outworked in the corners will be an indication of the Rangers’ team work ethic.
No Duehr again? Brad Richardson appears to in the lineup again. Richardson himself was quick to admit he didn’t have a strong game against the Stars. He’s not fast, he’s physical but not big, his offence is the same as always. He’s fine in a 13th forward role in case of game day injuries, but he shouldn’t be taking a spot that up and coming players should be getting. Walker Duehr proved he can skate at an NHL level in the preseason. Hopefully his first game comes sooner than later.
Enjoy the game,
Trevor Neufeld