The Rangers, off a debacle against the Blackhawks, take on the Kings in LA today. Sunday's contest is the first of three straight contests in California. The 2-7-1 Kings have lost six straight in regulation while outscored 29-8 over those consecutive defeats. This may be a battle of who is less worse or the best of the bad.
With New York struggling to score and coach David Quinn still learning his team while searching for the right line combinations, the blender is in full effect today. All the lines from Thursday's game have been shuffled. As Larry Brooks points out, today's changes will mark 27 line combinations utilized by Quinn and the Rangers.
New forward lines: Jimmy Vesey-Mika Zibanejad-Mats Zuccarello Chris Kreider-Kevin Hayes-Ryan Spooner Vladislav Namestnikov-Brett Howden-Pavel Buchnevich Cody McLeod/Vinni Lettieri-Flip Chytil-Jesper Fast
Vesey moves up to the top line while Kreider slides down to the second. Spooner is elevated for some reason, maybe to see if he and Hayes can recapture some of the chemistry they showed right after he was acquired last season. That's the only reason I can fathom for this move. Howden stays on the third line with Nam and Buch. Chytil is moved back to his natural center position from wing, yea, but skating with Fast and either McLeod or Lettieri, boo.
In explaining shifting Chytil back after five games at wing on a line with Hayes following his first five at the pivot, and can we please just stick with one position for a while, Quinn said: “I think part of the issue for Filip is that he’s been playing against everybody’s top two lines and that’s not easy to do for a 19-year-old even though he is comfortable on the wing. I think he’ll get to skate more in the middle.…
Larry Brooks pretty well explained the rationale for all the switches:
This is not a manifestation of a coach pulling names out of a hat in an attempt to generate offense from a club that had scored just 13 five-on-five goals, tied for fourth-fewest in the league through Friday, and had been outscored 8-2 at full strength over the previous three contests. This was more than just a spin of the wheel.The Rangers, though beaten to the puck decisively by the Blackhawks in all three zones, ranked 10th in the NHL on shot attempts and ninth in shots. Yet, tied for fourth from the bottom in goals and fifth from the bottom with a 5.39 shooting percentage, according to NaturalStattrick.com
The Rangers just don’t have natural-born finishers and they don’t have a group pulsating with net-crashing DNA. Quinn has every right to make changes in the alignment — his predecessor, Alain Vigneault, juggled combos through Christmas his first couple of years behind the New York bench — but at some point, the juggling becomes counterproductive, which is the last thing this under-productive club needs.
The offensive numbers are well, offensive. This is an area where I honestly thought New York would be much better. But other than Zib, and even there he hasn't been lighting up the scoreboard, everyone has struggled on that end of the ice. The lack of a true finisher is noticeable. A lack of willingness of ability to crash the net, though I think Kreider, Vesey and others can and will end up doing that. Add that all together and the NaturalStattrick.com numbers should not be surprising.
Interest in Kevin Hayes:
Kevin Hayes reportedly generating some trade interest, and it isn't all that surprising given contract status. #NYR pic.twitter.com/PP1ITjVCKc
— Tom Urtz Jr. (10 days till🇺🇸 Election Day) (@TomUrtzJr) October 28, 2018
Nick Kypreos noted that Hayes is drawing a lot of interest and speculated that Winnipeg would be a good landing spot they have failed to replace Paul Stastney as their #2 center. a first or a prospect might be the return, but seeing what Rick Nash brought, the either/or as opposed to and doesn't excite me that much. I know I may be one of the few who believes in Hayes and am quite cognizant that the team has a logjam at center, though that depth has yet to perform on the ice, so I am reluctant to move him. But if Kristian Vesalainen, Sami Niku or someone of that ilk comes back, my view might change.
Blueline: With Adam McQuaid out with an injury, Tony DeAngelo, who last dressed on Oct. 11, will partner with Brady Skjei. Maybe this will help Skjei unlock his game, As Brooks noted: "the pair played 61:15 at five-on-five last season, recording a 59.7 Corsi rating while on the ice for one goal scored and two against. Skjei has played seven games this year with McQuaid and three with Neal Pionk on his right side."
We are not breaking any new ground by saying Skjei has struggled. In fact, you could argue that he too should have seen a game in the press box because of his poor play. But he has been on the ice in each game. Brooks had one view for Skjei's struggles while Quinn differed. I happen to side more with Brooks than Quinn, but see aspects of what Quinn noted for Skjei's issues early this season, which have carried forward from his issues last year.
Skjei has struggled to find his game. His decision making has seemed faulty. He appears to be guessing and a bit off balance. It could be a confidence thing.“I’m not playing to my full potential. I know that,… No. 76 told The Post. “My puck management and playmaking are a little bit off. I’ve been a little bit off. I think I’ve been a little bit too cautious. I need to be more assertive.…
That, however, is not quite how Quinn sees it. Indeed, the coach said that he believes Skjei “is trying to do too much.…
“He needs to simplify his game and understand what he’s really good at,… Quinn said. “The way he can skate himself out of trouble, sometimes he skates himself into trouble. We need to get him to a better place mentally so he can be the player we know he can be.…
With Fredrik Claesson also sidelined, the other two pairs are likely to be Marc Staal-Kevin Shattenkirk and Brendan Smith-Neal Pionk. I could see Staal and smith swapping, but regardless who is paired, the duos need to be a lot better than Thursday. Maybe a game against a struggling Kings team is what the Rangers needs, but you could see this go in the opposite direction as another poor effort will increase the concern level.