The Rangers, fresh off a thrilling 6-5 comeback win over the Canadiens, take on the Wild tonight at MSG. New York welcomes back Mats Zuccarello to the Garden, where there likely won’t be a dry eye in the house, especially after seeing Henrik Lundqvist’s Instagram post of him and Zucc yesterday. Following tonight’s contest, the Blueshirts take on the Hurricanes and we might actually see Mika Zibanejad’s return to active duty.
#NYR Preview - Nov. 25 vs. Minnesota pic.twitter.com/KbXByLGxlH
— NYR Stats & Info (@NYRStatsInfo) November 25, 2019
An extra special game day. 💜 pic.twitter.com/QrQTb4bqPp
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 25, 2019
Likely lines:
Panarin-Strome-Fast Kreider-Chytil-Buchnevich Lemieux-Howden-Kakko Haley-McKegg-Smith
Skjei-Trouba Fox-Lindgren Hajek-DeAngelo
During the game Saturday, coach David Quinn move Kreider up to the top line, Lemieux and Kakko up to second line, centered by Chytil, and Fast and Buchnevich down to the third line with Howden. Greg McKegg was injured and missed the second half plus of the game while Haley was stapled to the bench. Sunday, New York called up Boo Nieves and demoted Tim Gettinger.
I tweeted the following yesterday: Boo getting promoted may mean that McKegg won’t be able to go tomorrow (now tonight) against Minn. Nieves could slot in as the fourth line center. If McKegg is healthy enough to play, maybe Michael Haley sits. Boo has to pass through waivers to go back down, so maybe he sticks for a bit. (lines update to be posted close to game time. Update as of 11:45 am: Mika skated in a regular jersey today but won’t play, target is Wednesday. Boo is in, McKegg is out due to injury)
Trouba and Skjei were good together against Montreal, so maybe the All-American duo remains together for a while after opening the season as a pair before getting split up. Fox and Lindgren are pretty much a set match. Hajek and DeAngelo did not have a good game Saturday. Libor hasn’t been great, especially lately. He has had a lot thrown on his plate and the upside is there but he maybe could use a game off soon. If that happens, we could see Smith shift back to defense but that may not occur until Zib is back.
With Zucc in town, expect a tribute video. He and Lundqvist spent Sunday together. You know Zucc wants to score on Hank and Lundqvist wants to make at least one big save on him, mainly for bragging rights this summer. Good to see Zuccarello finding his game but I still think Minnesota overpaid both in dollars and years for the Norwegian Hobbit, who was one of my favorite players on the team. You all know my view on Zucc, as I was beating the drums to bring him back from the KHL. He morphed into a leader and key member of this team, and he hadn't gotten seriously injured against Pittsburgh in the first round of the 2015 playoffs, I still think New York gets past Tampa and goes back to the Cup Finals.
Man this is right in the feels pic.twitter.com/2dHOJ5SonB
— Tom Urtz Jr. (@TomUrtzJr) November 25, 2019
How does this hit only warrant four games? This was a clear, poster child case for hitting a defenseless player in a dirty manner, yet the Department of Player Safety – an oxymoron name if there ever was one – only gave Robert Bortuzzo four games. Viktor Arvidsson is out 4-6 weeks, and he’s lucky not to be done for the season. Yet the punishment once again doesn’t remotely come close to fitting the crime. If you aren’t going to do the one job you were given correctly, why are you even in that position and why does the role exist?
The 2nd hit is unbelievably dangerous from Bortuzzo. Virtually no protection on the lower body there (kidneys, spine, etc.$ and he came down very, very hard. pic.twitter.com/4SWsPVEJIc
— Alex Daugherty (@AlexDaugherty1) November 24, 2019