The Rangers try to wipe the bad taste from Tuesday's loss from their mouths in Buffalo tonight. The Sabres also come off of a disappointing loss Tuesday, falling 5-2 to Montreal, a defeat triggered by Max Pacioretty's hat trick. Following tonight's contest, New York is off until a 2pm matinee Sunday against Calgary.
The main focus at practice yesterday was finding a way to eliminate those four-to-five minute stretches in contests where the Rangers seem to lose focus, resulting in several pucks ending in the net. Tuesday was one of those type of stretches, where Columbus took a 1-0 lead and made it 3-0 with a pair of goals in 2:36. Later in the frame, it was another pair of tallies in a 3:12 span. New York has similar issues January 14 against Montreal and three days later versus Dallas, where every breakdown ended in a prime scoring chance and goal.
In the third period Tuesday, AV shook up lines, which seemed to rejuvenate the offense. Part of that may have been due to the score and Columbus taking their foot off the gas pedal. But those reconstituted lines seem to be what NY will use tonight. Step and Zib get flipped, Vesey moves up to the top line and Buch down to the fourth. If going this route, I would flip Buch and Fast, as I think Buch opposite Grabner would be an interesting line. Lindberg is in for Pirri, and when Kevin Hayes returns, my guess is Lindberg or Puempel, likely Puempel, is the odd man out.
Nash-Step-Vesey Kreider-Zibanejad-Zuccarello Grabner-Miller-Fast Puempel-Lindberg-Buchnevich
New York gives up six goals, several of which, if not lost due to defensive breakdowns, and what does the coaching do? Switch up the O and keep the D the same. Someone explain this to me. Overall the D was horrible, headed by Kevin Klein's nightmarish contest. For the life of me, I don't understand running him out there again. Use Adam Clendening with Brady Skjei, as that pairing was solid when Marc Staal was out. Staal showed some rust but he and Holden should remain together and you know my view on McD-G. But playing Klein tonight makes absolutely no sense. Play Clendening or call up Graves and give him a shot.
McDonagh-Girardi, Staal-Holden Skjei-Klein
Lundqvist will be between the pipes again. He wasn't particularly good Tuesday but I get going to him again, especially as Antti Raanta wasn't great as well. Lundqvist needs to be Lundqvist for the Rangers to win. Let's see what he brings to the table tonight.