The Rangers kick off the final third of the season with a matchup against the Lightning. Tampa, who leads the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division by a wide margin, aims for their 10th straight victory tonight at MSG. Today’s contest will be the debut of Brendan Lemieux, who was acquired along with a first rounder for Kevin Hayes.
Lines: Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Jimmy Vesey Vladislav Namestnikov- Ryan Strome-Jesper Fast Brendan Lemieux-Lias Andersson-Pavel Buchnevich Brendan Smith-Boo Nieves-Connor Brickley
Brady Skjei-Neal Pionk Mac Staal-Tony DeAngelo Fredrik Claesson-Kevin Shattenkirk
Alexandar Georgiev
Filip Chytil will be a healthy scratch for the third time this year. The rationale provided by coach David Quinn for that scratch is a “lack of effort.… What that exactly means is unclear, especially since the line of Chytil-Andersson-Buchnevich has played well the past two games. In addition, this won’t be a one-time scratch so expect Chytil to miss a few games at a minimum. If he doesn’t get the message now – and Quinn has been very good with talking with players and letting them know deficiencies and what areas of their game need to be remediated prior to sitting them – Chytil could receive pine time again.
For New York, this is truly evaluation mode. Who is part of the future and who is a short-timer? Two-thirds of the first line are keepers. Vesey has played well since getting moved up, but I want to see Buchnevich there at some point. We might get a view of Lemieux there as well. Ville Meskenen might get a promotion down the road while Vitali Kravstov could end up in Hartford on an ATO. When Brett Howden returns, the Rangers will be go back to a 12/6 alignment, meaning one of the blueliners will be scratched. In addition, at some point, Ryan Lindgren will be back up, so he will need to be re-incorporated.
Enjoy watching what as of now is the best time in the NHL. In addition, tonight is First Responder Night. Check out the warm up jerseys, they are phenomenal and for a great cause.