New York plays game five of their six-game preseason schedule tonight against New Jersey. Tonight's lineup provides a chance for a few players on the bubble to impress and earn roster spots. The same will be the case Saturday against the Islanders.
Rangers' lineup for tonight's game against the Devils. Almost down to the opening-night lineup. #NYR pic.twitter.com/MCrpzZpwew
— Rick Carpiniello (@RickCarpiniello) October 6, 2021
Out today are Jones, Nemeth, Hajek, Hunt, Barron and Kravstov. Look for all or nearly all to be in the lineup Saturday. Nils Lundkvist gets a chance to make his case today, though being paired with Jarred Tinordi won't help his case. Dryden Hunt and Morgan Barron each are on the bubble. Barron is likely to be sent down while Hunt could be F13 or F14, as he would need to pass through waivers to be demoted. Igor Shesterkin is expected to play the full game tonight with Alexandar Georgiev seeing the same Saturday.
I asked Gallant if Kravtsov will return to his 3rd-line spot in the lineup when he's ready.
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) October 6, 2021
"We’re going to see where it goes… Gauthier has played well and he’s going to be playing with (Goodrow and Chytil) tonight again… He’s definitely had a good camp."
Interesting... #NYR
Kravtsov is out tonight with his LBI, though he was on the ice skating today. As seen from the quote above, Julien Gauthier clearly impressed in Kravtsov's stead. His place is not set in stone, and as waiver exempt, unlike Gautheir, Kravtsov could be sent down easier. I wrote the other day that his psyche needs to be a consideration, not a major driver, but one of the components in the decision making process. I still think Gauthier makes the team as an extra forward while Kravtsov is on the third line, but that is now still up in the air.
So what exactly are the principles of Gerard Gallant's system?
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) October 6, 2021
I asked the #NYR coach and some players to describe how the team will play, with an important test run coming tonight for a lineup that looks a lot like what we'll see in the opener https://t.co/ZeKGFa3260
I thought the below quote from this column was interesting. For years, we have been railing about the defense ceding the blue line to attackers or falling back to the faceoff dot, giving the points room. Maybe, based on the system Gallant wants to implement, this will not be the case and I won't need to consistently scream at the TV.
Aggressive forechecking — attacking the opponent in their own defensive zone in an effort to apply pressure and create turnovers — is a pillar of Gallant's system. But he's also stressed the importance of a strong backcheck, which means forwards skating back into your defensive zone to support defensemen and thwart the opponent's attack before they have a chance to settle the puck."We want to play tight gap," Gallant said. "We want to be available. But the big thing about that is, you can play tight gap when your backcheckers are coming back hard and working hard."