The Rangers are in St. Louis on Thursday to face the Blues. Tonight, New York attempts to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season. Following their road contest, the Blueshirts kick of a home-and-home on back-to-back nights beginning Saturday against the Capitals.
Kreider Zibanejad Cuylle Panarin Trocheck Lafreniere Bonino Leschyshyn Brodzinski Vesey Goodrow Wheeler
Miller-Trouba Lindgren-Fox Gustafsson-Schneider
Healthy Scratches: Jones, Robertson (latter was sent down just after this blog was posted) Injured: Pitlick - week to week LTIR: Chytil, Kakko
Zibanejad and Trouba, both questionable originally for the game, will suit up tonight. Will Cuylle gets a shot to start the game on the top line with Blake Wheeler moved down to the third or fourth line, depending on your view. With Brennan Othmann sent down and several other options injured, Jake Leschyshyn was promoted yesterday and will be in the lineup.
Avert your eyes from the bottom-six as it’s kind of ugly. Of the lot, Jimmy Vesey has been the best of the bunch. Wheeler is miscast on that trio and my concern is the dominance we saw from that group when Cuylle was on it will be lost. When Kakko returns, Cuylle could be back with Vesey and Goodrow in what was a very effective unit.
Kakko is on the cusp of returning. If not the back end of the games against the Capitals, Tuesday versus the Kraken should be his first game since November 27. Kakko could start on the their line in an attempt to ease him back into action and then be moved up to the top line to see if he can be the fit that has been missing. He wasn’t great in his first go-around there but the remaining duo misses his defensive presence greatly and he helps lengthen the lineup.
If New York doesn't get back to the defensive structure we saw the first two months of the season, the return of Kakko will only help a little. While the D has been brutal, the forwards haven’t helped much with their bad turnovers, mistimed line changes and failure to pick up the opposition in the defensive zone. It’s been a confluence of issues, which has contributed to and not been aided by the play of Igor Shesterkin between the pipes.