The Rangers head to Florida to face the Panthers tonight and Lightning tomorrow. New York should be at full strength, as barring something untoward, Jacob Trouba, who sat out most of the last two periods Wednesday following his collision with Tom Wilson, practiced and traveled with the team. The Blueshirts called up Adam Edstrom to give them an extra forward to go along with Zac Jones as the extra d-man on the trip.
Probable Lines: Kreider – Zibanejad – Wheeler Panarin – Trocheck– Lafreniere Cuylle – Bonino – Brodzinski Vesey – Goodrow – Pitlick
Lindgren – Fox Miller – Trouba Gustafsson – Schneider
Shesterkin Quick
Healthy scratches: Edstrom, Jones LTIR: Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko
Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick will split the games. My guess is we get Igor tonight and Quick tomorrow, but I have been wrong most of the time so far on these. Whichever way coach Peter Laviolette and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire, who should be in the Hall of Fame, go, New York should have solid netminding. One small caveat to keep in mind is Quick has been tagged for at least four goals in three of his last five starts, so he is in need of a bounceback effort irrespective of who he faces. (Update: again I was wrong, Quick goes tonight and Igor tomorrow).
The good news is that Trouba, injured in the collision with Wilson, was back at practice yesterday. He showed no initial ill effects of the hit, which is great. Trouba traveled with the team to Florida and is expected to play tonight and tomorrow.
This is what I found interesting. Here is the quote he gave to the reporters in the locker room. Below is what the Rangers released as the post-practice comments from Trouba. The component on concussion was completely eradicated from what was posted, as the video is just 43 seconds long. Does the team or NHL think that by not releasing the video of him making the comment where the implication or unsaid relates to a potential concussion that we either would all forget about it or not be able to read or find his quote elsewhere? Kind of ridiculous.
“All good,… he said before the Blueshirts boarded a plane to Florida, where the team will play the Panthers and Lightning back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, respectively. “Just played it safe. [Possible concussion is] not something to mess with. Make sure you feel good in the morning and feel good skating.…
in the WJC, Game Perreault had a goal and an assist while Drew Fortescue did not get on the scoresheet in the US' 11-3 rout of Switzerland yesterday. Today, the US faces Czechia while Slovakia defeated Norway 8-4. Adam Sykora notched his first point, an assist, in the win. The US faces Slovakia on Sunday morning at 6am eastern.