A reeling Rangers' team got one more blow when it was announced Wednesday that Jacob Trouba, who left Tuesday's game with an injury suffered in the second period, will miss 4-6 weeks with a broken thumb. On the flip, New York will welcome back Artemi Panarin after he missed a pair of games and K'Andre Miller following a one-game absence. The Blueshirts, already just 4-7-3, face Philly, Washington, Philly and then Boston twice the next five games. Hold on to your seatbelts.
Lines in practice:. The KZB line is back together while the second line is reunited as well with Panarin back. Kevin Rooney deserves to be the 3C over Brett Howden while the fourth line is a mish-mash, though Julien Gauthier does deserve to play over PDG. I might consider playing Colin Blackwell as the 4C, benching Brett Howden, while playing Julien Gauthier or Brendan Lemiuex, who has been very good this year, on the third line wing.
#NYR practice lineup:
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) February 17, 2021
Kreider - Mika - Buch
Panarin - Strome - Kakko
Laf - Rooney - Blackwell
Lemieux - Howden - PDG (Gauthier rotating in)
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Smith (Johnson rotating in)
Hà¡jek - Bitetto
This could be where Trouba was injured. Is Trouba living up to his deal, no. Is he worth $8 mil per, no. Will NY miss him a ton, hell yes. Trouba was playing a physical game and helped accelerate Miller's learning curve and adaptation to the NHL. That pairing matched up against opponents' top line and more than held their own. Now, look for Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren to move up a pair while Miller, likely paired with Brendan Smith for now, to play on the second pair. Pray that Jack Johnson, as he is close to returning, isn't Miller's partner. Could we see Tarmo Reunanen before too long? Maybe Tarmo and Miller or Libor Hajek, who has settled in nicely, and Miller?
Fwiw: Trouba blocked this Butcher shot late in the second and remained on the ice. He took one more shift in the period (where he earned the assist on the Buchnevich goal), and didn't return for the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/ykOgNzCbRe
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) February 17, 2021
PP combinations: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Top unit is the same, unsure what the coaching staff saw that warranted this, but maybe they figure the law of averages will result in success. Miller replaces Trouba on the point of the second unit. I would swap Kakko and Strome, seeing how well Kakko has played. If CK20 doesn't start to figure it out, switch him and Lemiuex, who has been an agitative source and is willing to take the punishment in front of the net.
Power play work now.
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) February 17, 2021
PP1- Fox, Panarin, Mika, Strome and Kreider
PP2 - Miller, Buch, Laf, Kakko and Lemieux #NYR