The Rangers open up a stretch of three games in four nights with a home contest against the Panthers. Florida comes in off a 4-1 win over Ottawa on Saturday while New York fell 4-2 to Columbus on Friday. After Sunday's game, New York plays in Pittsburgh on Monday, then comes home to face the Penguins on Wednesday, so this next stretch is critical is key within the division and conference standings, especially with the Blue Jackets red hot.
The proposed line changes from yesterday will in fact be what we see tonight at MSG:
Vesey-Zibanejad-Zuccarello Kreider-Stepan-Nash Miller-Hayes-Grabner Pirri-Jooris-Fast
This means Oscar Lindberg will be a healthy scratch. Jooris skated Saturday and claimed to be “good to go,… but coach Alain Vigneault wanted to wait until today to decide if the fourth-line center would make his first appearance since suffering a separated shoulder on Oct. 26. No surprise Lindberg is the odd man out, as he has provided little since returning to the lineup. With Jooris back, Jesper Fast also slides back to the fourth line.
As I said yesterday, the Grabner-Hayes-Miller line was one of the team's best lines while they were together, so a wise move for AV to put them back together. A bit surprised Vesey is with Zib and Zucc, but maybe AV is trying to kickstart his game, as he has struggled a bit lately. Maybe he has hit a bit of a wall but will have to push through it. Kreider is with Stepan and Nash again, but I could see he and Vesey switching spots during the game.
Defensively, the combinations will remain the same. That means McD-G, Staal-Holden and Skjei-Klein. Personally, I would have moved Skjei back to play with Staal with Holden skating with Klein, as those combinations were solid before getting broken up Friday. With back-to-back games upcoming, maybe Adam Clendening gets in tomorrow against Pittsburgh. I actually would put Skjei with McDonagh, but that appears unlikely. Though, AV could go with Clendening alongside either G or Klein, depending on which one is scratched against the Penguins. Lundqvist is between the pipes against Florida and look for Antii Raanta to play Monday in Pittsburgh. As I said yesterday, interesting that AV goes with Hank against the Panthers and Raanta against Pittsburgh. But, Lundqvist likely will face the Penguins on Wednesday at home and Raanta has shown that he isn't phased facing quality competition, beating San Jose, Tampa Bay, Boston and Edmonton so far this year.
Pavel Buchnevich will have an MRI on his back Monday. I ask again, why wasn't he given one after he had the setback? You could make the argument that the first time he was sidelined, back spasms seemed like the right diagnosis. But once he came back from the injury and then had to be scratched, that's when an mRI should have been done, solely for diagnostic purposes. The delay in having one likely shouldn't make a difference, but why not find out what's the actual issue, so treatment could have begun earlier?
For Florida, James Reimer is between the pipes and Dylan McIlrath will be scratched again. Since the Panthers acquired McI from the Rangers, he has played in one game for them and two overall. McIlrath needs to play 42 games or he becomes a UFA, which means that he must play 40 of the next 63 games to reach that mark or he walks from the Panthers.