The Rangers, fresh off a sweep of their four-game road trip and dramatic 6-5 win over the Islanders, return home to MSG on Thursday to face the Canucks. Tonight’s game is the first in a five-game stretch, in which they play four of those contests (and five of seven) in the friendly confines of their home arena, where they are 17-7-4. After tonight’s game, the Rangers head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres in the make-up of the postponed match from November 21. Vancouver comes in 6-4 in their last 10 games and in third place of the Pacific. However, they have just a one point lead over LA and San Jose with Minnesota just two points back in the race for one of the final four spots in the Conference.
The lineup for the Rangers tonight is very similar to that of Monday and the past several contests. Up front, with Jesper Fast still out, though the good news is he may be able to skate next week, there are no changes. The only alteration is that the revolving door known as the sixth defenseman spins to John Moore. As I wrote yesterday, maybe it’s time to see what Moore shows over the next week while the Rangers consider acquiring a third-pair d-man, which has been heavily rumored
Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, Marty St. Louis Carl Hagelin, Kevin Hayes, JT Miller Tanner Glass, Dominic Moore, Lee Stempniak
Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi Marc Staal and Kevin Klein John Moore and Dan Boyle
Cam Talbot
One additional piece of good news is that Henrik Lundqvist has been able to get on the ice the past few days to do some cardio work. It's light work and not anything extrenuating but the mere point he is on the ice is a positive. However, that does not mean he is spefically closer to a return, because the follow up exam is not for another week or so. At that point, we hopefully will have a better idea as to a possible return date or at least next steps.
The PP units also remain the same from the recent change. While it hasn’t made a huge difference, the puck movement has been a bit better. Ironically, much of the discuss has been about the demotion of Dan Boyle to the second unit as a way to improve the shots on the first unit, which is not a ringing endorsement for his value. We won’t even go into play Girardi over Klein on the second unit, because we could be here a while.
Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard, Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello Dan Girardi, Dan Boyle, Kevin Hayes, Chris Kreider, Marty St. Louis
Vancouver has made some shuffles up front. Alex Burrows was moved to the top line alongside the Sedins about two weeks ago and has thrived since the change. To facilitate that and balance out the scoring, Radim Vrbata was moved down to the second line to play with Linden Vey and ex-Ranger Chris Higgins. Derek Dorsett mans the third line right wing spot while rookie Bo Horvat has acquitted himself nicely as the fourth line center. On D. Vancouver is without Edler and Bieksa, so the Rangers should be able to take advantage of a pedestrian blue line, though they will still have to beat Ryan Miller.
The below stats were posted in the comments to the blog yesterday but bear repeating. We like to criticize and expect perfection, but the numbers are pretty darn good. With five separating first to fourth in the division, the Rangers may need to continue this level of play to stay in the top three.
The Rangers have posted a 23-6-1 record since Dec. 8. Here is where the Rangers rank among all NHL teams in the following categories over the span:
WINS – 1st (23) REGULATION/OT WINS – 1st (22) POINTS – 2nd (47) P% – 1st (.783) G/GP – 1st (3.33) GA/GP – 2nd (2.10) GOAL DIFFERENTIAL (not including shootouts) – 1st (plus-37)