The Rangers return to action Saturday with a contest in Carolina followed by one at home Sunday versus Anaheim. New York has been off since the 1-0 loss to Chicago on Wednesday but now hit the really heavy part of the schedule. Following the games this weekend, the Rangers face the Kings on Tuesday, the red hot Senators and the Hamburgler in Ottawa on Thursday, the Bruins in Boston on Saturday followed by a home contest against the Capitals on 3/29 and then to Winnipeg to close out March on the 31st. April is no easier with six games in 11 days, so the time is now to figure out the offensive woes.
To aid in that regard, the line changes made by AV for the last game have already been scrapped. I hope you didn't get too attached to them. It's interesting that a coach who likes his players to figure it out and is reluctant to make constant changes, has already shuffled the deck. The top line, which had some good pressure, stays together, but the other three lines get shifted around.
Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, Rick Nash Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard, JT Miller Carl Hagelin, Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast Tanner Glass, Dominic Moore, James Sheppard
Adam Herman made a great point on playing with Brassard and Zucc, you need someone who is willing to shoot. Benoit Pouliot did that while Hayes may defer too much with that duo. So now, Miller can get into shooting position, confident that his line mates will get him the puck. In addition, Hayes moves back to where he may be more comfortable, since he has played most of the year, save for two games, in the middle.
The one quote I found really interesting today from AV was when he was asked about moving Hayes back to center, he said "Hayes move back to center gives us three lines to provide offense." As others on twitter said, does that mean that Wednesday he knew they were a two-line team? Also, is the fourth line now with Glass just a checking line? I know we all know the answer, but making sure you are paying attention. In addition, why not call up a winger for depth or to possibly play a top-nine role allowing Fast to get moved down while MSL is out?
On defense, it remains to be seen what the pairings will be. On Wednesday, AV put Ryan McDonagh on the right side at times with Marc Staal to go against the Jonathan Toews line. SNYRangersblog pulled the following numbers from Natural Stat Trick:
Dan Girardi: 11:59 with Keith Yandle, 2:12 with Ryan McDonagh, 13 seconds with Matt HunwickMarc Staal: 8:37 with Ryan McDonagh, 5:44 with Dan Girardi, 2:08 with Dan Boyle,56 seconds with Keith Yandle
Dan Boyle: 5:25 with Keith Yandle, 5:15 with Matt Hunwick, 3:32 with Ryan McDonagh, 2:08 with Marc Staal
Ryan McDonagh: 8:37 with Marc Staal, 3:32 with Dan Boyle, 2:38 with Keith Yandle,2:12 with Dan Girardi
Matt Hunwick: 5:15 with Dan Boyle, 1:50 with Keith Yandle, 1:45 with Ryan McDonagh, 13 seconds with Dan Girardi
Keith Yandle: 11:59 with Dan Girardi, 5:25 with Dan Boyle, 1:50 with Matt Hunwick,56 seconds with Marc Staal
With Kevin Klein still out, it wouldn't shock me to see the pairings shifted throughout. While Eric Staal is good, he is not at the Toews level, same with the offense on Carolina. I could more see McD-Staal together Sunday against the Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry duo.
Klein indicated today that since the injury is to his arm, he still has been able to work on his conditioning. He knew right away he was hurt, as the arm went numb after it was hit. Klein added that he next expects to be examined “around the three-week mark so it’s only been about a week.… Hopefully, if that time frame holds, he makes it back for the final week of the season, giving him probably 4-5 games to be ready for the playoffs.
Between the pipes Saturday is expected to be Cam Talbot. Sunday is up in the air, but given the opponent, I wouldn't be surprised if Talbot gets the nod. Especially since Henrik Lundqvist may only be a week away from returning. If you were going to go Mackenzie Skapski, Saturday would be the game to do it rather than against Anaheim.
Lundqvist, medically cleared Tuesday to resume practicing after missing six weeks with a vascular injury in his neck, was supposed to practice today. However, his wife Therese went into labor with their second daughter, so he was unable to do so. what that does to his return date is up in the air.
As noted above, the Rangers play Carolina Saturday, then are home against Anaheim Sunday — with no morning skate. Because of the back-to-backs, the team is off Monday. So Lundqvist’s first practice will now be the morning skate prior to Tuesday’s game against Los Angeles. That practice, per AV, is about 20-30 minutes where they work on game situations, so it should help Lundqvist ease back in. His first full practice would be the following day Wednesday.
With that schedule, he is unlikely to play against the Senators on Thursday. the games against Boston and/or Washington on the 28th and 29th are no given, since he only would have one true practice. Of course, if he gets enough out of the Tuesday AM skate coupled with practice Wednesday, it's feasible he plays one of the weekend games. If not, look for him to play against Winnipeg on March 31 and start 5-6 of the final seven games of the season.