The Rangers head to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins in a rematch of Tuesday's contest won by New York 5-0. For New York, it was one of the most complete and obviously best games of the season, while for Pittsburgh, I thought they played better and had more chances than a 5-0 loss would indicate. The Rangers followed up that solid game with an inconsistent one, losing 4-3 in a shootout to the Avalanche. Pittsburgh played Friday, beating Toronto 2-1 at the Air Canada Center.
For the Rangers, the strategy for the game is clear: more of the same. No, I am not expected a 5-0 win, but the energy level and attention to detail needs to be similar to Tuesday's contest. If they come out as they did Thursday, Pittsburgh will blow them out of the water. In the win over Pittsburgh, Henrik Lundqvist helped make up for any mistakes the team made, a similar refrain likely will need to be the case tonight.
New York goes with the same lineup that played Thursday. That means Anthony Duclair will be scratched for the third time. Larry Brooks in the Post and Russ Cohen on this site have given their views, which differ from each other. The topic calls for a whole blog from me, which will come, but I will say both views have kernels of what I believe. In short, benching Duclair should only last so long, not solely limited to his development, but for how I believe the fourth line should be constructed. With Duclair on the third, the fourth line would be better suited to play as the Rangers want by having Lee Stempniak on it.
RANGERS
Forwards: Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Martin St. Louis, Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello Carl Hagelin-Kevin Hayes-Lee Stempniak Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore-Jesper Fast
Defensemen: Marc Staal-Dan Girardi John Moore-Dan Boyle Matt Hunwick-Kevin Klein
Starting goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist (Cam Talbot backup)
PENGUINS
Forwards: Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby- Pascal Dupuis Nick Spaling-Evgeni Malkin-Patric Hornqvist Beau Bennett-Brandon Sutter-Steve Downie Zach Sill-Marcel Goc-Craig Adams
Defensemen: Paul Martin-Kris Letang Christian Ehrhoff-Robert Bortuzzo Rob Scuderi-Simon Despres
Starting goaltender: Marc-Andre Fleury (Thomas Greiss backup)