The Rangers (29-23-3, 61 points) and Islanders (21-27-8, 50 points) each having thawed out from Wednesday's game at Yankee Stadium meet for the final time this season - no that is not a misprint - Friday at MSG. The Blueshirts come in on a roll while the Islanders, ever since beating the Rangers at MSG on Tuesday last week, have struggled, going 0-3-1, possibly severely damaging their playoff chances with 27 games to go. A loss Friday would put them six games under .500 with 26 to go, which could trigger a quasi-sell off to bring in assets for the future, while a win by the Rangers would solidify their hold on second place in the Metro Division.
Some late news is that the per Darren Dreger of TSN, the Rangers may be gathering intel on Chris Stewart. We have spoken about the need for the Rangers to get bigger, which Stewart would provide, but after a breakout 2009-10 campaign, he has regressed and been a healthy scratch at times over the past few seasons. While I like Stewart a lot, his potential has outweighed his production by a wide margin, so I wouldn't overpay for him. If they would trade Ryan Callahan for him straight up, you might have to bring me back off the ledge as that would be one of the stupidest deals they could make. Stewart is great when motivated, but he hasn't been for a while and there would have to be a lot more, even though Callahan is an RFA after the year, coming back to make that deal palatable to me.
Due to the criticalness of the game for the Islanders, expect them to come out hard and have a high battle level all contest. Last week, the Vanek-Tavares-Okposo line was dominant in the win. Wednesday, on the choppy ice at Yankee Stadium, McDonagh and Girardi did an excellent job of marking them. At MSG, it will be tougher to limit their cohesiveness and chemistry when they don't have to worry about a bouncing puck, which will make the play of the Rangers' top defensive duo take on more importance.
I am a bit surprised that Henrik Lundqvist is going tonight, as I though coach Alain Vigneault could turn to Cam Talbot after Hank played both Stadium Series games. Part of the rationale may be that the Rangers are 13-5-1 in their last 19, Lundqvist is on a role, having allowed just seven goals in his last five starts and 14 in his last nine, so why not go with the hot hand. In addition, Talbot started in place of an ill Lundqvist last week against the Islanders, and was okay not great, so AV may prefer to go with Lundqvist in this key division matchup.
One interesting stat coming out of the Stadium Series games pointed out by Jim Cerny was that Brad Richards and Chris Kreider were the only forwards not to record a point. The balance from rolling four consistent forward and three defensive lines has been critical to the team's success lately. Richards has been prone to hot and cold streaks, alternating them throughout this year, and now, has gone three straight without scoring. As I wrote yesterday, I am a bit concerned about Kreider. While his size and speed has created chances for others, he has just one game in his last eight that he has scored a point - the three he notched last Tuesday against the Islanders - so getting him back on the beam will be critical moving forward to support Nash and a suddenly hot Stepan on that line.
RANGERS
Kreider – Stepan – Nash Hagelin – Richards – Callahan Pouliot – Brassard – Zuccarello Boyle – Moore – Carcillo
McDonagh – Girardi Staal – Stralman Moore – Klein
Henrik Lundqvist (starting) Cam Talbot
ISLANDERS
Kyle Okposo-John Tavares-Thomas Vanek Josh Bailey-Frans Nielsen-Cal Clutterbuck Colin McDonald-Brock Nelson-Michael Grabner Matt Martin-Eric Boulton-Casey Cizikas
Brian Strait-Andrew MacDonald Calvin de Haan-Matt Donovan Matt Carkner-Thomas Hickey
Evgeni Nabokov (starting) Kevin Poulin
After tonight, the Rangers face Colorado at home Tuesday, then back-to-back games home against Edmonton and on the road at Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday to close their pre-Olympic schedule. The Rangers start back up Thursday, Feb. 27 against the Blackhawks.