The Rangers meet the Canadiens at MSG tonight. Off a 4-3 win over the Red Wings, New York has a five-point divisional lead over Carolina with five games remaining. Tonight is a special night at MSG, as the Steven McDonald Extra Effort award is presented.
Friday, the bottom-six provided nearly all the offense. A goal from Will Cuylle and a pair from Barclay Goodrow, moved from center to wing, had the Blueshirts in a 3-3 tie with the Red Wings. Chris Kreider's power-play goal, the 108th of his career. gave the Rangers the lead they never relinquished. Jonathan Quick stopped 31 shots to notch the victory.
The top-six, especially the first line, did little. Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad assisted on CK20's PPG, but beyond that, not much came from those two lines. Jack Roslovic sat for large stretches of the game, finishing with just 8:07 in ice time. That was a portend of things to come.
Rangers lines vs. Canadiends:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Vesey
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière
Cuylle-Wennberg-Kakko
Goodrow-Brodzinski-Rempe
Jimmy Vesey is being tried on the first line, again. At some point, we may have to fully take off the blinders and realize that Zib and Kreider just aren't creating 5x5 and it's not the fault of their linemate. Blake Wheeler, Kaapo Kakko, Vesey, Alexis Lafreniere and Roslovic have all been tried, as have others, with little success. The second line, really the first line, will not be broken up, nor should they be. Panarin moves up at times when offense is really needed to try and spur an attack, but that is only when the team is desperate.
Maybe this is just a quick reset form Roslovic, whose play has tailed off since his initial connection with the Glimmer Twins. Coach Peter Laviolette said it was just a rotation change and he is trying different combinations to see if one sticks, similar to how he is resting and mixing-and-matching the bottom-six. But the Zib line has to become dangerous offensively, and right now, they are just offensive to watch.
Montreal is playing their third game in four nights and second straight, having lost 4-2 to Toronto yesterday. With Matt Rempe in the lineup, his match up with Michael Pezzetta is one to keep an eye on. The Habs top line can certainly score and create havoc on offense with Nick Suzuki the best of the trio. Shutting down that unit will go a long way to securing a win tonight.
Zac Jones gets back in the lineup tonight for Erik Gustafsson. Laviolette is mixing and matching on the bottom pair on defense. Once/if the Rangers clinch the division and/or conference. We will likely also see Chad Ruhwedel get in with Adam Fox, Braden Schneider and K'Andre Miller all candidates for a game off. The good news is that the Rangers' last game is April 15 but the regular season does not end until April 18, meaning that New York will likely have a week off before the post-season to get fully healthy.
The Steven McDonald Award is chosen annually by fans and is presented to the Rangers player who “goes above and beyond the call of duty.” Last year's winner was Ryan Lindgren. The Award is probably the top honor one can receive within the organization. Lots of worthwhile candidates this year, my guess is it goes to either Vincent Trocheck or Jonathan Quick.
Choosing the winner of one of the most special #NYR awards is in your hands.
Battle for third in Metro and/or second Wild Card spot:
Islanders - 35-27-15 - 85 points - third in Metro, 77 games played
Pittsburgh - 36-30-11 - 83 points, second Wild Card, 77 games played
Philly - 36-31-11, 83 points, 78 games played
Washington - 36-30-10, 82 points, 76 games played
Detroit - 37-31-8, 82 points, 76 games played
Buffalo - 37-35-5, 79 points, 77 games played
New Jersey - 37-36-4, 78 points, 77 games played
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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