The Rangers kick off back to back games tonight in Edmonton, followed by a contest in Calgary to end the road trip. New York blew a 2-0 third period and were lucky to escape with a point against Vancouver and now take a step up in class. To add to the challenge, after the game tomorrow, the Blueshirts come home to face the Panthers, one of the best teams in the league, on Monday at MSG. If this isn't enough, Alexis Lafreniere was on the fourth line in practice yesterday.
Lafreniere has not dominated action as we have hoped. Part of that may be driven by his need to be a better skater, though that should not be a precluding factor, given his preferred style of play. We have yet to fully see him utilize the breadth of his skill, treated only to small snippets. but placing him on the fourth line, even to send a message, seems somewhat counterproductive because what does he and the team gain by him skating with that group. Unless you plan on making him a healthy scratch, which might be the approach, especially if your third line morphs into more of a checking line.
I gave my views on what the lines should be the other day. Sticking to that thought as of now. Coach Gerald Gallant didn't make it seem like Laf was demoted, though the effect of the move is still the same.
“He’s a young kid, we want him to do better and make sure he’s working hard,” Gallant said before the Rangers traveled to Edmonton later Thursday. “We chatted with the kid the other day, you go out there and work hard and see what happens. He wants to do better and we want a little bit more from him too. That’s on both sides of the puck.
“He’s a good kid and I always come back to him being young, but we got to grow up a little bit and you got to play a mature game.”
Update: Alexandar Georgiev in net tonight meaning Igor tomorrow. Ryan Reaves is a GTD
If you want to prove you are an elite team, you have to beat the elite teams. First up are the Pacific Division-leading Oilers (8-1-0). Hello Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. If you want to beat Edmonton, shut down their power play, which is operating at an NHL-high 46.4 percent.
Saturday's opponent, Calgary, is the first repeat opponent for the Rangers. The Flames embarrassed New York when they came into Madison Square Garden at the end of last month and hung five goals on goalie Igor Shesterkin. Defensive breakdowns were on display all night. A repeat performance and a similar outcome is likely.
New York takes on the Panthers (9-0-1) at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Florida, who has allowed just 22 goals on the year, sits on top of the Atlantic Division. Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau lead the Cats attack, but old favorite Anthony Duclair is off to a strong start, Aaron Ekblad has picked up from where he was last season before he was injured and Sergei Bobrovsky is off to a strong start.
Three games in four nights against three top-tier opponents. New York is fortunate to be 6-2-2 relying on Shesterkin to steal games. If the team plays in any or all of these contests as they have recently, they could get waxed. So we can view these as barometer type games and revisit where the team stands late Monday evening.
(Side note, in a tweet likely seen by all, but if not, added just in case, Vitali Kravtsov scored today on a 2-for-1 for Traktor. We know how skilled he is, so that tally isn't surprising. For the haters or trolls - yes, we know who you are as well - enjoy mentioning it on the blog :))
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