The Rangers are setting off on yet another back to back stretch tonight as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. The Rangers are coming off a great weekend that included an overtime win against Buffalo and a borderline blowout win against the Penguins Friday Night. The season series is currently tied at one between the two teams as they sit just one point apart from each other in the second and third place positions in the Metro Division. Both previous meetings between the two teams have been quite entertaining with a playoff-like intensity. We can only expect much of the same as the regular season dwindles and the likelihood of a first round match up with these teams continues to increase.
The Penguins have gone 6-3-1 in their last ten, most recently coming off a huge blowout against the Red Wings, where they put up 11 goals. Three of those goals came from Evgeni Malkin, who did not play when his team paid a visit to the Garden on Friday Night. Pittsburgh is obviously a better team with him in the lineup so the Rangers will need to be sound defensively to keep Malkin and the rest of the Penguins off the score sheet. On the other hand, taking advantage of every opportunity to generate offense will be just as important as the Penguins are right behind the Rangers in the top five position for goals against in games played.
On the Rangers end, they’re 6-4 in their last ten, staying pretty consistent with how they’ve done all season. With every stretch of losses, they tend to back it with a longer stretch of wins. It was a travel day for the team yesterday, therefore they haven’t skated since the game against Buffalo. Since they haven’t skated, the status of Ryan Strome, who missed the majority of the last game with a lower body injury, won’t be known until the team takes morning skate. Expect Igor Shesterkin to get the nod for the Rangers as Georgiev played the last game and will likely get the start again tomorrow in Detroit.
For the rest of the lineup, Strome’s status certainly dictates how it will play out. If he is good to go, expect it to look close to identical to the start of Sunday’s game. If he isn’t, Expect Goodrow to move up and Reaves to join the fourth line. Regardless, Reaves may return to the lineup as they’ll not only look to play physical against the Penguins, but they’ll likely look toward more of a veteran group against a team no strangers to success. Assuming Strome is fine, I’d say we’re potentially looking at:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Vatrano
Panarin - Strome - Copp
Lafreniere - Chytil - Goodrow
Hunt - Motte - Reaves
Miller - Trouba
Lindgren - Fox
Nemeth - Braun
In addition to Gallant likely rolling a lineup with more veterans in the mix, it’s also the first half of a back to back. With the position the Rangers are in, why not try to get everyone that’s on the roster in at least one of these games? Not only is it important to keep guys rested but it’s important to keep the guys who aren’t everyday pieces to the lineup active in the event that guys go down with injuries down the stretch. Go with Reaves and Hunt tonight, Gauthier and Brodzinski tomorrow. Hell, if the team plays hard and beats Pittsburgh, give anyone who needs or wants a break the day off in Detroit. (Within reason of course)
Nevertheless, there’s no question tonight is a big game for both sides and it will certainly be treated as such. The Rangers will look to extend their win streak to three games and the Penguins will undoubtedly be riding high following their big 11-2 against the Red Wings over the weekend. If the Rangers can play strong like they did Friday Night, we could be looking at a similar style of play with a potentially closer score.
Chris Feldman
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