The Rangers kick off one of four games in a row against their rivals across the Hudson, the New Jersey Devils. The Devils are 2-8-2 in their last ten and similarly to the Rangers in past seasons, have fully committed to the rebuild, selling Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac to the Islanders about a week ago in exchange for draft picks. As a Rangers fan, it will be a bit different facing off against the Devils without these two on the other side however, this should set the tone for this game. The Rangers made no moves at the trade deadline yesterday, showing they're committed with the group they have to be the building blocks for the future and on top of that, still see value in competing.
With the Rangers just four points out from catching up to the Bruins in the playoff race, this mini series against the Devils is crucial and even with success, will be challenging as four of Boston's next seven are against the Sabres. The Rangers need to dig deep tonight and for the rest of the stretch here. As I mentioned the other day, the kid line has been improving every day and was one of our best lines against New York on Sunday. While they will certainly be a key factor going into these games, there's a couple others at stake here.
One of which, and probably the most concerning is Chris Kreider and the "top" line for the Rangers. I use the term top line lightly because despite them being the first line on paper, Panarin, Strome and Kakko have more or less been the actual top line. Chris Kreider had his worst game of the season this weekend and has been painfully quiet as of late. This weekend marked two weeks since his last goal, his name has been a stranger to the score sheet since his hot streak of hat tricks earlier this season. His last of which, came against the Devils, making tonight the perfect opportunity for him to get his game going again.
His line mates have also been struggling as of late. Buchnevich and Zibanejad have still contributed here and there but neither as consistently as they can be. While it is huge that the kids are starting to pick it up, despite only being in their mid or late twenties, these top guys are veterans and need to get their games together in order for this team to be successful down the stretch. Speaking of which, both Kreider and Panarin did not practice yesterday, both were given maintenance days. Panarin appeared to have a heating pack on his back during the game on Sunday which could absolutely justify his maintenance day. Kreider's lackluster performance could also be an indicator that he too is banged up or in need of a break. You have to wonder how much the condensed schedule is impacting guys who have been around the league for a while.
That being said, it is very uncertain what the lines will look like tonight, if any changes will be made or if Kreider and Panarin are good to go or will get another day off. Kravtsov was skating in Kreiders place and Gauthier in Panarin's. Assuming Kreider and Panarin are fine, you have to wonder if Howden will get scratched for one of Gauthier or Di Giuseppe. You also have to wonder if Kreider does go, will he stay in his usual role? He got demoted during Sunday's game and if we're being honest, is destined to become a third line player eventually. Will we get to see what that looks like tonight? Personally, I would like to see a Kreider-Chytil-Kakko third line but it's strange they never seem to take my suggestions.
Again, assuming nobody is injured for tonight, my best guess to START tonight is:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Buchnevich
Panarin - Strome - Blackwell
Lafreniere - Chytil - Kakko
Kravtsov - Rooney - Gauthier
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Hajek - Smith
I emphasize this is my best guess to start because as we all know David Quinn loves to shake up the lines mid game. He has also been quick to move Kravtsov up to that second line spot with Strome and Panarin and even to the top with Zibanejad and Blackwell.. Quinn certainly makes it hard to predict what will happen but I guess it's all apart of the process. One thing is a safe bet and that's Igor Sheshterkin getting the start for tonight and probably all four of these games against the Devils. All other moving parts aside they will need to rely on him to have strong showings in order to find the success they need in these coming match ups.
Chris Feldman
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